[wwjdn]

No more UPS for me!

[wwjdn]

Bump

[Timmy]

I would never use Mailboxes, Etc. They ripped me off years ago and lost a customer FOREVER.

[Jolly Green]

This is an indication that things are really getting back to normal after 9/11 if this is the biggest problem you have.

This may come as a surprise to you, but personal responsibility means you have to pay for your own mistakes. It certainly wasn't UPS' fault you screwed up. It wasn't even Mail Box, etc.'s fault. WHO IS SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR YOUR SCREW UP???

[Donna Lee Nardo]

It's not UPS directly that wants to charge you again, as they say, it's the 3rd party. Next time, call UPS directly on their toll-free number and they will come to your home to pick up your package. On the phone in advance, you will tell them the addressee information and if anything you say is amiss regarding the zip code or city or state, UPS will know. They will bring their own shipping label to you when they pick up the package. I always ship UPS for heavy items and I never leave the house! Of course, their prices keep increasing. In fact, I find them just as costly as USPS priority mail and Fed-X.

[abner]

The United Parcel Service (UPS) has found a new way to eliminate competition, they are now making you pay double if you make a mistake on a package and send through a third party vendor (i.e. Mail Boxes Etc.).

Should Mailboxes eat the charges? I don't think so. UPS doesn't cut anyone any breaks, so no matter who messed it up, the shipper has to pay.

I recently tried to send a birthday present to my daughter, so I mailed the box full of presents from Mail Boxes Etc. Little did I know this would cost me more than I bargained for. It seems that I made a mistake on the zip code for the parcel. All other fields were correct.

UPS noticed my mistake the next day and was kind enough to return the package to Mail Boxes Etc. for me free of charge. Therein lies the problem. The cost for returning a package at no charge ends up costing me double the original cost, because they refuse to ship the parcel now.

Who refuses to ship the package now? I'm sure either UPS or Mailboxes would be happy to ship it for you, but you will have to pay again.

My costs have now doubled because if I wish to send my daughter a present I have to re-address the parcel and re-send it through UPS. When I contacted UPS to see of this was a mistake I was informed the following:

Thank you for your inquiry. Commercial Counters and Authorized Shipping Outlets are independently owned shipping outlets that provide service to customers shipping packages. They are not UPS owned facilities. Please note, the Authorized Shipping Outlet is responsible for all aspects of the shipment transaction; you do not deal directly with UPS. Thank you for using UPS Internet Services.

In my simple understanding of this message I am now to understand that had I used UPS directly without using an inferior second rate service, this would not have cost me double.

That is not the case, you would still have to pay. UPS is famous for bad customer service, overcharging, goofing up, losing items, breaking things, etc. They will only admit fault if you threaten legal action. They seem to figure that if they can just keep you from trying to resolve something its cheaper than paying a claim or admitting fault.

How do the rest of you feel about this? I am quite simply outraged. I will never use UPS again. There are plenty of "customer friendly" companies out there that care about the customer and some even allow for a simple mistake in addressing occasionally.

FedEx is better, but there aren't a lot of choices.

Please let me know your thoughts and pass the word that if you like UPS, then don't use a second rate intermediary.

I don't think that Mailboxes in this case was second rate at all. If you made the mistake, they still have to pay the shipping charges to UPS, because UPS will still make Mailboxes pay. We have a shipping service in our office as a convienience to our customers. We make the customer fill out the book so if there is a mistake, we don't take a hit. We don't make a whole lot of cash with shipping, so when UPS loses or breaks something it eats up every single penny of profit and then some to try to help the customer with their claim.

Mailboxes Etc. and other services like it are there for convienience. A lot of people don't know where the UPS terminal is, or that they can even drop off a package there. I can tell you that even if you did drop it off directly at the UPS terminal you would still have to pay the shipping again.

I have been dealing with UPS for years now and they know they don't have a lot of competition. It shows in how they treat their customers. Badly.

My experience tells me that you are lucky to even get your package back. Usually it would end up in their land of lost packages in Atlanta. If you wouldn't have gotten your package back, you could expect a fight that lasts for months before you got your claim settled. That is UPS standard procedure, not Mailboxes.

The U.S. Postal Service is cheaper. Try them.

[Glenn]

Use FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery.

[Moonman62]

You know what's really going to upset you. Mail Boxes Etc. is now owned by UPS. Mail Boxes Etc. I got a flier from Office Depot saying that you can ship UPS through them for the same price UPS charges at the their counter.

[schaketo]

Thank you for your inquiry. Commercial Counters and Authorized Shipping Outlets are independently owned shipping outlets that provide service to customers shipping packages. They are not UPS owned facilities. Please note, the Authorized Shipping Outlet is responsible for all aspects of the shipment transaction; you do not deal directly with UPS. Thank you for using UPS Internet Services.

Why do you feel it's UPS' fault if you clearly mislabled the package and dealt directly with a 3rd party interested in a profit?

It appears the business relationship is with MBE. NOT YOU! Take it up with MBE.

As for me, I'll continue to UPS for all my shipping as the alternatives are unacceptable. FedEx and USPS are horrible!

Think about it.

[okie01]

I've got some bad news for you.

Mailboxes, Etc. is owned by UPS.

Like McDonald's, though, it's a franchise business. The location you did business with may be independently owned, but their franchise was purchased from UPS.

That said, though, you are the one responsible for giving them a correct address. And their entire system of distribution is set up to serve zip codes. So, if you have to pay double to get it to the right place, it's your tough luck.

On the other hand, it would've been no big deal for a UPS employee to recognize the problem when the driver returned the package, investigate the address, correct the zip code and re-direct the package. I once worked with UPS and can assure you that this very thing happens thousands of times a day.

Your experience was the exception that proves the rule. But it's still going to cost you...

[AZ Repub]

I love the "Big Brown Truck". I watch Dale Jarred race and I own UPS Stock. They are a great company. Have you tried to send anything through the USPS lately?

[No!]

What you just posted is like saying that AMOCO is at fault because the guy at a station in keokuck was rude to you...

What a silly waste of time posting this...

[M. Thatcher]

This has got to be the most idiotic post of the year, and that's saying something. Get over yourself already. Why is is that the clueless don't realize their own cluelessness?*

The title of your thread makes this appear to be a business story. Instead, it's a moron's story.

__________

*The answer may be here:

Incompetents don't know they are incompetent
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_400895.html
Ananova
A psychologist who has studied incompetent people says they are the least likely to realise how useless they are. He reckons the skills needed for competence are the same ones needed to recognise it. The findings may explain why people with a poor sense of humour insist on telling bad jokes. Dr David Dunning studied dozens of poor students, many of them confident in their abilities, before reaching his conclusions. Dunning's assistant, graduate student Justin Kruger, says: "Not only do incompetents reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realise it." The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Story filed: 15:53 Monday 17th September 2001

[SwankyC]

good christ why would you ever use them in the first place. The USPS is pretty much as reliable and costs 1/5 what UPS does.

[Cobra64]

Well, if you pump diesel fuel, instead of gasoline in your car and it does not run very well, you might have to pay a tow truck driver to get you and your car where you want to go. Aside from the addressess name, the ZIP CODE is the most important item you can put on an address label. Been out of touch for thirty years?

[chaosagent]

The USPS will do exactly the same thing.

Try sending a letter with too little postage on it.

It will come back to you with the origial postage cancelled. If you want to send it back out, you have to put all new postage on it and try again.

You made the mistake. It cost them money to handle the package and discover YOUR error. Why should UPS or MBE eat the costs?

FEDEX will also do it. Try sending a FEDEX package out with a bad address on it. It will come back and you have to start over from scratch, and pay again.

[kylaka]

I live in the anthrax postal ground zero area. Last week I got a check from a customer in an envelope in the amount of $34,073.26 for services rendered. The check, in its envelope, with its 34 cent stamp firmly affixed, was enclosed in a plastic small plastic baggy, with an apology from the postal service printed on it. It seems they admit that their machinery shredded most of it. The "check" was about 45 days late, because it was among mail that was quarenteened because of suspected anthrax. Regardless, I'm out about $612.00 in interest on the money, and the postal service will collect another 34 cents in order to set matters right.

And you're steamed?

[Moomah]

Excuse me ... but didn't you close your post by asking for our thoughts on this matter? "Please let me know your thoughts ..." is what you said. Perhaps you should have stipulated that you wanted us to share our thoughts only if they agreed with yours.

Could you be any more arrogant?

[sneakypete]

I hate UPS,but what I don't understand is why you think you "have" to use them? What's wrong with the US Post Office? They are cheaper than UPS,and usually quicker. Plus,the have the advantage that you don't have to wait around all day for the driver to come. You know what time your mail is usualy delivered,so it's no big deal to check on it.

BTW,it seems that Airborne Express and the USPS are now in business together. Good deal,since AE comes to your house for pick up,and the USPS delivers to the house on the other end.

[billybudd]

What are you talking about? This is clearly your fault. You mislabeled the package and therefore got screwed up in UPS's delivery system. Why should UPS pay for YOUR mistake? You're a big whiner. But I'm betting that you need UPS's business more than they need yours. Good luck.

[TightSqueeze]

How do the rest of you feel about this? I am quite simply outraged. I will never use UPS again. There are plenty of "customer friendly" companies out there that care about the customer and some even allow for a simple mistake in addressing occasionally

I have been pissed off at UPS for years, try to live without them, it ain't easy.