My pet peeve (one of 'em anyway!)

Discussion of various shipping and packing methods, tips and tricks.
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k4kk
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2003 12:20 am
Location: The great state of Tennessee

My pet peeve (one of 'em anyway!)

Post by k4kk »

I think the UPS Store should be renamed back to Mailboxes R Us or whatever. I get so chapped to buy something and agree to pay shipping (after I check it out on the website for UPS) only to learn that the shipping fees are ridiculously high --- and there is a receipt for it! The UPS Store upcharges for packaging at an alarming rate and TRIPLES the fees for insurance "if they want to." (That means UPS lets them so they do it!!!) Just this week, I bought a radio that I checked out the shipping costs prior to buying. It would be around $35 since it was fairly heavy. I got the invoice for OVER $100 and about crapped. Even the insurance (as noted) went from 35 CENTS/$100 to a full $1 per $100 of value. If I had been in the country and able to act quickly, there is now way I would have gone through with it. The fellow took it to UPS "Store" as opposed to UPS and trusted me to pay. I even got scanned copies of his invoices. The poor chap just didn't know he was getting screwed -- and I got screwed in turn.
k3ich
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 12:06 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Mail Boxes Etc. = RIP-OFF

Post by k3ich »

Amen!!! I can't believe what they charge for packing materials either. For example, a big cardboard box will cost you $15 at those rip-off stores. The UPS counter will sell the same box for $5.00, but you can buy it at any professional packing supply such as "Ship-It" or "BrownCor" for $3.00. If you're REALLY cheap (like me) you can get an unlimited supply of cardboard boxes at your local recycling center for free. I'd avoid used pizza boxes though.

I asked an MBE clerk once exactly what I got for my $1/$100 insurance over the standard rate of 35c/$100 and was told that it was extra service. Hah, extra profit for them is more like it.

The big thing to me though, is that I have had two irreplaceable "boatanchor" radios completely destroyed due to inadequate packing from two different MBE stores. I can't speak for all of them, but these two at least, had no idea how to pack something heavy like an HRO-60. The other extreme is that they use a 24" cube box (more expensive) and huge amounts of packing ( which they charge for) to ship a shoebox size item.

Personally, I prefer FedEx Ground over UPS, but whichever you choose, avoid the 3rd party shippers. Even Staples pricing is higher than the UPS counter, even though they tell you it's the same scale.
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