UPS-What am I doing wrong? PLEASE HELP

[thegeckoteam]

Hi-

I'm in shock. I just made my first shipment with my geckos last week. I got the invoice this week. I was shipping from eastern PA 18103 to eastern OH-44708, my package was 3 lbs and the demensions were 18 X 14 X 12. We dropped it off at a UPS store, because it was much more convienent for us. This was being shipping Next Day air guarenteed for 10:30 am. O.K., I was under the impression via the book that I recieved from UPS (we have an account) that the charges would be around $20.00 give or take. We were charged $31.27 and then an additional $33.92 for adjustments and other charges??? I called and all UPS said was that was the going rate for a package that size, and it was the same if we had dropped it off at the store or went to the main terminal. Over the phone she even quoted a higher charge of $70 something. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??? If this is how much it costs to ship why is everyone ONLY charging $35-$40. Is everyone taking a loss these days? Gosh, my geckos are only $25.00. SO, I'm taking a loss just shipping them. Please can someone clarify this for me. I'm very upset and not even sure how I'm going to pay these bills. I shipped yet another package yesterday before I got this invoice today. Help!!

[MarcAntony]

What you ended up being charged was what UPS calls Dimensional Weight. It is the width x height x length/ 192. The dimensions you give for the package comes out to a dimensional weight of 16 pounds. This is what you were charged for, even though the package only weighed 3 pounds. The only way to pay actual weight is to stay under 1728 inch for W x H x L. This is about 14 inches x 12 inches x 10 inches.
Hope this helped some.

[Tom McKenna]

All I can say is use FEDEX the most I every paid was 47.00 for 50 Baby BPS. And the box was just a hair bigger then the one you shipped.

Tom McKenna

[thegeckoteam]

Hi-

Thanks for clearing that up a little for me. Besides that problem today, I recieved a shipment from another breeder. The address was off by one digit and the UPS driver had to bring the package back out. Even though he had the wrong address on the package he claims he came to my house anyway, claims no one was home and didn't want to leave the box. Well, when he came back with the package my dogs started yapping even before he got to my steps, like they always do for everyone. I went out and told him there was no way he had been there before and he started yelling at me on my porch, to the point where one of my neighbors came out to make sure everything was alright. He was really rude and obnoxious to me. I didn't start by yelling at him. Anyway, I've about had it with UPS today. I'm going to get certified with Fed Ex but that takes time, so in the meantime I'm stuck with UPS. So, I need to keep my package under a certain measurement?? Funny, the women on the phone today wouldn't offer any assistance in this area. I asked her what I was doing wrong, other people ship for much less. She just keep apologizing but wouldn't help me. UGH!! That's what everyone kept doing today, apologizing and offering no help what so ever.

Sorry, for the venting, I've just had a very long day dealing with people who refuse to do anything. Thank you for your help. I'm going to see if I can get some smaller boxes to avoid this problem in the future.

[Glenn Bartley]

The only way to pay actual weight is to stay under 1728 inch for W x H x L. This is about 14 inches x 12 inches x 10 inches
Has UPS changed their method of weighing a package with a scale. I have sent packages through UPS with dimensions larger than those given at about 52x8x6 and was charged only $18 for the shipment. Granted not reptiles but a rifle. They put all of my packages right onto the scale, weighed them, and charged by weight alone.

I know someone else who recently went to a so called UPS store and they got charged about $20 or $25 more for the service of using the so called UPS store as opposed to going directly to UPS.

All the best,
GB

[thegeckoteam]

All I know is that UPS told me size didn't matter for Next Day Air, they would charge for demential weight not actual weight. Here I'm told if I get the box down to a certain size it will be charge by weight and not demesions. I wish I knew for sure which way it was. I actually trust the advice here more than the UPS rep. LOL I don't think they know what they are talking about. Maybe I'll try calling the UPS store and see what they say.

[MarcAntony]

Ask for the most recent "UPS Rate and Service Guide", dated effective January 5, 2004. On page 16 it explains how dimensional weight is determined. Good luck!

[thegeckoteam]

Thanks Bryan-

I think I've figured this thing out. I just had no idea about the weight vs. demension thing. UGH!! Now I do and I won't make that mistake again. I found a company that I can buy appropriate sized insulated boxes from and will purchase some to make sure this doesn't happen again. I can chalk this up to a learning experience I guess. :)

[Tom McKenna]

I get my boxes from Scales several sizes available and look and work very professionally

Tom Mc Kenna

[Glenn Bartley]

My apology, I was not considering you were using next day air, my comments about my shipment were for regular ground UPS. Hope I did not confuse mattes too much for you. By the way all UPS rate info can be found on their web site..

[CRESTED JEFF]

those boxes seem big, how many geckoes are you putting in there?. I'm a first time shipper, do you put anything in the box with the animals. are the boxes vented or just a plain old box?
berbower@yahoo.com thanks!

[thegeckoteam]

Hi -

This is the website with information that I use to pack geckos for shipment:



Shipping Reptiles (http://arbreptiles.com/shipping/index.shtml)

[mapturtleman]

ups gound is charged by weight only unless its a way oversized item, for airshipments they do it by size and weight because they dont want you shipping something small in a large box because it takes room on the airplane and wastes space. thats what i was told by a ups rep.