Revolt growing at UPS

The Dallas Morning News ^ | May 4, 2006 | Katherine Yung

[Basselope]

United Parcel Service Inc. is facing a revolt within its shipping network as a growing number of store franchisees, including several in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are joining forces to sue the company.

The situation has become so acrimonious that more than 100 UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees from around the country are expected to picket outside the package delivery giant's annual shareholder meeting today in Wilmington, Del.

[Glenn]

Kinkos was good before FedEx took over - now I never use that vendor. Awful.

Really. What's changed, exactly?

[American_Centurion]

RE: FedEx Ground, very interesting, I had no idea. How about FedEx Custom Critical? Do you know if they are the same thing or are they a part of the real FedEx?

[ethics]

I have found UPS to be a very fair and honorable company to deal with.

UPS offers quality service at a reasonable price!

UPS treats their employees with one of the best benefits and payroll package!

UPS is loyal to its employees and contributes to many of the communities charities.

UPS keeps its committsments to its retirees and provides a very great working environment!

[Nascar Dad]

What can Brown do for you?

[Dave S]

The mail boxes etc franchises could be upset that Mail Boxes Etc sold out to UPS and now Mail BOxes Etc franchises can no longer use Fed Ex.

I have a mail box at a Mail Boxes Etc store and I use them much less frequently for shipping now that I can no longer use FedEx. If I was a franchisee, I would be pissed off if I bought a franchise and then they changed the rules so a bunch of fat cats at headquarters could make some quick bucks on the sale at the franchisees expense.

[cowtowney]

"these are people who made bad business decisions and are trying to blame the franchise licensor. it seem kind of like someone opening a mcdonalds and then later suing because they're no turning a profit. these people knew what they were getting into."

I think their complaint is that it was like opening a McDonald's franchise and then having the home office of McDonalds compete with you.

[rarestia]

LOL! THAT Brown can come over and help me... chase... wires... under the couch... yeah... that.

[Bear_Slayer]

Maybe they should merge with FedEx. They could call themselves FedUPS

[Vicomte13]

DOOMED!...they're DOOMED!

[XJarhead]

The mail boxes etc franchises could be upset that Mail Boxes Etc sold out to UPS and now Mail BOxes Etc franchises can no longer use Fed Ex.

Then they should have a problem with FedEx, not UPS. UPS permits them to ship via FedEx. It's FedEx that is not permitting UPS store franchisees to ship via FedEx.

[Dont Mention the War]

RE: FedEx Ground, very interesting, I had no idea. How about FedEx Custom Critical? Do you know if they are the same thing or are they a part of the real FedEx?

I've never had the need for Custom Critical, so I haven't gone out of my way to make sure, but I'm 90% sure they're the real deal. At those prices, they'd better be!

I think it's only FedEx Ground that does that contracting-out thing.

[HitmanLV]

the FedEx wing is fine. Very reliable, as always.

Kinkos tanked in a big way. Very poor customer service reps. Not rude, but just not on the ball at all. They seemed to have problems with some copy machines all the time - broken or waiting for maintenance.

Copy jobs that used to be done in an hour or two ended up becoming 24 hour jobs. Not complicated jobs but simple B&W copies and binding.

I get a course manual I wrote copied from time to time. It is copyrighted and each page has that notation. Once in a while, I'd get a call (usually an hour or two before pickup) that they could not copy the manual because it was copyrighted. "I own the copyright," I'd tell them. Well then, you need to fill out the release form. "I have filled it out, many times. You should have it on file."

No, you need to fill out a release form every time. "Why didn't you ask me when I left the job?" Didn't notice.

"OK, but what about the 200 times you copied it without a problem, were you breaking the law and policy then?" No answer. The consistent posture at the 2 or 3 Kinkos I dealt with was that if they could wiggle out of not doing work, they would pursue that line of argument aggressively. They didn't like being outwitted, or being forced to explain their inconsistent (incoherent) policy.

These antics caused me to miss minor deadlines, mail times, etc. I learned my lesson: avoid FedEx-Kinkos and avoid problems.

I use CopyMax now, who are right across the street from FedEx-Kinkos. They copy small print jobs for me (3 or 5 200 page manuals and bindings) in a couple of hours, sometimes much less. Price is about the same. Never had a problem.

The difference, best as I can tell, is copymax in my experience seems to hire younger people - teens and young 20s, part time job, whatever. Kinkos seems to hire middle aged lost souls. For what its worth, the kids work harder, faster, and without problems, while the older lost souls seem bewildered by fairly straightforward things, and jump all over a chance to be difficult with the client.

[MS from the OC]

Let me make sure I understand... These guys charge more than other channels. I thought it was because of the increased level of service they provide. But since the Internet allows UPS and the customer to charge/pay less they're surprised and angry. What idiots!

I'm assuming that they'll also use the Postal Service, I mean where else can you purchase a $0.39 stamp for $0.50?

[kinoxi]

in order to own the business they signed a multitude of papers stipulating their rights. mcdonalds franchises often have competitive location addendums.(that's why they are so big) the business owners signed and paid per their contract. if they didn't read it ... i have a hard time sympathizing

[Radix]

Teamsters!

Nuff said?

[VanDeKoik]

Beware of the brown shirts?

[Eepsy]

Could somebody get that twelve year old a cheeseburger and a pair of pants.

[BJungNan]

I rarely have trouble with real FedEx, but I won't touch FedEx Ground with a ten-foot pole. They're private contractors, not the real thing, so if anything goes wrong with your delivery, God help you.

No accurate. Not in my case.

We shipped to the wrong address (our fault) several blocks away from intended residential destination. Took us 15 days to discover the problem. Called FedEx. They had the driver call us. He went and got the package back from someone that was obviously trying to keep it and delievered it to where it should have gone.

I could not be more pleased with FedEx ground. They handle claims quickly and promptly. Consistantly excellent service. Yes, they are independent contractors/ that's as in small business people that care about their business by my estimation. A far better situation that dealing with a giant company when you have an issue.

[Basselope]

Check out the WSJ article on same topic.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1628666/posts

[reagan_fanatic]

"It had to come to blows, didn't it?"