Your special deal isn't with us...

[The Grim Shipper]

...

So, for the second time in a month, we've had people try to assert FedEx special rates in our independent retail store. These are thing negotiated between FedEx and [big corporation] to be done at Fed centers. This wouldn't be a big deal if they came in/called and asked if we honored those deals beforehand. That would be an easy "no". We can't get those rates from FedEx ourselves, so you can't get them here. You have to deal with them directly. An understandable bit of confusion...but...

I HATE the people who will haul the stuff in, fill out the forms, watch me weigh and measure the items, price it out, then pull "Oh, we get a special rate with FedEx!"

The first one was an apartment move. An older lady and her daughter called us and we set up a courier to pick up the packages, bring them back to the store and call them with a total. We get everything in the store, we price it out. We call with the total. It's set up for them to come in and pay pickup charge + shipping the following day. They agree. Next day rolls around, and the lady shows up with another daughter in tow. This daughter works for an airline! They get a 75% discount on FedEx shipping!!

...not here you don't. *sigh* We spend the next hour and a half on the phone with my boss, trying to salvage the situation. We CANNOT give them 75% off the total, and they don't want to accept less. They are insisting we can do it because we're FedEx. Much time is spent explaining that we are NOT FedEx. in the end they load up their car and take it to the FedEx center in 5 trips. We end up charging $100 for the pickup and labor involved anyway.

Second one happened a matter of minutes ago. Guy comes in with 6 boxes of tools. Heavy tools. The boxes range from 26 lbs to 54 lbs, most of them closer to the 50lb mark. Get them in, get them weighed and priced..."Oh, we get a flat rate of $15 each on these with FedEx for warranty returns!"

...not here you don't. *sigh* He loads up the car and heads for the FedEx center. Since he hauled the stuff in himself and was actually apologetic about bringing it to the wrong place, I can't be too mad and didn't charge him anything.

The guy in the second story didn't really suck but come on people...ASK before we get the hundreds of pounds of merchandise in the store!

[persephone]

..............yeah. I can see maybe taking one small package that I can easily carry into a store and not calling but if you have boxes upon boxes, or lots and lots of HEAVY stuff? Well, I don't see why you wouldn't call first and make sure any discounts would be honored!

Why do people not realize that places like FedEx Kinkos and the UPS store are affiliated with the companies, but not actually RUN BY said company and, therefore, might not always have the ability to do what the big company can concerning discounts and offers?

Stupid clients!

I'm sorry you have to deal with them. But good for you, your store and your manager for still charging that first lady at least SOMETHING. Y'all probably put a lot of work into that order and it would have sucked to not get paid for it!

[Grumpy]

How about putting up a prominent sign stating that you can't do that?

On second thought, customers wouldn't read a sign if you hit them in the head with it, so I guess it wouldn't help.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

How about putting up a prominent sign stating that you can't do that?

On second thought, customers wouldn't read a sign if you hit them in the head with it, so I guess it wouldn't help.

I've said it a million times: The bigger the sign, the more people will ignore it.

Put a very small sign (maybe 4" x 4") behind your till that says "Third-party discounts with FedEx will not be honoured."

Put a picture of a sad-looking basset hound (sorry for being redundant) on the sign, too. People like funny animal pictures.

[mscrybaby]

OT but have to ask.

Why are the prices higher at the side stores for something as simple as a stamp to mail a letter then they are at the post office or the grocery store? I noticed that I sent an item from the post office and it was $6.00 in shipping. I sent the same item from the UPS store, via USPS and it was 10.00. I know and expect a small increase but almost double? I figured only about a 25% increase by going to the more convenient store.

[Mango]

Here in Canada we have two services, Lettermail and Regular Parcel. (We have more but I'm thinking of these two in particular.) If the clerk isn't paying attention and sends a borderline-sized item as Regular Parcel instead of Lettermail, the difference can sometimes be $5 or more.

One of the things my company sells is DVDs. Last year I switched all our DVD cases from 14mm to 9mm. Just 5mm made enough difference for the item to be shipped lettermail - now we pay $1.92 instead of $9 or $10.

OTOH, I've heard of stories in the States about confusion between USPS and UPS which is of course more expensive, getting confused.

[Buglady]

I've said it a million times: The bigger the sign, the more people will ignore it.

Put a very small sign (maybe 4" x 4") behind your till that says "Third-party discounts with FedEx will not be honoured."

Put a picture of a sad-looking basset hound (sorry for being redundant) on the sign, too. People like funny animal pictures.

You are a genius. I bet this would actually work!

[The Grim Shipper]

OT but have to ask.

Why are the prices higher at the side stores for something as simple as a stamp to mail a letter then they are at the post office or the grocery store? I noticed that I sent an item from the post office and it was $6.00 in shipping. I sent the same item from the UPS store, via USPS and it was 10.00. I know and expect a small increase but almost double? I figured only about a 25% increase by going to the more convenient store.

I can't speak about UPS Stores or Kinkos, but smallish independent stores like mine don't necessarily make enough volume to get by on a small markup (or in the case of stamps, no markup). We readily acknowledge that we're something of a luxury service and people are often happy to get their stuff done fast and get on their way rather than standing in line for 30 minutes. It's worth the extra money to them.

Also bear in mind that retail shipping is one of the few industries where our wholesale prices are readily available to customers, unlike restaurants, grocery stores, department stores, etc. It makes for a LOT of suck when people who've used the Ebay calculator or UPS/USPS/FedEx's websites come in sporting what is basically our wholesale price and insist we have to honor that price.