Word to the wise...avoid UPS Store and others...

OOPS! You are right,my bad!!!

 

The UPS stores are told what they can charge by UPS.
Most of them make up the difference in the packaging charges.
When a shipment you received is all beat up most times it is the CHEAP ASS sender who dumpster dived a box, used newspaper or dryer lint to pack with and put an overweight item into an under weight box.
Yes some well packed items get trashed by the 150# box in the system that fell on your 32 grill.
How do I know this? I have had one of those Mail and Parcel stores for 15 years.
I have had about 6 packages trashed and paid the customer for the damaged item(shipping,packing and value of the item) and then filed a claim with the carrier to get MY money back.
I now do almost exclusively freight by truck.

Nick Leone
Freight Colorado
80031

 

Wow, what a crock! We had a local P.O. Box shop that refused to give the Sheriff the mail box owner's name. The Sheriff notified the Postal Inspectors and they came down and threatened to close the guys franchise. I would think UPS would have something like that in their contract.

 

Yep, open your own UPS or FEDEX account. you have to have a card or account for the fees to come out of and you have to have a company name for your account but no business tax number is needed.

But they do sell your companies name and you get things like free trade magazines in the mail. then you print out your label and take the package to the UPS depot and drop it off.

 

When you ship UPS Ground to Canada there is a brokerage fee that I believe starts at $25 or so. I never ship UPS ground to Canada.
Then UPS collects for your Canadian Revenue department the Duties/Taxes/etc.
If you ship express to Canada there is no brokerage fee. Many times the express cost is cheaper than the brokerage fee and the shipping.
But the Canadian Revenue department still gets their cut.

Nick Leone
Freight Colorado
80031

 

Different issue, but worth mentioning:


Your US Postal system has some new, bigger, "Flat Rate" size boxes, that can come in very handy for heavy parts.

The problem is, some of these odd sizes, will never be stocked at your post office.

They are only available online for free, from USPS. But it took 11-12 days for me to get one I needed to ship heavy rocker shafts coast to coast. The hamber was OK when I explained that wait, to save a bunch of money. Ship cost by flat rate was $15.45 no weight limit.


Be careful to read the fine print when ordering these boxes: I did not, and instead of FIVE boxes, I got 5 boxes of boxes...yep, 125 freaking boxes, at 25 per box

 

The Sheriff is not entitled to that info with out good cause. To keep from being sued by the box holder most Commercial Mail Receiving Agents (CMRA) will not give that info to a Sheriff with out a warrent.
The Sheriff could be looking for his EX wife to beat the crap out of her.
Yes I am a CMRA and have refused the Sheriff info. The Sheriff can go directly to the PO and ask for the info about the box holder. It is on file with the PO.

Nick Leone
Freight Colorado
80031

 

I'd never trust anyone but myself to pack my items. shipped a shitload over the years to all over the world. one didn't make it to the UK (possible scammer) and one broke in transit due to me using a long skinny box when I should have used one of those tubes. probably close to 3000 items shipped. all done with scrounged boxes and packing materials. I doubt many UPS store employees have a success rate like that.

 

no, it went to New Jersey...Brucie was going to handle it from there.

 

NOT true! I owned a UPS stored in SantaFe and we had no such agreement, verbal or written. We normally charged 15% over UPS to provide the convienance of dropping it off and we took care of the rest. Everything was properly packaged and insured. If there was a problem we went to bat for the customer ourselves. That is what you get for the extra $, customer service! (remember that concept?) Just like a beer at a ball game, you pay for convienance and service. I can't speak for the ones who are greedy, but we did OK with our store. You CAN'T make much on packing w/o shipping. We lost our store after we discovered the cash transactions were disappearing as well as some credit card fraud that we could not recover from.

I have to call BS on this. That information is NOT public information and without a warrant, NOBODY (Shefiff or not) would or could get any customer's information. As the post office has no jurisdiction over private boxes, they have no power to close anybody down. If there was a warrant, different thing.

 

P.O. Boxes are there for animosity. I think that is the main reason they exist! How else could people pull off the earn money from home scams? Those are always "send $5 to P.O. box XXX"

 

Yes, those anonymous scammers do create a feeling of animosity.

 

For some reason as threads that make sense continue, the message gets lost....

The Stores are independently owned.

I ship UPS, more then Fed-ex. Then again I am a Union guy, and a Steward at my Job. I call UPS, and they pick it up at my door. No problem.

I shipped a firearm to Ruger, I know the route driver in my neighborhood, he keeps an eye on my house, as I am single. He called my Cell, I gave him the code, inside he went got my item, left receipt. He did the reverse when it was returned.

I swear by UPS and my mail man. The business end is a whole nother story.


And to be fair, The FedEx fround guy broke down, and the UPS guy told him to stop at my house, he borrowed tools, and was back on the road.

I stay outta the stores.

Animosity???? I think you meant Anonymity.

 

In Canada, DHL was taken over by Loomis. You should see all the courier companies Loomis owns.

 

And how much insurance was on it?

USPS usually does not have any insurance and if you get insurance on an item from USPS it ends up costing twice as much to ship as anyone else.

So I guess you can easilly afford UPS's crazy fees and crappy service.

By the way, is this one of your packages being delivered?

 

Exactly so they are trumping up phoney brokerage charges that are basically extortion rates to try and force you to use a more expensive shipping method and that doesn't even include all the bonds and extra fees they charge you for processing the brokerage and gst etc.

I expect to pay GST on everything I get but when the other bullshit charges almost always exceed the actual shipping charges it becomes a joke. To top it off if you do use express it is almost never any faster (which is supposedly what you are paying the extra for)and they make up some excuse like it sat in customs, or the driver must have missed it on the truck, etc. They are a rip off plain and simple.

 

I insured it for $70, still have the copy; it says $2.35 INS.

Insurance is not much at USPS, as I have sent much more spendy things. Prices can be found on the USPS site when you price out the shipping, the "add services".

I suppose it's a waste, but I always put Delivery Confirmation (75 cents) on a shipment, as I know it adds another bar code so they can't possibly lose it? Seems to get there quicker, too, IMO.??

UPS 3-day online was high $30 something, US Priority was $30 ish, Parcel post was $22, and the Flat Rate Priority was $15.45, and it went coast to coast in 2 days...I was shocked, as it was less than 48 hrs

 

They have DHL in Afghanistan I used them last week.

 

Great! Tell them to pick up a package at my place in New York.

 

I worked at one for 6 years. Theyre not supposed to charge more than UPS does at the hub.

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

Just stating they are still in buisness at least on an international level.

 

I ship old car parts daily.27 packages went out today,in fact and use USPS almost exclusively.
Over 4500 shipped with one being lost(stolen..I got the empty box back)and everyone is hand packaged with used packaging.No complaints from any customers.
Each gets delivery confirmation.Saved my ass a few times and insurance isnt costly but I hear it's a pain to file a claim.
USPS has handled plenty of expensive delicate items and I over pack stuff.If someone drops a G on a part it would be crazy to scrimp on shipping.I'll eat a bit of profit to insure safe delivery.I have used UPS for oversize wooden crate items.

 

I don't know if they have size limits, but instead of driving 8 miles to the Fed-Ex,, I've been dropping off packages at an Office Max. They have a Fed-Ex desk in their store. I did the paper work & paid for it online.I believe the final cost was $3.00 over the cost of dropping it off at the Fed-Ex office. aves me about 12 miles on each trip. At the price of gas today and my time, it's worth the 3 bucks.

 

there you go. just like me. UPS USPS FED EX and anybody else doesn't ruin your package, you do when you go half assed on packaging.

 

I second partsdawg on USPS. My wife ships 10-40 packages a day from her online boutuque. Anything under 15 pounds is always cheaper, delivery confirmation keeps PayPal happy, and we've only lost one package in 2 1/2 years.

I also saw a DHL truck and uniformed driver late last week. Seems like they all drive the same way, 25 MPH over the speed limit!

 

I ship a lot of parts with UPS. I ship the stuff at a local hardware store that is also a UPS service center. They charge $4.00 per package. But it still is usually within a $1.00 of the UPS website quote.

I ship a lot of car parts. I use used boxes when I have them that the parts fit in. Otherwise I build my own boxes from corrugated board sheets. I use nothing but old newspaper for packing material. I've shipped everything from cylinder heads to windows. I've haven't had one part show up damaged. When I box up a part I pack it so it could be drop kicked the whole way there and it would still show up undamaged! I have more confidence in my packaging then I do in the companies I order parts from. Old newspaper packed tight around the part is a hell of a lot better then a couple air bladders thrown in a box with loose parts!

I guess you haven't seen the way fedex delivers electronics!!!

Or maybe some people just want a secure way to actually receive their mail! Some people think it's fun to steal or rifle through other peoples mail. I've had my same PO Box for over 20 years.

 

That's the first I've heard of that. I send a lot of stuff FedEx Ground. Have an account and print the labels at home. I can drop the packages at the FedEx depot or drop them on the counter at Office Max, whichever is handy for me on that particular day. Office Max clerk has never said anything except "thank you" or "do you need a receipt?". If they charged me $3 to drop them there, I wouldn't.

 

Going in partnership with you??????? Sonny Mac offered me a better deal. HA!!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Like I told the kid, "Your musics not too loud, its just like OKC, it sucks!"

 

Same here, the only thing I have to buy is tape. Bicycle shops have all the boxes I need for free, so do the body shops. Find a sports store that sells kayacs, and ask for the bubble wrap they get shipped in. UPS and UPS Stores are the last places you'll see me shipping stufs, the local UPS Stord does make good color copies on their Xeron machine however. Bob

 

I just shipped a firesuit today. I paid $20 to have it shipped here UPS WITH a 12er of Sprechers Ale in it. Repacked the suit (did not fit right) to another gent and shipped it (w/o beer) from the UPS Store near me (for conveniance) for $18 bucks with extra Insurance.

When I worked on the other side of town Fedex was best..............but, theis local UPS store rocks. EVERYTHING I have shipped in the last 3+ years has shipped that way.