[insomniac]

I'm not sure if this is applicable everywhere, but the UPS Store in my neighborhood is ripping people off.

I went there today to ship a speaker. The box was large. It was a floorstanding speaker. After I filled out the form, the guy at the counter measured and weighted the box. He said 39lbs, 35x16x12. Then he quoted me a rate of $82.50 (including insurance for $1,000) for Ground shipping. I complained that this seemed awfully high and the guy at the counter gave me some spiel about skyrocketing fuel surcharges. I was in a rush and I wasn't about to take a 39lb box elsewhere (I don't have a car) so I just paid. I figured I was paying like a 25% surcharge or something like that, which I could live with in this case.

Later when I got to a computer, I thought I'd look up the quotes online. Using the exact same dimensions and insurance value as the guy at the counter used, UPS's website quoted $24.65. Just for comparison, Fedex's website quoted $15.96. Now I understand that these are just estimates and that there will be a surcharge for using a retail location, but this is ridiculous. How do you get to $82.50 from an estimate of $24.65??

So I called the UPS Store and complained about this HUGE discrepancy. He then told me that there was some big dispute going on between UPS and the retail UPS Stores about quoting incorrect shipping rates for customers via their website. He said his system had all the correct rates. He was courteous and apologized but insisted he was correct. He also said that I couldn't have my shipment rescinded at this point.

Again, I understand that there will be discrepancies between quotes and actual rates, but this was just an absurd difference. So I called UPS customer service to file a complaint. The representative agreed with me that this was a ridiculous discrepancy, after verifying the shipping quote again. She took down a bunch of information and forwarded my case to a specialist. I was told to expect a call back by end of business day tomorrow.

So I will see what happens when UPS gets back to me. I don't know how likely it is that I'll get some of my money back.

But either there is something really shady going on at that UPS Store or their systems are malfunctioning. Damn annoying. Just a warning to y'all. Make sure your local UPS Store isn't up to these shenanigans before you fork over any money to them.

 

[tkam]

This is why its always best to schedule a pickup even if you have to leave the package outside. The pickup fees are usually minimal and it will certainly cost less than what retail locations like the UPS Store will charge.

 

[Audiofiler]

Yikes, thanks for the headsup...
will watch out for that for sure,

NT

 

[Gabe Logan]

Thanks.I'll be sure to give them a call first and see how much it will cost before i send it out.I have only shipped by them once and it was about what i thought it would be.

 

[saab]

Wow, I didn't realize that UPS had stores.

Anyways, I hope that this gets worked out correctly. Please let us know how it works out.

-John

 

[Pixel Pusher]

That really bites! Another horror story and reason why I refuse to use UPS.

A couple of years back I sold a pair of high end bicycle wheels in which the buyer requested to have them shipped out via UPS Ground. I took the boxed wheelset into my local “Mail Boxes Etc” for an initial UPS quote. Later after receiving payment from the buyer I brought the wheelset back to the same MBE store to be dispatched (different guy at the counter though) and was rudely surprised to be given a different UPS cost for another $25 more! I complained about the quoted discrepancies but ended up paying for it because I told the buyer it was going out that day and I also didn't have a car to take it elsewhere.

I thought about it afterwards and remembered that when I brought the wheelset in for the first time it was measured upright and while the second time it was measured and entered into their system laying on it's side. I don't know if this is true but perhaps the shipping rates varies according to how the measurements are entered in their system? With a pair of wheels or floor standing speakers, shipped upright the foot print would be smaller and take up less real estate on their truck. And of course it would be the opposite on it's side, I don't know? I've since refused to use UPS especially with the ridiculous brokerage and handling fees they charge for cross border deliveries!

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pixel Pusher That really bites! Another horror story and reason why I refuse to use UPS. A couple of years back I sold a pair of high end bicycle wheels in which the buyer requested to have them shipped out via UPS Ground. I took the boxed wheelset into my local “Mail Boxes Etc” for an initial UPS quote. Later after receiving payment from the buyer I brought the wheelset back to the same MBE store to be dispatched (different guy at the counter though) and was rudely surprised to be given a different UPS cost for another $25 more! I complained about the quoted discrepancies but ended up paying for it because I told the buyer it was going out that day and I also didn't have a car to take it elsewhere. I thought about it afterwards and remembered that when I brought the wheelset in for the first time it was measured upright and while the second time it was measured and entered into their system laying on it's side. I don't know if this is true but perhaps the shipping rates varies according to how the measurements are entered in their system? With a pair of wheels or floor standing speakers, shipped upright the foot print would be smaller and take up less real estate on their truck. And of course it would be the opposite on it's side, I don't know? I've since refused to use UPS especially with the ridiculous brokerage and handling fees they charge for cross border deliveries!

Thare is such thing as Volumetric Shipping rate adjustments. Basically, the cost of shipping an item can vary depending on how much 1) volume and 2) floor space / area the item occupies in the truck / plane.

The packaging engineers at my work looked into this and saved a pretty considerable amount of $$$, just by switching to smaller boxes, or ones that used less floor space.

$82 -VS- $24... that is absurd though.

Garrett
Interresting thread

 

[kugino]

i've had more positive experiences with FEDEX GROUND, which seems to me to be one of the cheapest options out there...

 

[Gabe Logan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino i've had more positive experiences with FEDEX GROUND, which seems to me to be one of the cheapest options out there...

They are definetly the best when it comes to delivering a package on time with great online tracking but have not had to ship anything through them.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

I find it's not even worth trying to get quotes online. Package it up and then go to your local UPS then charge the buyer that shipping cost.

 

[socrates63]

So UPS doesn't own/run the UPS Store?

I thought UPS bought Mailboxes Etc and converted the stores to UPS Store. But I guess each store remains an independent franchise. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[kentamcolin]

I shipped two speakers recently. Long story short; UPS store quoted (after measuring and weighing them) $98. I took them to a UPS terminal with a customer counter and got them shipped for $37. IMO they should not call them UPS stores because the name implies that you're dealing directly with UPS. I stopped using UPS last year for this reason and the fact that they refused to pay for a packaged that they clearly destroyed (it was insured). Now I just go to Kinko's and use FedEx. Very reasonable rates.

 

[Pixel Pusher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 Thare is such thing as Volumetric Shipping rate adjustments. Basically, the cost of shipping an item can vary depending on how much 1) volume and 2) floor space / area the item occupies in the truck / plane. The packaging engineers at my work looked into this and saved a pretty considerable amount of $$$, just by switching to smaller boxes, or ones that used less floor space. $82 -VS- $24... that is absurd though.

Agreed, I'm sure UPS must use some kinda of volumetric or dimension weight rate adjustment. I can see if the floorstanding speakers were taken in and shipped on it's side it would take up to 3x more floor space and imagine UPS would charge you 3x the cost to ship.

 

[Born2bwire]

I noticed a while back the large increase in rates from shipping anything at UPS Stores via UPS or Fedex. For a few years now I always make the extra trip to goto the FedEx, UPS, or USPS terminals to do the shipping there. The quotes on their websites match what I pay at the terminal as long as I accurately weighed and measured the item.

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac I'm not sure if this is applicable everywhere, but the UPS Store in my neighborhood is ripping people off. I went there today to ship a speaker. The box was large. It was a floorstanding speaker. After I filled out the form, the guy at the counter measured and weighted the box. He said 39lbs, 35x16x12. Then he quoted me a rate of $82.50 (including insurance for $1,000) for Ground shipping. I complained that this seemed awfully high and the guy at the counter gave me some spiel about skyrocketing fuel surcharges. I was in a rush and I wasn't about to take a 39lb box elsewhere (I don't have a car) so I just paid. I figured I was paying like a 25% surcharge or something like that, which I could live with in this case. Later when I got to a computer, I thought I'd look up the quotes online. Using the exact same dimensions and insurance value as the guy at the counter used, UPS's website quoted $24.65. Just for comparison, Fedex's website quoted $15.96. Now I understand that these are just estimates and that there will be a surcharge for using a retail location, but this is ridiculous. How do you get to $82.50 from an estimate of $24.65?? So I called the UPS Store and complained about this HUGE discrepancy. He then told me that there was some big dispute going on between UPS and the retail UPS Stores about quoting incorrect shipping rates for customers via their website. He said his system had all the correct rates. He was courteous and apologized but insisted he was correct. He also said that I couldn't have my shipment rescinded at this point. Again, I understand that there will be discrepancies between quotes and actual rates, but this was just an absurd difference. So I called UPS customer service to file a complaint. The representative agreed with me that this was a ridiculous discrepancy, after verifying the shipping quote again. She took down a bunch of information and forwarded my case to a specialist. I was told to expect a call back by end of business day tomorrow. So I will see what happens when UPS gets back to me. I don't know how likely it is that I'll get some of my money back. But either there is something really shady going on at that UPS Store or their systems are malfunctioning. Damn annoying. Just a warning to y'all. Make sure your local UPS Store isn't up to these shenanigans before you fork over any money to them.

Yep, sounds about right. I've had the exact same experience lately at my local UPS store. Though, in that case the ground rates were fine, but to ship a tiny package to california 3 day Air saver was $70...