Shipping Costs

[Leon]

If this makes you feel better, How about you go and get it your self or they sell you the part for $10 and ship it for free.

[Leon]

I worked in the Automotive industry for about 25 years and our company shipped probably 40 to 50 packages a day and received back order releases daily from UPS. No problems ever unless it was not properly packaged to start with.

[George Max]

IMO, yours and Mike's experience is the exception. My own and Mr. Millers are more alike. And I think the rule. I have a coworker that also shares my experience. UPS is the butt of a lot of humor at my employer.

UPS is NOT a class organization. They get used because quite frankly, many times there is no other choice. Not because anyone wants their substandard service.

When I send packages somewhere, I *always* use the USPS. For foreign and domestic.

[George Max]

Seriously, maybe that's the problem. I know exactly where it is, I've been there before. I'd say which one it is, but I don't wanna enrage the gorillas over there any further.

That's a lot of packages.

I'll say this - the online tracking is nice. They provide a nice list of suspects for sites my package was tossed around at.

[George Max]

Yep, I must be on a list.

I met one great UPS employee once. I had been tracking my mesquite lumber and saw that it had made it as far as the depot near my house. Later that same day, I saw a note on my shipment that it was being returned (!) I called and no one could say what happened. Later that evening, the UPS driver shows up anyway with it. Of his own initiative, he recognized that it was rough lumber, and would I care to look at it and see if it was any good. Bravo for him. Boo hiss for the idiots at UPS.

I took the lumber, oil and all, knowing I'd plane it off whatever hit the wood anyway.

Now you know the rest of the story.

[George Max]

That's an internal Delta business decision how to get it from Delta location A to Delta B. That's the cost of doing business. Not the customers concern.

[George Max]

Actually I've done that. It saved money. And not just for shipping. Back then, the parts are like $4 each. Nowadays they're more like $20 each. For some little plastic caps.

[George Max]

Funny how junkyards have become. They know what a new or rebuilt "one" costs and have raised their costs to be more in line with that. At least that's what happened with my son's car and with a tailight for my car. Ford wanted over $100 it, the junkyard was around $80. Junkyard got the business in both cases.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

They probably do consider it a profit center and that may be why you got it free. It probably saved them $30 in paperwork to just send it out for $8 plus actual cost. Smart on their part. Now when you need that $200 timer for the dishwasher . . . . .

[Puckdropper]

George Max wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*trimming and snipping*

*snip*

It would appear that UPS is not a CONSISTANT organization. We've had little trouble with them, in fact most things get to our location in 2-3 days in good condition.

My sister worked at a MailBoxes, Etc. store for almost a year, and said that the FedEx guy would be kicking and dragging the packages out to the truck while the UPS guy would handle them at least decently.

Puckdropper

[lwasserm]

Have you checked with a local salvage yard? (junkyard) If there are none available locally, I have had good experience with a few used parts places that sell over the internet.

[lwasserm]

In the last 2 years, the USPS had about 1/2 billion worth of business from ebay sales alone. They may not be the first choice for the size and weight of whatever it is you are shipping, but for certain size/weight ranges they are far less expensive than UPS.

[disclaimer: I've worked for th Postal Service for the last 24 years]

[Prometheus]

Yes, I am. It's a low door (in an old house), and I was removing the antenna every time I backed out for six months, and forgot one day. So I take some of the responsibility for it- but I still don't understand why it was designed like the barb of a fishhook sticking out of the top of the roof in the first place.

Either way, it seems like the sort of thing they could keep one or two of at the dealership, and sell them for the $8 they wanted for the part- instead of trying to cash in on it.

[Prometheus]

(Smacking myself in the forehead) As stupid as it sounds, I hadn't even thought of that- I was so pissed at the dealership, I just got muleish about it.

[Allen Roy]

Having worked for almost 20 years in the shipping dept's of a few companies, I can say that the $8 is a very small charge. Like most have said that the UPS charge alone for them to take it is more than half of that cost. That is why it is called "Shipping and Handling". Most places offer only UPS shipping (or Fedex, or DHL, etc.) because that is who they are contracted through. Fill up a trailer and they come get it and drop another. Yes USPS delivery is nice and I prefer Priority Mail ( 2 days from west to east coast in most cases) and a lot less pricey than UPS Blue. Some larger businesses offer multiple shipping selections but the fact is many contract through 1 shipping service.

I actually had Porter Cable send me parts at no charge as well. The safety interlock/trigger lock broke after 2+ years of very limited use (model 7529 and a piss poor design of the interlock parts) . I called with part# and credit card in hand. The CSR was helpful and when I explained the situation, she excused her self for a minute to check my CC status, came back and said that she would send the parts at no charge. When I inquired "why", I was told "have a nice day".

Allen

[B A R R Y]

My buddy's bicycle shop, where I work part-time, is a big Thule and Yakima rack dealer.

At least once a month, we have a customer who forgets about the loaded roof rack or Rocket Box, and attempts to drive into the garage. Sometimes, they're even driving quite fast! 8^(

[B A R R Y]

So the fact that you'd probably pay the same $8 shipping charge for several parts is totally lost on you?

Instead of $9 for parts and $8 for shipping, for a total of $17, you'd rather pay $33 for the order?

I see the broken out shipping fee as an honest policy. This is very common in business-to-business transactions, as businesses actually understand the costs of doing business. You'll often see an item cost, a flat handling fee, and the actual shipper's cost.

[Leon]

No, I think mine is the rule as USP is a growing company. If you experience was the rule they would have been out of business years ago. I have heard of complaints about UPS since the early 70's but have really never seen a reason for the complaints. Ther is always going to be a problem some where in a company that is this big.

Not the case in Houston. Ther are plenty of alternatives.

[George Max]

That particular employee needs some discipline. That's unacceptable. How does he know that the contents of the package will survive such abuse?

[George Max]

The alternatives I speak of are on checkout at many online shopping sources.

I like shopping on the internet. It saves the hassle of actually going to a brick and mortar with all the attendant traffic problems. Not to mention driving a goodly distance and using expensive gas to get there. Only to find they don't have the item I'm looking for.

But shipping. It's like Russian roulette. The merchandise will probably be o.k., but the packaging sure shows signs of abuse. It's like the shipper (usually UPS) isn't too concerned that the contents survive the journey, only that the package arrives at it's destination somewhat intact.