Don, I, too have been through the procedure where I had to hand off the package valued over $1000 to the driver rather than the store, and that was over a year ago. The later case of the expensive amplifier was just a few months ago, and it was at a "UPS store" that I understand not to be an "independent shipping center". Of course, the particular employee may have misstated the limit, or I may have misheard. Regardless, my main point is that the rule was so rigid. The fact that the employee was able to examine the empty packing materials and see that they were customized and in good contition made no difference at all. Such rigidity must surely end up costing the customer, and it is up to the customer to determine whether perceived reliability of the company is worth the extra cost. Although I have shipped many packages, I bow to your even greater experience. BTW, once I shipped a small package in the same store, in a box that was a once-used USPS Priority Mail box. The employee berated me for using that box since it was supposed to be used only for purposes of USPS shipping. I believe he was correct in that such a rule exists. It doesn't make sense for USPS to allow their freely handed out boxes to be used with other shippers. However, after the original USPS shipment had been paid for and completed, didn't I own the box and didn't I do a good deed by reusing the box? The fact that the box had been used previously for USPS shipping was plain to see.
73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Don Wilhelm Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 12:17 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: Package shippers Erik and all, I believe that amount is $1000 rather than the $100 that you quoted - unless the particular packing store you used sets their own rules. If you shipped at a UPS store, this new rule is unknown to me. I do have a UPS account (but not regular pickup), and do not have a problem with any package where the value is less than $1000. If it is greater than that value, I can pack it, but I have to hand it off to a UPS driver rather than dropping it off at a shipping center. The driver is required to sign a form for my records, and he takes responsibility for it from that time. Independent shipping centers that ship UPS are free to set their own rules, and yes, if I take a package to one of them for shipment and declare $1000 or greater value, they will insist on packaging it. That is fair, because they share in responsibility for that parcel. You learn those things after you have been shipping frequently for a while. 73, Don W3FPR On 4/26/2017 2:46 PM, Erik Basilier wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Erik Basilier [mailto:ebasil...@cox.net] > Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 11:43 AM > To: 'Rick Tavan' <r...@tavan.com> > Subject: RE: [Elecraft] OT: Package shippers > > In the past I have used UPS extensively, but recently they refused to > ship my expensive tube amplifier, in its original packing materials, > unless I would pay them to re-pack in their own, new packing > materials. I was told that their new policy is that, unless the > insured value is less than $100, the customer must pay for new packing materials, provided and packed by UPS. > Even before the extra packing expense, their price was much higher > than FedEx. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ebasil...@cox.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
