<p>OK, if this happened once, I could get that it was an honest mistake. But this is the second time in a row that I have shipped a ground package, and the weight they put in their system was at least 3-5 times what the correct actual weight of the package was. I have a Fedex account and use it to send some fedex express items from the office. I also use it to send the occasional packages to my s’s at school. I weigh the boxes on my digital scale (which is accurate), preprint the shipping labels from the computer, and drop off the box at the Fedex-Kinkos facility near my house. Last time the package weighed about a pound and a half, but they changed it in their system to about 6 lbs (I forget exactly-- will have to look it up). It took many phonecalls to the facilities (warehouses) both here in my town and in the destination city and the billing office (who was VERY nasty) to get it addressed. They were able to get the package off the truck (which delayed the delivery by a day) and get it reweighed. They told me that sometimes the drivers “estimate” the package weight by some formula (weightxheightxdepth divided by something like 194), but a) that might be only for the express pkgs and b) that would have actually worked in my favor. I figured it was a one-time glitch, but noticed, as I looked at the tracking of the 6.5 lb pkg I just sent to him that they have it logged in as 20.3 lbs ! :eek: I did NOT send him bricks in the 13x9x8 box. While in reality the shipping price difference is only about $2 between the cost of the 6.5 vs 20.3 weights, it is still a 25% increase from what the correct price should be, and if they do this to everyone, that is a hefty profit for Fedex and is, quite frankly, fraud.</p>
<p>I asked the customer service lady today if I need to have the pkg weighed when I drop it off at Kinkos. She said that it was jsut a receiving facility and not a processing facility, so the truck driver is going to “process” the package and put inthe “weight” into their system. </p>
<p>Even if I have them weigh the phg at the store, as I use a fedex account, they can continue to change the cost on me when they bill my account. I dont want ot have to pay individually each time I ship a package. That was the beauty of having an acount (which, by the way, is supposedly discounted as a customer of USAA). </p>
<p>Help! Ideas? Thoughts? I have no idea how long this has been going on-- just happened to notice it on the last 2 boxes shipped. This could be a small fluke, or a huge systemwide scam. Suggestions?</p>
<p>My suggestion is that you establish the “correct” weight. For awhile, weigh it at home, then take the packages in your local Fedex drop off to document the weight. Then, see how it’s measured “in the field”. Once you establish the “proof” that you’re being overcharged, you have something legit. Right now, it’s only your word against theirs.</p>
<p>Thanks, limabeans. However, the first time this happened, they took the package off the truck at the destination terminal and reweighed it. They actually weighed it as LESS than I’d weighed it. We will be doing this again tomorrow, when it arrives at the destination facility (they have a “track and reweigh” order in the system). Fortunately, his college provided the students with large neon orange stickers with their name and PO box # on it, to put on the boxes to help the sorters at the university’s post office put it by the correct mailbox, so the boxes are VERY easy to spot by the driver and easily identified to be taken and reweighed. I am hopeful that we’ll again be able to snag it off the truck and get it reweighed, but I really don’t want to go through this every time I ship a package.</p>
<p>One solution is to take it to an actual Fedex location rather than a Kinkos. They do weigh them at real Fedex locations, at least in my experience. That can be a hassle, I guess, if there is no Fedex (as opposed to Kinkos) location convenient to you.</p>
<p>Thanks, dadx3. However, yes, it would be quite inconvenient to take the package to the fedex facility. Both this time and last time when I explained the situation, they said that this could be a “training opportunity” for their drivers. Last time they wondered if the facility’s scale was messed up, but either way it is their error, not mine. I’d rather not be gypped or inconvenienced because of their errors. Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone out there work for any of the shipping companies?</p>
<p>They use dimensional weight for FedEX Ground and even for regular FedEx if you use your own packaging–that is, not just what it weighs on the scale but also somehow factor in its H/W/D. I don’t know if that is what the issue is with your package but it does make a difference. A couple of weeks ago I sent my daughter a package and used an 18 inch square box that I had bought at Staples–needed ample room for clothes and other items that she had bought when she was home over Christmas and didn’t have a box at home big enough to use. A 15-inch square would have cost less to send even at the same actual weight according to the FedEx rate chart. I realized after the fact that I probably could have fit everything into the smaller box but at that point it didn’t seem worth it to go back to Staples and look for the next box size down–would have spent the money in gas anyway.</p>
<p>That said, I find FedEx Ground amazingly economical and my at-home research on cost usually matches the real figures very well. However, I go to a FedEx-staffed facility a few miles from home–not sure if FedEx/Kinko’s charges the same rates or adds a little bit because it isn’t actually FedEx? I am surprised that they don’t do any weighing at the one near you. I used to be very annoyed by that at Mailboxes Etc when sending UPS packages–they certainly weighed stuff but they also added a substantial amount to cost of shipping over actual UPS rate and made no secret of it. (I think UPS Store still does that but is still a good place to drop off prepaid returns for LLBean!)</p>
<p>Are they very large boxes? If so, you may be getting charged the dimensional weight which is generally calculated (in inches) as (L x W x H)/194 for domestic and divided by 166 for international shipments. </p>
<p>Many if not all Kinko’s have scales. I suggest you call 1-800-GOFedEx and speak with Customer Service.</p>
<p>I should have noted in my earlier post that a customer is charged the higher weight of the actual weight and the dimensional weight. UPS does this as well.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I’ve been shipping stuff for quite some time, and never had (or should I correctly say) never noticed this discrepancy. As I mentioned above, I did discuss the H X L X W/194 possibility, but that would have worked in my favor if they used that policy or dimentional wgt. procedure (ie this pkg would have weighed in 2 # less than it actually was rather than 14 lbs MORE thatn it actually was. It wa a pretty standard sized box (recycled from something we’d ordered – approx 13 X 9 X8) so it surely met minimum size requirements. In fact the last box was smaller (about 10 X 6 X 5) – was “estimated” at 6 lbs when it really weighed only slightly over 1 lb. </p>
<p>Do they have free ground packaging? Seems to me when I have gone to pick up their shipping materials, the only free ones are the express envelopes and boxes,which means I either have to pay for the box, ship by express, or get gypped with overcharges on incorrect weights! In general I have preferred Fedex to UPS, but agree, mathmom, this is making me rethink that. I also believe, mattmom, that the UPS stores/mailboxes etc are all owned by UPS now. Do they still upcharge too??</p>
<p>I don’t know if UPs stores still upcharge because I have been using FedEx exclusively unless it is a return to a mail order place that wants/arranges/will reimburse UPS and then there is no basis for me to compare their cost. I am pretty sure FedEx does not any free ground shipping containers–they seem to sell brown boxes but since I live even closer to a Staples than to the FedEx facility, I have never bought them; I hvae a feeling they cost more at FedEx. I am usually able to use boxes that we have around the house from places like amazon and zappos.</p>
<p>Using federally-approved tariffs, all common carriers (including UPS) use “tare” weight, which is the greater of actual weight or linear dimensions (hxwxl) times some factor. If you pull up Fedex’s website you can play around with measurement and weights. Thus, shipping pillows to your kid in college is a waste of shipping money bcos they are big and bulky, but light weight. As a result, you would be charged the linear weight.</p>
<p>No, Fedex Ground requires you to use your own packaging materials – not free. If you use an Express Box to ship Ground, they can and will upgrade the service to (air) Express. Yes, the boxes do cost more at Fedex but they are also generally sturdier, i.e, a heavier weight, IMO.</p>
<p>Hmm. I’m glad you pointed this out. I preprint UPS labels from my office via the web and then drop off at a UPS store. They don’t love it because they don’t get any revenue from that drop off. If you go into a UPS store and don’t have an account they surcharge you like crazy. Same with going to Kinkos for Fedex.<br>
I generally drop and run, don’t stick around and watch them reweigh the item. I probably should insist on watching them reweigh to confirm the weight on their scale before leaving. That way I could ensure that I knew the weight…
have you tried this at Kinkos? In other words, stay there and make them reweigh it in front of you?</p>
<p>dunno about Kinkos, but Fedex machines in the bowels of their wharehoues scan and weigh practically every package that goes thru its system. It’s a check against customer mistakes or retail clerk mistakes.</p>
<p>I use USPS priority pre-paid shipping. I have found it to be the cheapest and the postal service will pick up for free or you can give it to any postal carrier.</p>
<p>ebeee,
As I mentioned above, even if they weigh the pkg at the kinkos, the customer service person said that they are just a “receiving facility” and not really a fedex station, and that the driver will be the one to actually scan it into their system and deal with the measurement stuff (which makes no sense to me, as people who pay at the kinkos obvioulsy have to have it weighed and measured at the kinkos on their scale there). But as limabeans suggested above, I’d have documentation of the correct weight of the box, and have proof against this ridiculous overestimate of the real weight. I do usually ask them to scan int he package so at least its in their tracking system and I have a receipt. Wonder if that is causing any of the problem??? Hmmmm. Dont know why it would, though.</p>
<p>I have picked up a few of the prepaid USPS boxes, but haven’t yet found that its been cost effective. The smaller boxes werent big enough, end even though they were smaller, they cost more than the Fedex shipping (b/c I get the USAA discount and get some additonal thing off on my AmEx card). Well, I am off to see if I can find the phone numbers from the last time I went through this…</p>
<p>Everybody is being very helpful, but it sounds like Jym’s local FedEx people are jacking up the weights in a fraudulent manner. Jym, are you curious enough to check on a few more packages, document the weights and see what you (or your company) get charged. The state attorney general or the federal agency overseeing interstate shipping might be interested…</p>
<p>Thank you, 2bizee. I was wondering if this is an innocent mistake by the same driver onthe same pick-up route, or calculated fraud. Not sure how to document this other than with the printout of the weight they claim the package weighs against what I weighed it at (I can take a photo of the pkg onthe scale) and also the corrected reweigh. Got any other ideas?</p>
<p>drivers don’t have one iota of the time to weigh or measure packages. It happens in the fedex wharehouse as the packages move down the conveyor belts/skates.</p>