When I then called UPS to tell them I wished to come in person to pick up the package, I was instructed to leave a call-back number for which to receive a return phone call within the hour. The response was prompt, but all the operator could provide me was a street address and local landmark — Costco — while suggesting I use other services to figure out how to actually get there and back.
Luckily Seattle has an award-winning Metro bus service, a LostInSeattle.com mapping site, and I’m not afraid of taking the time to ask and answer questions. After speaking with a kindly Metro rider operator, we figured out the logistics of traveling from downtown Seattle to the UPS warehouse and back for such a common “special event,” and I hope both Metro and delivery services can somehow integrate the data into their services.
Both the UPS and FedEx warehouses are located near the corner of Airport Way & South Snoqualmie Street. I don’t know the FedEx office hours, but UPS packages may be picked up the same day as a missed delivery from 7-8pm if notified in time using the phone number included on their notice left at the door.
If busing from downtown Seattle, take the 131 route from 2nd & James near Pioneer Square leaving at 6:34pm and arriving approximately 15 minutes later at Airport Way & S. Snoqualmie St. UPS is to the northwest of the intersection; FedEx to the southwest. The next 131 bus in that direction departs an hour later at 7:24pm, but that would seem to be cutting it too close to 8:00 when UPS closes.
To return to downtown on the 131 from the warehouses, the buses depart at 7:16pm, 8:17, and 9:17, leaving a best case scenario of about half an hour and a worse case of an hour and a half turnaround between arriving and returning.
A UPS operator informed me that their computers weren’t set up for sharing this kind of information, and I’ve been hard pressed to find an actual email address on their website to send it to. Surely I may find a way to get UPS, FedEx, Seattle/King County Metro (206.553.3000), etc. to integrate this and related information into their systems.
