Complaint Review: The UPS Store - Charlotte North Carolina

Bravo to Thomas K!!!  Your last comment rocks.

That was THREE good shills!

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Regardless of any "shill" accusation, the information I provided can be verified by anyone on their own time. The previous reply came from a person that claims he actually enjoys vandalizing businesses. This person accused me of being paid to enter both facts as well as my opinion, or am directly affiliated with the business to which OP expressed concerned. I, myself, have gone through the challenges of operating this The UPS Store for almost 11 years. The respondant 'rik' throws out "liar" a bit too quick. If he happens to be wrong, what does that make him? He would either have to stick to the "liar" claim, or backpaddle with more kiddy pictures and comments with another cowardly insult. rik is so quick to degrade businesses or individuals, it makes readers wonder what exactly he himself does for a living. I can't imagine that behavior being too fond of by many employers or business customers.

'Shilling' is pointless when information can easily be confirmed by, in this case, calling or visiting a The UPS Store or FEDEX Office to validate rates and compare packaging costs. As I believe is common knowledge about all businesses, I too witness everyday the entire personality spectrum of our customers. I must add, however, that the behavior of the responder 'rik' is unique and rare. It appears he is in dire need of the attention he may have missed as a child.

The complaints here, whether real or perceived, range from legitimate to absurd. I usually make mental note (or just take with a grain of salt), the issues occasionally entered in the shipping category of this site. I use this site for reference of occasional customer concerns that may give me insight or preparation for my customers. This complaint prompted me to reply as it was regarding the 'piece of tape' issue, which extends beyond what most people realize. For those that found it too inconvenient to seal a box, we offer the tape or service to do it for them. Any fee charged is for a service in return. The rare personality, such as the one that rik portrays, demands work done for them while offering nothing in return. That act by rik is indicative of other aspects of his life. People unlike rik would question: 'so who exactly is the "TIGHTAZZ"?'

The respondant above, rik, has used adjectives and nouns such as "shill" and "liar". Unlike other's, he appears totally incapable of offering any intelligent solution or insight. While each The UPS Store, as does any storefront business, deals face to face with thousands of customers, this rik character cowardly hides behind his monitor and tries poking with kiddy pictures and immature dribble. He has shown the inability to do anything else and no doubt will continue the same photo paste activity as any 12 year old is capable of doing. It's ironic that such behavior stems from insecurities and feelings of inadequacy and, while he uses his juvenile behavior to hide his weak esteem, rik makes it so obvious to everyone that he has these problems.

rik could try to make attempts to show intelligent opinion as has others have here, but I suspect he simply doesn't know how. It's possible he's off in the field somewhere expressing his affection by saying, "There'll never be another ewe."

Regardless of any "shill" accusation, the information I provided can be verified by anyone on their own time. The previous reply came from a person that claims he actually enjoys vandalizing businesses. This person accused me of being paid to enter both facts as well as my opinion, or am directly affiliated with the business to which OP expressed concerned. I, myself, have gone through the challenges of operating this The UPS Store for almost 11 years. The respondant 'rik' throws out "liar" a bit too quick. If he happens to be wrong, what does that make him? He would either have to stick to the "liar" claim, or backpaddle with more kiddy pictures and comments with another cowardly insult. rik is so quick to degrade businesses or individuals, it makes readers wonder what exactly he himself does for a living. I can't imagine that behavior being too fond of by many employers or business customers.

'Shilling' is pointless when information can easily be confirmed by, in this case, calling or visiting a The UPS Store or FEDEX Office to validate rates and compare packaging costs. As I believe is common knowledge about all businesses, I too witness everyday the entire personality spectrum of our customers. I must add, however, that the behavior of the responder 'rik' is unique and rare. It appears he is in dire need of the attention he may have missed as a child.

The complaints here, whether real or perceived, range from legitimate to absurd. I usually make mental note (or just take with a grain of salt), the issues occasionally entered in the shipping category of this site. I use this site for reference of occasional customer concerns that may give me insight or preparation for my customers. This complaint prompted me to reply as it was regarding the 'piece of tape' issue, which extends beyond what most people realize. For those that found it too inconvenient to seal a box, we offer the tape or service to do it for them. Any fee charged is for a service in return. The rare personality, such as the one that rik portrays, demands work done for them while offering nothing in return. That act by rik is indicative of other aspects of his life. People unlike rik would question: 'so who exactly is the "TIGHTAZZ"?'

The respondant above, rik, has used adjectives and nouns such as "shill" and "liar". Unlike other's, he appears totally incapable of offering any intelligent solution or insight. While each The UPS Store, as does storefront businesses, deals face to face with thousands of customers, this rik character cowardly hides behind his monitor and tries poking with kiddy pictures and immature dribble. He clearly is incapable of anything else and will continue the same photo paste activity as any 12 year old is capable. It's ironic that such behavior stems from insecurities and feelings of inadequacy and, while he uses his juvenile behavior, rik makes it obvious to everyone that he has these problems.

rik could try to make attempts to show intelligent opinion as has others have here, but I suspect he simply doesn't know how. It's possible he's off in the field somewhere expressing his affection by saying, "There will never be another ewe."

Regardless of any "shill" accusation, the information I provided can be verified by anyone on their own time. The previous reply came from a person that claims he actually enjoys vandalizing businesses. This person accused me of being paid to enter both facts as well as my opinion, or am directly affiliated with the business to which OP expressed concerned. I, myself, have gone through the challenges of operating this The UPS Store for almost 11 years. The respondant 'rik' throws out "liar" a bit too quick. If he happens to be wrong, what does that make him? He would either have to stick to the "liar" claim, or backpaddle with more kiddy pictures and comments with another cowardly insult.

'Shilling' is pointless when information can easily be confirmed by, in this case, calling or visiting a The UPS Store or FEDEX Office to validate rates and compare packaging costs. As I believe is common knowledge about all businesses, I too witness everyday the entire personality spectrum of our customers. I must add, however, that the behavior of the responder 'rik' is unique and rare. It appears he is in dire need of the attention he may have missed as a child.

The complaints here, whether real or perceived, range from legitimate to absurd. I usually make mental note (or just take with a grain of salt), the issues occasionally entered in the shipping category of this site. I use this site for reference of occasional customer concerns that may give me insight or preparation for my customers. This complaint prompted me to reply as it was regarding the 'piece of tape' issue, which extends beyond what most people realize. For those that found it too inconvenient to seal a box, we offer the tape or service to do it for them. Any fee charged is for a service in return. The rare personality, such as the one that rik portrays, demands work done for them while offering nothing in return. That act by rik is indicative of other aspects of his life. People unlike rik would question: 'so who exactly is the "TIGHTAZZ"?'

The respondant above, rik, has used adjectives and nouns such as "shill" and "liar". Unlike other's, he appears totally incapable of offering any intelligent solution or insight. While each The UPS Store, as does storefront businesses, deals face to face with thousands of customers, this rik character cowardly hides behind his monitor and tries poking with kiddy pictures and immature dribble. He clearly is incapable of anything else and will continue the same photo paste activity as any 12 year old is capable. It's ironic that such behavior stems from insecurities and feelings of inadequacy and, while he uses his juvenile behavior, rik makes it obvious to everyone that he has these problems.

rik could try to make attempts to show intelligent opinion as has others have here, but I suspect he simply doesn't know how. It's possible he's off in the field somewhere expressing his affection by saying, "There will never be another ewe."

That was another good shill!

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The rate the OP was quoted was obviously not only the shipping rates, but clearly two separate fees. I think the responders above clearly understood that already. The concern was for the shipping rate for a box that may have been inflated in size. The OP knows that the separate $17.62, whether that included tax or not, was not part of the shipping cost. To deviate from the original complaint for Steve for a moment, we can point out the $17.62. That fee, for a box I would estimate would be appropriate for the OP's items, is both reasonable and competitive. Our co-op has derived packaging rates that are below competitors in the MPLS/St Paul metro area. Without belaboring the quality materials and service received, you are always free to pay the same or more at another location like Office Max, FEDEX Office, etc, or acquire the materials and do it yourself. The UPS Store locations are the ONLY locations that refund the entire packaging cost in the event of damage. The UPS corporate program is termed the Pack & Ship Promise, as nationally advertised in the past years.

The UPS Stores ARE genuine UPS locations under privately operated management. The packaging fees are not part of any carrier control. The UPS Store packaging rates are set by area co-ops to be competitive for their inherent locations. Packaging fees are determined primarily by container size, with sub-categories for level of fragility and weight accommodation. Packaging fees are not part of UPS or FEDEX corporate services, so stating that The UPS Stores have a surcharge on that service is illogical.

The shipping rates, however, are not ambiguous as stated in the response by Steve B. The UPS Stores, unlike middleman markup locations such as PakMail, Postnet, Uship, etc, have rates genuine retail rates that are found in the UPS corporate website. Let me reiterate for Steve: The UPS Stores do NOT mark up the UPS corporate retail rates. The rates found in the UPS website by the individuals above ARE the SAME as the rates quoted at The UPS Stores. There is NO shipping surcharge and that is NOT how they get paid! UPS Corporate extended the maximum tier level discount to the The UPS Store locations. That discount below the retail rate found in the UPS corporate website IS how the business model maintains those convenient locations. If the shipping location is not a The UPS Store, the tier discount is much smaller and the alternative shipping location adds a percentage significantly above retail in order to profit. The UPS Store locations are independently managed, under financial and operational directive with Mail Boxes Etc. Mail Boxes Etc is owned by UPS corporate. Thus, The UPS Stores have direct line operation with UPS corporate which includes genuine retail shipping rates.

When UPS corporate purchased Mail Boxes Etc., one of the main concerns for store owners was the reduced shipping rates. Store owners were assured that the increased customer count would generate greater revenue. The customer count has significantly increased for the The UPS Stores, but greater revenue is controversial. Incidentally, public response was so favorable for The UPS Stores that FEDEX purchased Kinkos in an attempt to mimmick the The UPS Store business model. FEDEX has since gone through several CEO's in an attempt to stop the lost revenue, as FEDEX had purchased not only Kinkos, but also all of the building facilities across the nation along with their entire payroll. Thus far, FEDEX has not been able to recover or compensate for that overhead expense. For The UPS Stores, with the fixed actual UPS shipping rates, the overhead expense is maintained by the individual store operators.

To avoid a myriad of 'what-ifs' guessing, The OP really needs to give the specifics of her shipment. The Saturday delivery seems plausible. As described above, the $15 Saturday fee as dictated in the UPS website is $15 at The UPS Stores. There were no surcharges involved. If the OP does not repsond with shipment details, it would seem apparent that she understands that the shipping rate was proper.
 
A previous response also made an excellent point. A The UPS Store, as would any shipping facility, would refrain from shipping larger packages than necessary as it would only increase their business shipping overhead.

I'm not here to HELP you get ripped off! A good shepherd never throws his sheep to the wolves. Even the least of em!

Looks like Steve may have "set you straight" anyway.

The rate the OP quoted was NOT only the shipping rates. The UPS store surcharges shipping as this is how they get paid.
It costs more to ship a package from the UPS store than it does from a UPS company location. Her mother OPTED for a box and packaging supplies, as well as packing assistance.

These are OPTIONAL SERVICES and are NOT included in the shipping rate! The $17.62 is just for the packing supplies as UPS Store prices are VERY high.There was most likely a surcharge for the packaging service on top of the supplies used. This has been my experience with UPS Store locations.

The response Robert gave was helpful. I looked and the rates he showed are right. Those rates are supposed to be the same at UPS Stores too. I tried to match the OP's fee and could imagine only one scenario that makes sense. It is possible Grandmother missed the Ground pickup in her area and the only way to get it there for the weekend was 2nd day air to be delivered on Saturday. The location I use has a pretty late Ground pickup at 4:45pm and their air shipments go out at 7:30pm. I looked at the details and Saturday weekend delivery is an extra $15. The OP's tracking info will be able to explain what happened.

Being curious, I laid out one of my winter jackets, sweater, and slippers. The box I would need is 25x16x9. I would prefer my jacket to be folded nicely and not crammed in like dirty laundry! I'm a size 10 myself (shhh!!) and am not sure of the OP's exact clothing she sent. I am quite sure, though, that there is no way the clothes could be in a box much smaller. The rate UPS shows online is $68.88 and doesn't change up to 22 lbs. My clothing is about 11 lbs plus what ever the box weighs.
 
Your research was helpful, Robert, but I would like to mention one thing. I've been using UPS for many years and Ground is always gauranteed, except one time when I sent my clothing in a suitcase instead of a box. It arrived just fine on time for my tradeshow anyways. I've learned not to procrastinate with shipping to keep my shipping costs down, but sometimes my boss just likes to take advantage of my ability to travel on short notice. *grrrr*

I like my UPS Store and the people that work there. rik can call me whatever he wants. I've been called worse just because I like to have fun. (Don't listen to the rumors; they're not true!) Perhaps rik would like to help with determining these rates, unless he's busy vandalizing, playing with toilet paper, and dreaming of how he'll spend the nickels he saved being so lazy, plus doing and saying just about anything to get attention. That's too bad too, because his self-portrait is just darling!

Hey what can I say?  Some people get ripped off, and do nothing about it.  Some (stupid) people hear of others getting ripped off, then go ahead and do business anyway.  Some people just shill.  Which are you?

I, however, "take care" of the ripoff and sleep very well at night!

Tata!

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While some of your comments appear right on, some seem to come out of Left Field and unfortunatly bring into question how accurate you actually are.

With my experience, I estimated the weight and size of a box needed to pack the items described here. I used as small a box as I believe was possible, 21X13X7 outside dimensions, and gave it a weight of seven pounds (a shipping box alone weighs approximatly 1.5 lbs). Therefore, the rates I was receiving for both UPS and FEDEX met or exceeded the $69.25 air rate stated by this complainer. These rates can be verified in the UPS and FEDEX websites

- I took you up on that suggestion, as your values "sound" reasonable.  Shipping from Zip Code 28226(Charlotte) to 11207(Broklyn) using UPS 2-Day air gave an amount of $36.08

UPS 2nd Day Air
7:30 P.M.
Wednesday
March 30, 2011 

By End of Day,
Friday
April 1, 2011 
36.08 USD *

Days In Transit: 2
Schedule by
6:30 P.M.
Wednesday
March 30, 2011 
 
Billable Weight:
12.0 lbs.

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So please explain how the values you found exceeded the $69.25.  Oh as a side note if the user selected Ground the amount would have been $13.95, and is also 2-Days.  However unlike the 2-Day air, Ground is NOT a guaranteed service. 

While rik has time to vandalize businesses, I'd like to try entering in those package dimensions, weight, and zips. I will be sending out my grandmother's dishes and I don't want to pack myself. I was told air shipments have less handling and are safer for fragile items. I think 2 day air will be better than next day as far as cost and still be a smooth shipment. There's no way I can replace these dishes.

Could the OP please leave me the box details so I can compare to Fedex and UPS online to what that store charged? I'd appreciate it. I've only sent things by UPS ground before. I'll try a few dimensions like the previous response used. I'll try to see where my best deal would be and let you know.

Would you like to help, rik. Or do you prefer playing with toilet paper? I have a feeling your response will tell readers the answer.

That was quite a Shill!

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In the rebuttal title, I stated 'rude' for one clear reason. This complainer is directing insult to shipping locations, that are under strict UPS contract including non-marked up rates, and are owned and operated by honest and diligent people conducting their livelihood within society just as any other reputable business does.

I am not acknowledging fault by anyone with the following analogies. If a person is unhappy with the unnecessary mechanical work that their local oil change business quoted, it would be irrational to claim that all oil change businesses quote unnecessary car maintenance. Or if a consumer believes water was added to their gas at one gas station, it doesn't mean water is added to the gas of all other same or similar gas stations. Likewise, if anyone perceives a wrong doing at this complainers own place of employment, would it be accurate to state that her entire business is corrupt - including this complainer herself??

Essential details were omitted from this complaint which are needed for validation. 2ND Day Air shipments, much more so than NDA shipments, are rated by weight as well as volume. Even with 'unnecessary' internal packaging, a shipment rate likely will not increase in cost as the weight may override the volume. Readers of this complaint will need the actual dimensions of the box, it's weight, as well as both pickup and destination zipcodes to determine whether this complaint has any valid substance. With my experience, I estimated the weight and size of a box needed to pack the items described here. I used as small a box as I believe was possible, 21X13X7 outside dimensions, and gave it a weight of seven pounds (a shipping box alone weighs approximatly 1.5 lbs). Considering the need for a 2ND Day shipment indicates a shipping zone difference of atleast three days by Ground. Therefore, the rates I was receiving for both UPS and FEDEX met or exceeded the $69.25 air rate stated by this complainer. These rates can be verified in the UPS and FEDEX websites, as well as calling their respective corporate #'s - 1.800.PICKUPS or 1.800.GOFEDEX. And, just for the sake of argument and to be fair, let's say this complainer's clothing was the appropriate size for a Barbie doll to wear. A 2X2X2 box weighing 4 ounces would still be $30-35 gauranteed by 2ND Day Air to a residence with transit between those zones.

One critical oversight made with this complaint is regarding the fact that shipping facilities, such as The UPS Store's, FEDEX Office, and the common retail mark-up middleman outlets such as PakMail, Postnet, etc., all PAY for the shipments leaving their facilities. The motive to package a shipment is to make it SMALLER, or the actual shipping bill that that facility receives will increase. Why would any packaging location ship a box three times too large, only to receive a bill from UPS or FEDEX that is substantially larger?? The true danger would be to be quoted a proper package size (dictated in shipping websites), then having items actually crammed into a package that is too small to properly protect the contents. By doing so, a shipping facility would save money on their bill received from UPS or FEDEX, but jeapardize the safety of the shipment (which is not necessarily the case with this complainers clothing). To suggest that any The UPS Store, or any shipping facility for that matter, intentionally packages to increase their companies shipping bill is rather ludicrous.

The OP makes unsubstantiated claims that she has witnessed these problems before. The obvious question raised is why she continues to use that service even after the supposed repetition of a problem. The OP is always free to have the foresite to package herself as well as to use another shipping facility. One note that some consumers are unaware of: when shipping with UPS (or any other carrier)at other than a The UPS Store or UPS hub customer counter, those other locations will subject a significant middleman mark-up fee. If the OP's clothing were shipped at a non-The UPS Store, her shipping fee would have been higher, even without any of the 'peanuts' she had in her box.

It is extremely unusual for anyone in any environment to tell another, "...you need to contact a Doctor!" Assuming anything like that phrase was used, it would be interesting to hear the recording of that conversation leading up to that statement. There is a small possibility that this OP would have been trying Mother Theresa's patience with her same logic and tone. It also seems apparent that no one "took advantage of an elderly woman", though the OP felt it necessary to emphasize her point. The UPS Store's are not operated by people with the 'used car sales mentality'. And it is rather rude as well as irrational for this OP to state that all The UPS Stores across the world have such bad behavior.

Again, it would be necessary to have the actual size, weight, and zipcodes to validate this concern. The shipping rate of $69.25 can be confirmed with the existing variables. If the OP could then indicate what size smaller box the clothing could fit into. Readers may then see if there were actually any difference in the shipping rates. Without this information, reader's may assume any error on the OP's side. To say the least.