To save money, UPS Hong Kong stopped delivering its own parcels. SF Express, a Chinese company, now does the door-to-door. Customers still pay UPS.
UPS in Hong Kong still takes the booking, still charges the customer, and still puts its name on the service. Most of the door-to-door work is no longer done by UPS.
The parcels are handed to SF Express. SF Express is a Chinese company, part of Shenzhen-based SF Holding. An SF courier does the last mile. The address, phone number, shipment details and signature sit on SF’s system, not on a UPS van. UPS does not see the route and does not control the person at the door.
This did not start as a one-off locker deal. UPS and SF set up a Hong Kong joint venture in 2017. In 2018 UPS began using SF stores as pickup points. It has since moved past collection points. Regular home delivery is now SF staff.
The reason is cost. Running a UPS doorstep fleet in Hong Kong is expensive. Handing the round to SF is cheaper. The brand stays. The service is given away.
Customers are not told, in any plain way, that the courier on the doorstep does not work for UPS. They paid an American carrier. A Chinese carrier finished the job.
That is a conduct problem, not a fighter-jet story. Custody of the freight and of the personal data leaves UPS the moment the box is passed over. Hong Kong UPS cannot audit SF’s system, and it cannot manage SF’s courier. Cheap last mile is the business term. Giving away the delivery is what actually happened.