The UPS Store Scam

Molly and I went to the UPS store on Saturday to ship some gifts back home so that we didn't have to bring them on the plane. We had packed everything into a box at home, but we didn't have any packaging tape, so we brought our open box to the UPS store right near the apartment. I set the box down on the counter at the store and asked if they had some tape that I could use to seal the box. The woman behind the counter, who looked a little bit like Ms. Swan from Mad TV combined with a troll doll and the Crypt Keeper, told me that it would cost $3.90 to tape my box. We said no thank you and purchased a whole roll for $5 instead.

As we were taping the box closed, (and then re-taping it because I failed miserably) we listened to a guy at the counter trying to ship a box of his own. He had brought in a gift and had the clerk pack it for him. She then asked him how he wanted it shipped. She explained that there was no way ground shipping would get it there in time for Christmas. She said that 3-day select probably wouldn't either. She said 2-day might, but overnight was the only way to ensure that it would arrive in time. She explained that if he used any other method, the delivery date would be the 26th, just a day too late. We spoke up and came to his aid. "There's no way that can be true," we said. Molly ships stuff with UPS all the time for work and has a pretty good idea how long it takes shipments to get to their destinations. The clerk insisted that nothing but next day air would get there before the 26th. I asked incredulously, "Christmas is in 10 days. You're telling me 3-day select delivery will take 10 days to arrive?!" She kept to her story and the guy relented. "Whatever, it has to get there by Christmas, so I'll just use whatever I have to. " The little demon troll squealed with delight (ok, so maybe not, but this is my story) and told him that it would be $89. At this he was taken aback. "That's more than the gift itself cost!" he said. He (rightfully) refused to pay for the scam and said he'd ship it somewhere else. He said he'd just pay for the box and go. They charged him around $20 just for the box and some tape and he went on his way.

After listening to this exchange, we were not about to go through the same ordeal. Molly got out her iPhone and we looked to see if there was a Fed-Ex/Kinkos location nearby. There wasn't. We share a hatred for the USPS, so we gave in and decided to stick with UPS. We asked the clerk again if it would really require 2-day or overnight shipping to get our box to Ohio within 10 days. She insisted that it would, so we said, "ok, we'd like to ship this using ground then". She reminded us that our box wouldn't arrive until the 26th. We took our chances and paid for our ground shipping.

I'm happy to announce that our box was delivered today - 3 days later. (including Sunday)

This whole incident was infuriating. The UPS Store is taking advantage of people's worries about Christmas deadlines and price gouging the hell out of people. We were smart enough to avoid the scam, but I'm not sure how many other people were. As we were leaving, a guy was walking in with an item to ship. I'm sure they pulled the same crap on him. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of New York. I doubt it will have any effect, but hopefully it will at least put it out there that there are some unscrupulous business practices going on.