UPS Mobile 4+

The only thing worse than this app is setting up a UPS account, which you need to do before use this app. Was unable to perform simple tasks in this app so I had to ring UPS - something which shouldn't be necessary these days.

(You can create an account in this app, but it just displays the same web pages inside the app that you get if you setup an account in a web browser. When I tried to setup an account it told me I already had an account, but when I tried to reset the password it told me I didn't have an account... When I finally got it working, to do anything with a parcel requires you to register a 2nd time but thankfully this registration was painless and it automatically linked it to my 1st account.

What did I need to register a 2nd time to access? - to be able to change anything with the delivery of a parcel. This is the only thing 99% of people need to do so why make it more difficult than it needs to be).

App provided no further updates than the website, and did not allow me to add any delivery instructions or preferences. It takes a while to register though.

... in the end I had to make a call to the call centre on a premium (caller pays) number. The customer service representative could not tell me why delivery has not been attempted even though parcel has been at the local warehouse for more than 24 hours. All she could add is that I *might* expect it to be delivered within another 2 business days. Ironically, the delivery for the last 11km will take longer than the trip from Dallas Tx to Sydney Australia. Let down by the punctuality of the local UPS team.

Look at DHL’s app and operations to see a slick and well oiled operating model.

Wow. Supposedly a complete redesign to make the app better, easier to use.

What is the first thing I noticed when opening the update? They “hid” all the app’s functions in a hamburger menu, which is right at the top of the screen. On big phones this is unreachable with the thumb without re-gripping the phone (or using a second hand). Why get rid of the tab bar? There’s a reason this is used in a lot of apps - because it’s quite user friendly and easy to understand.

Second thing? I wanted to send some feedback, so I clicked on the “Help & Support” item in the hamburger menu. It warns me first that it will be opening the browser (instead of offering anything useful directly in the app, like say FAQs, or contact details for support etc). Then what do I get when it opens the browser? A 404 page not found on the UPS site. So clearly the link programmed into the app is old/out of date, or whoever is in charge of the website wasn’t clued in to ensure that this link worked as planned. Either way it’s pretty sad.

Well done UPS. I think you’ve managed to make an already pretty bad app even worse.