UPS says the service, introduced a year ago in New York and Chicago, will trim costs by ending second and third delivery attempts, and can save consumers a trip to a distant customer center.

While the company said the Access Point program receives a favorable response on surveys, it's gotten mixed reviews judging from social media sites, according to John Haber, a shipping consultant in Atlanta.

Adapted from a Belgian company UPS acquired in 2012, Access Point targets neighborhoods with a high rate of failed deliveries, or what UPS internally calls "send-agains." Those include older neighborhoods, areas with rows of townhouses where the doorstep is in plain sight, or apartment buildings with no doormen, said Geoffrey Light, president of product development.

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