i don't understand why 'dimensional weight' is not accounted for in the shipping estimate algorithm in the first place...
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Seller beware
- Thread starter Rolling Thunder
- Start date
When selling some of my basses in the past, I learned to start shipping in smaller bass boxes that didn’t have an excessive amount of spare room. Because of the dimensional weight policy, an oversized bass box would add a considerable amount to the shipping price.
Reverb tried to pull this stunt on me a couple years ago.
I replied to Reverb that I took the package I shipped to a UPS store and they double checked the measurements and the weight which was what I listed and then accepted the package.
I told Reverb that if UPS has a problem then it is with their store not me
. I also threatened to file a complaint with the Atty. General if they tried to take money out of my bank account.
They never did and I never heard anything again.
Many boxes have the dimensions printed on the bottom so it would be a good idea to take a photo of the finished package with the dimensions.
This will prove your case. Good luck.
I replied to Reverb that I took the package I shipped to a UPS store and they double checked the measurements and the weight which was what I listed and then accepted the package. I told Reverb that if UPS has a problem then it is with their store not me. I also threatened to file a complaint with the Atty. General if they tried to take money out of my bank account. They never did and I never heard anything again. Many boxes have the dimensions printed on the bottom so it would be a good idea to take a photo of the finished package with the dimensions. This will prove your case. Good luck.
If I knew the dimensions were correct, I'd just report any additional charges to my credit card company as fraud, since I didn't authorize them.
I can't speak for the OP, but whatever the charge is would probably have been fine. Tell me what the charge is for your services, and I decide if it's worth it to me. But almost doubling the price, a month after the fact, is straight up dishonest. When you punch the numbers into the reverb or UPS website, they have all the info they need to calculate their price. If you lie, that's totally on you and UPS has every right to charge you extra.
Well I'd disagree, how do you know much it would cost UPS to ship a given package? While that's a decent size package, if UPS charged $200 for that package one state over like you suggest, that means across the country would be like $500? You think they'd get any business charging that? And he did pay what they were asking, then a month later they changed their mind and nearly doubled the price. If you had someone roof your house for $5k, they do it, and then a month later they say "that was a tough job, and it was hot outside, so the new price is $9k we are charging an extra $4k to your card", most of us would probably not pay it. If they said it was $9k up front, totally different story.
Dimensional weight goes back hundreds of years to the time of true shipping (i.e., goods moved via a ship). Girth plus length was used because the average shipping/rating clerk didn’t have the education to do multiplication or division.
In the U.S. it was regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) until it was abolished/dismantled during the Carter administration. The ICC published their rules which had a rating for almost every type of good conceivable that were based on product density as well as political influence. They also distinguished between TL and LTL (truckload vs. less than truckload) for goods moving via the roads. There were similar rates for freight moving by train, parcel carrier, barge, ship, air, etc.
Today’s world of flat rate shipping is a very recent invention created by the marketplace before we saw the recent increase in all shipping rates.
I understand why people don’t like dimensional weight (i.e., density rating), but it has been with us long before the Continental Congress declared independence.
In the U.S. it was regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) until it was abolished/dismantled during the Carter administration. The ICC published their rules which had a rating for almost every type of good conceivable that were based on product density as well as political influence. They also distinguished between TL and LTL (truckload vs. less than truckload) for goods moving via the roads. There were similar rates for freight moving by train, parcel carrier, barge, ship, air, etc.
Today’s world of flat rate shipping is a very recent invention created by the marketplace before we saw the recent increase in all shipping rates.
I understand why people don’t like dimensional weight (i.e., density rating), but it has been with us long before the Continental Congress declared independence.
Canada Post has used dimensional weight for as long as I can remember.
Well
Reverb quoted the price. UPS did not. Reverb isn’t a freight company. The middle man got it wrong.
If you look on the UPS website, the gist for 3-day select shipping for a package of this size is about 150-300 dollars or more, depending on how far it’s going.
If you ever ship items via FedEx or UPS then you get a bit of an idea how much it costs to do so. Just have a look at shipping costs on bass guitars and gear from the classifieds.
Contractors (roofers), mechanics, craftsmen all provide estimates. The price can go up in the middle of the job. Sometimes they are cooked, but most of the time they are not.
Reverb quoted the price. UPS did not. Reverb isn’t a freight company. The middle man got it wrong.
If you look on the UPS website, the gist for 3-day select shipping for a package of this size is about 150-300 dollars or more, depending on how far it’s going.
If you ever ship items via FedEx or UPS then you get a bit of an idea how much it costs to do so. Just have a look at shipping costs on bass guitars and gear from the classifieds.
Contractors (roofers), mechanics, craftsmen all provide estimates. The price can go up in the middle of the job. Sometimes they are cooked, but most of the time they are not.
I was about to post a legit detailed thing.... but this covers it perfectly and simply!
And as someone who works in shipping, this is not a new thing. Whether fuel prices have changed how much it affects smaller shippers and have made it a stricter thing, or you have just never encountered it, I couldnt say.
It seems to be the rule of the day that one invent new ambiguous terminology to benefit oneself.
Weight should be weight. Let’s reconcile the meanings of the names. That
being stated, as long as they are up front regarding the actual rates and allow for the free exchange of consensual enterprise then it’s just fine. Otherwise absolutely not.
Weight should be weight. Let’s reconcile the meanings of the names. That
being stated, as long as they are up front regarding the actual rates and allow for the free exchange of consensual enterprise then it’s just fine. Otherwise absolutely not.
Sounds like a reverb problem. Someone has to eat the cost of that package costing double what the shipper agreed to pay. It could be the large company, Reverb(the one that made the mistake), or the dude selling a bass cabinet that accepted the quoted price. And I can't be 100% sure, but I'm betting the software on the reverb site is pulling quotes in real time from UPS.
Any contractor(roofer) with any kind of reputation is very upfront about cost changes, and they don't occur a month after the job is done. If they quote your roof at 5k, and they need to change the price to $9k, even the day of, because of material costs, labor, whatever, that's fine. You have the ability to accept their price or not. But they can't do the job, then a month later reflect on how hard it was, and charge you an extra $4k. This is in their best interest as well because while the OP is likely capable of paying an extra $90, lots of folks just would not be able to pay the extra cost for a roof like that. They simply would not have the funds. I got my Kitchen remodeled some years back, and it was ~$30K. It was a lot for me then, but I was like "buy once cry once". If the dude completed the job, and then a month later said he needed another $25k, I simply did not have it. Nor would I have had it for another couple years. Something like a plumber is different because if you call them because your ceiling caved in from water damage, the first visit is just hourly while they figure out what the problem is.
Reverb also advertises that they negotiate substantially lower shipping costs with all the major carriers. In this case, my opinion is that "the middle man" should eat the extra cost - not the shipper - presuming that all the information was entered correctly when the shipping label was initially purchased.
Not saying it’s right, my friend. I’m saying it happens. If someone offers to replace your roof for less than material cost, then it’s on you to recognize a deal that’s a bit too good.
Shipping a large, heavy box via 3-day shipping for only $100 was not something that should have passed the smell test.
Middle men just want the deal to go through so they can take their cut. They aren’t too interested in what happens to you on the back end.
I agree, but I’m not sure the middle man will agree.
I would be having strong words with Reverb, but I’d get ready to have to pay UPS. I would bet it’s in the fine print somewhere.
I have just prefabulamacated your post. Now pay me $20.79 plus a $3.67 recombobitranicing fee. Payable in carrots.
Dimensional weight has been used by major couriers for decades.
That's fine. Dimensional weight is just a pricing model invented by shipping companies to increase profits, it's not some kind of scientific measurement. They can switch to Mass if they'd like for all I care. or take the scale weight, multiply it by 17.6 and then take the cube root of that times today's temperature to come up with a price. But they need to tell me the price, so I can decide if it's worthwhile to ship my item, whether I'm a business or just a dude selling a cabinet. I have a cabinet for sale, if it will cost $80 to ship, the numbers make sense. If it will cost $300 to ship, they don't. I get it, a small box with a 10lb barbell weight in it will cost less to ship that a huge box with 10lbs of pillows, due to how much space the pillows take up on the truck/plane/train. But you gotta tell me the cost before I ship it.
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Or 'your light box is taking up space we could have charged someone else for'
I don't know what's going on with this crap also.
Once I sent a circuit board, which weighed all of 10 oz, in a 10x8x2" box, rounded up to 1lb because I'm paranoid about stuff like this, and USPS tried to tell me it weighed 3 whole pounds.
Once I sent a circuit board, which weighed all of 10 oz, in a 10x8x2" box, rounded up to 1lb because I'm paranoid about stuff like this, and USPS tried to tell me it weighed 3 whole pounds.
