Re: [CR]Shipping Bikes

(Example: Bike Shops)

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:44:10 -0800
From: "Peter Craig Martin" <petercraigmartin@gmail.com>
To: "roger macphail" <rmac4@hotmail.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Shipping Bikes
In-Reply-To: <BAY122-DS490EBDD508A8E3900F8AAE61A0@phx.gbl>
References:


Roger's recommendation -- to take photos of packed shipping boxes with measuring tape showing the true dimensions -- is excellent.

It's hard to say whether overcharging in a time of economic downturn and high gas prices is accidental or deliberate. What is certain is that, with no penalty for attempted overcharging, there is little incentive for carriers to avoid doing so accidentally.

I suggest that each time a carrier such as UPS, Fedex, or DHS attempts to overcharge a CR member, the member file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), starting here:

https://www.FTCComplaintAssistant.gov/

Even if the current FTC isn't philosophically or politically inclined to investigate now, the complaints will accumulate in the FTC's files and provide grounds to future commissioners and regional offices to investigate and intervene. Historically, the cumulative volume of complaints against a given business was a key factor in the FTC's choice of cases.

Hope this isn't too off-topic.

Peter Craig Martin Seattle, Washington, USA

On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 12:11, roger macphail <rmac4@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Just got off the phone with UPS regarding additional shipping charges
> tacked onto a bike I shipped to a CR member. I had them try to charge me
> for a box that went from a fee of around $45.00 to over $108.00 total
> due to it being classified as oversize. I informed them that I had taken
> pictures of the box as it was packaged with a measuring tape on each
> dimension, had my customer save the box, and by the way, it was a
> Cannondale box that states right on it that it meets UPS requirements as
> being 130 inches or less. Bottom line, I'm getting the charges reversed.
> Since most of us have digital cameras, my advise is to take these types
> of pictures on anything you ship displaying the shipping label in the
> photo, and include a set of the photos in the box to the buyer. I even
> take pictures of the bike or frame in it's packaged and wrapped
> condition both before and after it's been put in the box. This does a
> couple of things: First, you have proof of the condition of the product
> and the box before it got into the shipper hands. Second, it supplies
> the receiver with proof of the original condition of the box upon
> reaching it's destination. Pretty hard to deny a claim when you have
> this sort of photographic evidence.
> I have been told that the big two shippers that most of us use, use
> laser scanners to scan the packages. I am going to assume that these
> scanners are based on a 90 degree scan angle. Too make a box that is at
> the upper limit of their standard shipping rates go into an oversize
> classification only requires some handler to drop or crush the box in
> such a way that it becomes a trapezoid. Once that happens, you are
> oversize. This is why pictures with a measuring tape are critical. I
> have successfully challenged several charges by taking these additional
> steps. For what it's worth.
>
> Roger MacPhail, Park City, Utah, USA