Fed Ex vs. UPS

I don't normally mention specific businesses or names of customers on here, but today's an exception.

I had to ship some documents to Tennessee today. They weighed about a pound and needed to get to their destination on Monday. I also needed to make 2 copies of a drawing to send with the documents. I headed to Fex Ex Kinkos to make the copies and ship them.

I arrived with my trusty sidekick LoB, at Fed Ex Kinkos and headed off to the copy machine to make copies the drawing I needed to send. I then packed the drawing copies and the documents in a Fed Ex envelope and filled out the "ground" address form to ship. I approached the counter and waited for someone to ask if they could help me. I waited and waited. Finally, Dude asked if he could help me. I told him I wanted to ship the documents to have them arrive in TN on Monday. He said I couldn't send them "ground" because it is 2 business days. "Ground" shipping wouldn't get the package to TN until Tuesday. That didn't work for me. I asked him what I should do to get them to TN on Monday. He said I had to use the "express" service. I said that was fine, if it was the only way to guarantee my date. He weighed my package and said the envelope I selected wasn't big enough for the weight of the package. Hello... it all fit in there didn't it? I didn't understand. He put the envelope that I had placed everything in into a padded mailer and re-weighed it. This added an ounce to the package weight, but I didn't complain. He continued to type on the computer and announced my total as $29.97. My jaw literally hit the floor. It really cost that much to send a package to our neighboring state in 2 days? I hadn't even paid for the copies yet. I forked over the money and added my expense of the copies. The total came to $40.00.

LoB called in our lunch order while I drove in the general direction of the restaurant. She said it was going to be 25 minutes before our order would be ready. We were going to be driving past the UPS store, so I asked her if she thought the shipping would be cheaper there. Seriously, $30.00 is too much money to pay for shipping. We decided to stop in the store and check out their pricing. I spoke with the nicest guy in the UPS store. He was extremely helpful and answered all of my questions without making me feel stupid. I showed him my receipt from Fed Ex to make sure the same shipment information and weights were used as comparison. UPS man said UPS could send the package for $15.00. I said, "Please write that down." Half the price is worth the hassle to me. I thanked the UPS man, rounded up my sidekick and we headed back to Fed Ex. Dude at Fed Ex saw me coming and rolled his eyes. I think he knew what I wanted. I told him I visited the UPS store and they could ship my package for 1/2 the price of Fed Ex. I wanted my package and my money back. He ho hummed around for awhile and finally got the "shipping specialist" to come to the counter to refund my cash payment. Ten minutes and three people later I finally got my money back. LoB and I picked up our food, ate it at the restaurant and headed back to the UPS store.

At the UPS store we encountered two very friendly, helpful people. We were in and out of there with out packaged shipped within 5 minutes. Mark my words... I will NEVER EVER ship with Fed Ex again!

Promoted to Vice President of Shipping and Receiving.