********FYI INFORMATION ON THE UPS STORE********

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N8ERM
Posts: 261
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:43 am

********FYI INFORMATION ON THE UPS STORE********

Post by N8ERM »

The UPS store is not and I repeat NOT the same as UPS. The UPS store is a private contractor. The UPS store packs incorrectly and YOU must go to small claim court to try to get your $$$$$ back for damaged goods. UPS will not even discuss it with you. How do I know? I bought an AL80B from a guy out west. The ups store put a few peanuts in the bottom of the box, put the amp in, filled the box with peanuts and shipped it. You know the rest of the story. You will do a much better job yourself. Want help? Just ask on feedback forum. Packing em to arrive alive!!!!! Remember to play NICE.
Good trading, buying and selling.
Terry N8ERM
KC0UKR
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Missouri

Re: ********FYI INFORMATION ON THE UPS STORE********

Post by KC0UKR »

N8ERM wrote:The UPS store is not and I repeat NOT the same as UPS. The UPS store is a private contractor. The UPS store packs incorrectly and YOU must go to small claim court to try to get your $$$$$ back for damaged goods. UPS will not even discuss it with you. How do I know? I bought an AL80B from a guy out west. The ups store put a few peanuts in the bottom of the box, put the amp in, filled the box with peanuts and shipped it. You know the rest of the story. You will do a much better job yourself. Want help? Just ask on feedback forum. Packing em to arrive alive!!!!! Remember to play NICE.
Good trading, buying and selling.
Terry N8ERM
Terry

You can not make some general statement like this against an entire huge operation based on your single bad experience with them.

That is sort of like having a bad run-in with any Ham operator and then telling everyone how Ham's can not be trusted.

I have had Many more good experiences with many different UPS stores than the few bad with them myself.

It is true that they are a Franchise operation and only pay for the use of the name of Brown.
They also make a profit on the shipping and packing both and it is always cheaper to do it directly at a UPS hub.

It is also true that they will stand behind the job they do packing and I have been compensated before if they screw one up or it is damaged and they packed it.
This is the real selling point for them,let them pack it and they are responsible.

I will prefer to do my own packing because as you point out it is not Rocket Science and then I know how it looked when shipped but they do provide a needed service for many people.

I think your post is just not fair to the thousands of them you are legit and try to deliver a decent service.

Ed
W3WN
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:40 pm

Re: ********FYI INFORMATION ON THE UPS STORE********

Post by W3WN »

N8ERM wrote:The UPS store is not and I repeat NOT the same as UPS. The UPS store is a private contractor. The UPS store packs incorrectly and YOU must go to small claim court to try to get your $$$$$ back for damaged goods. UPS will not even discuss it with you. How do I know? I bought an AL80B from a guy out west. The ups store put a few peanuts in the bottom of the box, put the amp in, filled the box with peanuts and shipped it. You know the rest of the story. You will do a much better job yourself. Want help? Just ask on feedback forum. Packing em to arrive alive!!!!! Remember to play NICE.
Good trading, buying and selling.
Terry N8ERM
The UPS Store, formerly Mailboxes Etc., is a franchise operation. Although Brown owns the corporation now (thus the name change), it does not own each individual location.

So with that in mind, also considering UPS's considerable repuation for denying insurance claims due to improper packaging... it sounds like you (and the shipper) have a case against the individual location that improperly packed the box. Presuming that they are the ones who packaged it, of course (not that I disbelieve you, but I wasn't there to witness the transactions)

With that in mind...

Whenever one has a 3rd party pack an item for you, one must make sure they do it right. For example...

Last fall, I had to send my daughter's Nintendo DS back for a warranty repair. Packed it very well, plenty of bubble wrap, double boxed in a white FedEx box. Took the box & the pre-printed FedEx Ground shipping label they sent me to the FedEx Kinkos (Now FedEx Office) near the house, by South Hills Village Mall one Saturday morning.

The girl at the counter wasn't too thrilled to handle a pre-paid shipment, and it showed in her voice & body language. Then she informed me that she COULD NOT ship a FedEx Ground package in a FedEx white (FedEx Express, the original service) box, because "the drivers don't like it." Yeah, I know, that doesn't make much sense, but she wouldn't budge. So I had to buy a bigger box for $3 or so... not worth the aggravation of arguing.

THEN she thows the original box (and shipping label attached) into the bigger box -- nothing to pad it, just the box -- and proceeds to seal it up. I stopped her in time, to at least retrieve the shipping label... because (she informed me) that if she had sealed the box, I would have had to pay for a 2nd one (even though it's her mistake?) She grudgingly through some "shipping paper" crumpled into the box to fill the spaces.

Now, I wasn't too worried, since I knew how the other box was packed, but it's the principle of the thing.

And... I did try to follow up with the store manager the following Monday. He didn't seem too interested, told me "I'll give you a call back once I know what happened" and hung up -- before I could give him a name or phone number.

I now deal with a FedEx Office around the corner from work. No problems, and no attitude.

So... it's not the chain, it's the store.

Hope you nail them!

73
K4ICL
Posts: 663
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:07 pm
Location: Greenville, SC
Contact:

Read it again...

Post by K4ICL »

As I read his statement, all Terry is saying is when you get your item packed by an UPS Store, UPS, the Brown Box Company, has NO RESPONSIBILITY and NO LIABILITY for ANY damage to your item.

Terry's warning is completely valid. If you chose to have your item packed by a UPS Store, don't expect UPS to cooperate in setteling any damage claims.

If you thinks about it, the franchising of UPS Stores is a stroke of genius from UPS management. They get more customers to ship via UPS and get paid by the franchisers to boot, with no added responsibilities.

K4ICL
KC0UKR
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Missouri

Post by KC0UKR »

That is certainly one way to interpret what Terry wrote.

The 3rd sentence of his warning however seems to imply that if there is an issue one will end up in court as the only recourse and that this is how it will happen.

I was pointing out that just because this may happen sometimes it hardly seems fair to condemn all transactions with them to this fate based upon his 1 experience.

Somehow though I think we all know this too.

I agree it was brilliant on the part of Brown to take over these stores in name only.

They also frequently will claim that the rates they charge for shipping with Brown are the same as one shipping from a hub when this is an outright lie but I guess they figure most will not even check?
Kurt - K8YZK
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 12:48 pm

Post by Kurt - K8YZK »

Sorry to hear about the amp.
I have shipped using the UPS Store, and I watch carefully as they have done it. Only once have I asked for a little more packing (bubble wrap and peanuts) around the item being shipped, plus ask for them to double box.
I must be lucky because I have never had a problem and I have shipped to Hawaii and Alaska.
w8jn
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:21 pm

ups store

Post by w8jn »

terry,
you are dead on accurate. the ups stores are franchises, and i have never met a more customer unfriendly group of jerks in my life. their goal is to show you that it's "their store and their rules", and yes, i have had personal experience receiving horribly packed equipment from a ups store. you do have to take them to small claims court because technically, you are not the shipper. the independent owner of the ups store is the shipper and ups will not talk to you.
i took a quadra into a ups store to ship. it was on a cart and the owner starts screaming at me, from the back of the store, to "get that cart off of his carpet". next, after i paid for shipping and insurance, he refused to give me the official ups receipt indicating $3000 insurance. he scribbled it on a piece of paper. i said cancel the sale and give me my packages back. he refused and i jumped over the counter and picked up my boxes and walked out. i canceled the sale through mastercard and took the packages to staples where they gave me a cart to push my quadra into their store where they were happy to have my business and the cart on their floor. UPS STORE FRANCHISEES??? the biggest collections of loosers in business.
happy hoss trading paul w8jn
Last edited by w8jn on Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
sparkchaser
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:07 pm

Post by sparkchaser »

Contained within the comments expressed here, are the reasons, whenever possible, I ship via USPS. Granted some of the real large packages might be refused, but they accept a surprising amount of weight.
Are they flawless? Certainly not, but my experience has been good, and settlement of any disputes, friendly and quick.
Flat Rate Priority Mail is a good bargain,with free boxes, and normal 2 day delivery is nice.
lhk0pd
Posts: 715
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:01 pm
Location: dodge city kansas
Contact:

Post by lhk0pd »

I believe what you will find with UPS stores or any franchise is the service and attitude will vary from store to store.So it's not quite fair to lump them all in one basket.
Larry Huff K0pd
W9DMW-2
Posts: 112
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:47 am

Terry is right on !!!!

Post by W9DMW-2 »

Good day to all,
Terry is right on, I have dealt with my UPS Store for years, But I did have a dispute which ended that relationship but quick. Not to be long and drawn out, Here are the quick and the stupid of the transaction.
I had an item being picked up in another state. The item was wrapped and to be dropped off buy the seller for me at his local terminal. I thought this was very nice of the seller. He got there with the package, And dropped it off.
I in turn, Paid the shipping chargers here based on the shipping weight given to me by the shipper, It was 65Lbs, A day later, The UPS terminal calls up the seller, Telling him to pick up the package, Because it was over the 70 lbs allowed weight. Well the short of it all, Is I had to drive down to MO. To pick the item up. When I got the item here, I took it to the UPS store here, Had it weighed, And sure enough, It weight 65Lbs as stated by the seller. I then asked the UPS store for a refund on my shipping fee's, Which they refused to do. Long and short of it all, Something was wrong somewhere, But the fact that UPS did nothing to entitle them to shipping fee's, And failure to refund was the end for me.
You can burn me once, But it will never happen again. My complaint with the UPS support was USELESS also. I now use Fed-Ex, And our postal service, For the $$$, there the best going.

TNX Don W9DMW
w8jn
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:21 pm

don, 100% correct

Post by w8jn »

don, you are 100% accurate. ups store franchisees take a course in how to and chase out a customer permanently. they are penny wise and dollar foolish. they wanted your $40 so bad that they were willing to destroy the long term hundreds and hundreds of dollars your return business would have brought. ups stores seem to attract franchisees with the mentality of " this is my turf and you need to understand that you, the customer, will do things at my convenience. miserable personalities. plus, they double the shipping costs for their profit. fed ex kinkos charges the standard "on line" fed ex rate.
happy hoss trading paul w8jn
lhk0pd
Posts: 715
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:01 pm
Location: dodge city kansas
Contact:

Post by lhk0pd »

Paul my thought on your last comment is why bother to be in business if your wanting to run your customers off.To me that makes no sense and i'm not taking the sides of the Stores you Don and others have had a bad experience with as from your descriptions there attitudes are inexcusable. I wonder why UPS does not step in and correct them as after all they are giving UPS a more worse reputation than they all ready have and i have to believe in the Franchise contract there has to be some sort of demands of how they operate there business. By the way Paul my Son stopped by with his family as he has finished his three yr committment on training new GB's and was being transfered back to FT Carson to be with his group the 10th mountain division.
Larry Huff K0pd
w8jn
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:21 pm

franchisee

Post by w8jn »

larry
lots of small businesses fail. you meet peoples needs or they go elsewhere.
my son-in-law just shipped out to iraq and my daughter is bringing the grandbabies in from dc for 3 days. haven't seen them for a year.
keep in touch 73 paul w8jn
ps our religious group was in emergency need of some printing. lance the mgr. at fed ex kinkos mason ohio stayed on christmas eve to get the job done for us. his store is a company store and he has a fantastic following of loyal customers who recruit new customers for him.
KC5BIE
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 24, 2009 7:49 pm

Adding to the list

Post by KC5BIE »

... of UPS Store stories...

Some of you may have seen my comment on QRZ recently...I bought an amp recently from a ham in Ohio, paid extra for professional packing and shipping. Since there was no FedEx in the area, I agreed to let him ship by UPS. I wasn't there, but presumably he filled out the paperwork and left the amp to the professionals. Yes, you know the story from here...

The amp arrived in California upside down, wrapped in single layer bubble wrap, in a bunch of peanuts. Amp is 95 lbs and is thus stated on the UPS shipping label. Marking by box manufacturer on the bottom clearly states, 75 lbs max. Needless to say, the amp now has to make a trip (by personal car) to Henry Radio for some repairs. I didn't bother with the hassel of trying to get UPS to fork over insurance money.

I can't say I'm too terribly surprised, I'd heard the stories about most package delivery services, but learning that the UPS store is not affiliated with UPS the brown truck folks was news to me.
w8jn
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:21 pm

affiliated

Post by w8jn »

they are affiliated, in that they are quasi franchises. they used to be called pkgs. ups bought out the parent company that did the national advertising for the local owners. the story is the same everywhere. i bought an icom 2kl. the seller had the ups franchisee pack it. unfortunately he paid their exorbitant packing and shipping fees and walked out before they packed it.
I received a nightmare. they jammed all three units in one box back to back to front, metal to metal. they figured , tight packing would keep them from rattling around. by the time they arrived, the units were scratched like they were used as surf boards and the dials and knobs were crushed! of course the owner of the ups store did not want to pay the claim. the shipper threatened to take him to small claims court and he eventually paid.
w9lvm
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:51 pm

UPS

Post by w9lvm »

I dropped off a mint FT-1000 at a UPS store and like you send a liitle peanuts on radio and then they laid a 232 interface right on top of radio! I pack my own rather then trust UPS for packing or shipping! I use USPS for shipping CHEAPER AND BETTER HANDLING then UPS!
N9LCD
Posts: 330
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 8:32 pm

Post by N9LCD »

NEVER, EVER pay the UPS store or any other packing service in cash.

CHARGE IT!!

That way, if they blow the packing, you can dispute the charge with your credit card issuer and withhold payment of what's due to the packer until they make good!

MAKE THEM COME AFTER YOU WHEN THEY SCREW-UP!!


JERRY

N9LCD

:twisted: [/u]
w8jn
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:21 pm

charge not the issue

Post by w8jn »

jerry the initial charge is not the issue. getting a quality settlement in the event of shipping damage is the problem. since the franchisee is the shipper, they get paid, not you and if they do a shi--y job, ups will deny the claim and you have zero recourse against ups, since you were not the shipper. you now have to sue the franchisee........ pain it the buttttt
kg8lb
Posts: 268
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:37 pm

Post by kg8lb »

Perhaps this varies from franchise to franchise but...Our local UPS store (Sterling Heights Michigan , on Mound Road) issues claims for items packed and shipped by them directly to the selling shipper.(The actual paying customer, not the franchisee) They are quite prompt and fair from what I have seen. I highly recommend them to folks in our area. The owner has a good sense about packing the gear and is willing to address particular concerns of the shipper.
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