I am the shipping manager where I work and deal with UPS everyday. Our driver is great and I've know him for the 13 years I've worked here. He would go miles out of his way to deliver a package that didn't belong on his truck instead of report it, send it back and charge the customer the correction fee. He's rare.
In the lady's only defense, if she didn't measure the bike at 29.5, the auditers down the line will. She will then be chewed out for charging you less than she should have. If she had been kind enough to tell you that I'm sure you would have understood.
They have auditers along the conveyer pulling off random packages to ensure the proper weight and size was billed. Unless of course you say it was 10 lbs and it was only 5, they won't correct that.
You would not believe how many people in the world do not know their own zip code. When UPS corrects a zip code or any address, I get billed $5. That's why companies add shipping charges on top of freight costs. My monthly bill usually has about $25 in correction fees.
I ship to construction sites quite a bit. If the ground is muddy or the person who the package is directed to, isn't standing by the front door, they drive right on by and return the package as no such address. Thus I have to pay the return charges.
If UPS screws up I have to fill out 4 pages of info and fax it back and wait 2 billing cycles for any update. When you call 1-800-PICK UPS. You are not talking to UPS, you are taking to an angency hired by UPS, so it's usless to yell at them or ask for their super cause they don't have a clue, they are just looking at what you see on UPS.com.