UPS Shipping - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

16 Oct 1997

...
  Yeah, my local UPS service desk implemented these
rules 4 or 5
 months ago.  I understand, to some extent, UPS's position: they've
 been hit by many damage claims over the past couple years by clueless
 morons shipping PC-clone type hardware.  I, of course, feel
 that the rules should be different when the object that I'm shipping
 is solid steel and over twenty years old.  That doesn't matter to
 the UPS droids; it's a "computer part" and they won't ship it. 
Odd that they can't have a waiver of responsibility. Usually the only thing I'm 
worried about is losing the package.

...
  1.  Avoid the UPS desk and ship through a
"Mailboxes" type place or
 (if you're lucky) your employer.  The "Mailboxes" type places can
 charge substantially more than the actual UPS costs, in many cases. 
The person at the UPS counter actually recommended this. They do charge that 
shipping fee though.

...
  2.  Avoid UPS and use USPS or FedEx.  USPS or FedEx
are far more intelligent
 choices for shipping between the US and Canada - they don't charge
 a minimum of $30-$40 in processing fees for items with values less than
 $5, for starters! 
For Canada USPS is great. For domestic, they're more expensive. I just think 
they need to rewrite their guidelines to allow for this stuff. If I was 
shipping a nice laptop or something extremely valuable, FedEx would definetly 
be worth it!

I think another way would be to pay the one time $5 pickup fee for home pickup. 
Save all the boxes for one pickup. The counter person said they only do the 
inspections for counter dropoffs. Interesting. She said they paid out like 
$800k in computer insurance claims. Then a supervisor saw a usenet post about 
"getting your computer fixed cheap". Supposedly outlining a way to ship it UPS 
then file a claim. I see their point but I wonder how much they're losing in 
business? See, it's that evil internet again.

Greg