Chas. hit the nail on the head with his note below. I called the corporate side of UPS Customer Relations regarding this situation. The young fellow I talked to said that, indeed, the "UPS Stores" are independently owned businesses. To quote the UPS rep "they are free to create any rules they want".
He went on to confirm that if you take your prepackaged box to any of their corporate-owned drop off facilities, they will accept the box with the declared insurance amount and no "repacking" by the counter employees is necessary. He went on to claim that most "UPS Stores" will accept a box that is prepackaged & pre-labeled - with a label printed from your computer at home. He said that if you don't have a "pre-printed label", then expect to get the treatment John got. Yes, it makes no sense, but that's what he said... Would it be too much for the UPS Store employee to have told John about these wacky policies? I guess so.
Bottom line, John's local UPS branded "UPS Store" took advantage of him & mislead him under the guise of "UPS". When I explained that to the UPS rep, he said there was nothing UPS corporate could do. The issue would have to be taken up with that individual business, or with the "UPS Store" customer service line which could be contacted at 888-346-3623.
Sounds like that might be a good next stop for John - if nothing else but to file a complaint about that individual location. If that fails to provide a refund of the $34 gouging fluff charge, then I'd say a complaint to the local Better Business Bureau is in order. The BBB is the old-fashioned route, but I do know that it can get positive results when a business is doing things that are misleading or crooked.
Mark Winkelman
Dallas, Texas USA
> John,
>
> Was this an actual UPS office or one of the "UPS Stores". Most of the UPS
> store front outlets are franchised businesses that provide packing and
> shipping services - at a cost.
>
> I recently had the same kind of experience over an insurance issue and the
> employees behind the counter got very upset when I explained the real UPS
> policy not their company's policy.
>
> I'm my experience with these businesses they: A. don't always know what
> they're talking about as far as USP (or FedX) policies are concerned
> and/or B. they want to upsell you on their packing and shipping services.
>
> I used to have my own accounts with UPS and FedX. I've frequently gotten
> into arguments with inexperienced employees at these kinds of businesses.
> Sometimes they've tried to charge me just for dropping off packages for
> carrier pickup. They've also done it in a sneaky way by charging my
> account a handling fee on pre-labeled packages.
>
> Since they are independent franchised businesses UPS and FedX don't have
> much control over their practices.
>
> Over the past several years I've been very satisfied shipping via the US
> Postal Service. Priority Mail (2-3 Day Delivery) has usually been less
> expensive for shipping small packages than either UPS or FedX plus the
> Post Office employees are easier to deal with than the packing/shipping
> stores!
>
>
> Chas. Colerich
> Oakland, CA USA
>
> crumpy6204@aol.com wrote:
>> Yesterday I went to the local UPS store in Parker. Co, to ship a pair of
>> wheels that I sold to a list member.He requested insurance usually a buck
>> or two extra, Well I packed the wheels in a box from the local bike shop
>> in the manner I have been packing items all these years. The clerk at UPS
>> said "Did WE pack these in OUR box?" " NO I did in my box" Well we can
>> NOT insure them, they have to be packed by us in our box with at least 2"
>> clearance all around them" So I had to un pack the bloody things have UPS
>> pack them in there box $24.00 plus labour $10.00,shipping $30.00 for a
>> total of $64.00 The buyer had paid me the $30.00 I THOUGHT! would cover
>> the cost, SO I am now out $34.00 Would UPS honour insurance claims on
>> items NOT packed by them in UPS boxes? Has anyone else run OR RODE into
>> this before? Cheers John Crump OldpackitinBrit. Parker. Co USA
> _______________________________________________
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
> signature database 4549 (20091027) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com