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Did you receive curt or downright rude service when dropping off packages at The UPS Store this holiday season?
It may be they were coping with the holiday rush.
Or it may be that The UPS Store franchise owner hates your guts. 
After all, you who drop off UPS packages without buying anything are freeloaders. Non-paying leeches. Bloodsucking parasites feeding off the host of their life savings.
Commenting at the post Is The UPS Store a Good Franchise Opportunity?, the manager writes:
The person printing saving the 5.00 label is UPS customer and not a customer of the TUPSS…
THIS IS NOT A CUSTOMER. THIS IS A FREELOADER THAT WANTS US TO KEEP OUR STORES OPEN PAY OUR RENT SO THAT HE CAN GET LOW RATES FROM UPS YET HAVE THE CONVENIENCE OF US SERVICING HIM, ANSWERING HIS QUESTIONS, TAPING HIS PACKAGES.
Francois writes:
A person that comes into a store with a dropoff is not a customer, they have spent no money in that establishment, they are not supporting that establishment. The owner is well within his rights to charge for any ancillary service (which might normally be gratis to a paying customer) which assists the non paying leach…
financials writes:
It’s unfortunate that UPS chose to put the owner in the middle, and out of frustration, the owner now takes it out on UPS’ customer. (notice it is NOT the stores customer).
UPS Store Owners are Rightfully Pissed Off…
You can’t blame The UPS Store franchisees for being pissed off. They were sold franchises under the promise of building a local shipping business with the power and brand name of shipping giant UPS. Once they had invested their life savings, they claim the shipping giant undermined them by going direct to their potential customers with cheaper pricing. Instead of paying The UPS Store, many customers pay UPS directly, print out their own labels and drop their packages off at The UPS Store.
The UPS Stores, which receive $1.00 or less per drop-off, claim they’ve become glorified drop-boxes for UPS. And they’ve got a point…
…But Why Blame the Customer?
Some The UPS Store franchisees have let their justifiable anger at UPS undermine the service philosophy of their stores. They think they’re justified in being nice to shipping customers and rude to drop-off customers. Yelp! reviews of one CA The UPS Store show how these attitudes are not lost on customers:
Rated: 2/5 stars Customer comments:
“Good attitude if you ship from this store. Bad attitude when you just drop off the package to ship.”
“The lady here is not nice… it’s the first time I’ve ever been to The UPS Store. =( But probably not to this one again.”
“…she gave me attitude and said ‘you didn’t give me the business, and bring me in the trouble.’”
“Did I really need to be lectured twice…?”
“the lady behind the counter was pretty angry.”
“I’m not fond of being verbally abused”
“She’s ONLY nice if you bring an UNPAID package… avoid this place.”
Customer Abuse is Self-Defeating
While their anger is understandable, it’s both misplaced and self-defeating. The commenters who defend maintaining a “caste system” of customers are operating under two dangerous misconceptions. The first is that all people who drop-off packages are not customers, and the second is that you can be selectively rude without negatively affecting the reputation of the entire business.
Drop-offs aren’t customers? Successful shop owners don’t perceive customers as single, isolated transactions. They perceive the lifetime value of customers and potential customers. Low shipping revenue means that the store owners must work to maximize non-shipping revenue, such as document imaging, photocopying, mailbox rental, notary services, etc. Today’s drop-off visitor is likely tomorrow’s (or yesterday’s) purchaser of other products and/or services. UPS Store owners are missing the concept of the loss leader, getting potential customers into the store to sell them on higher-margin purchases.
Rudeness is anti-branding. Word of mouth marketing is critical, especially when times are hard. Imagine how many people leave the store above unhappy. Imagine how many people they complain to. Imagine how much business they send to competitors. The UPS Store franchisees need to realize that even drop-off visitors still provide powerful word-of-mouth marketing and referrals. It’s up to them whether they get the referrals, or their competitor does.
Some of The UPS Stores Are Doing It Right
Some of The UPS Store franchisees have decided to take a healthier approach to running a service business. They keep their ongoing battle between themselves and UPS, and focus on what successful b2b service businesses do: help their customers succeed. Consider the reviews of this The UPS Store in the same state as the one cited earlier:
UPS Store, Portal Ave, San Francisco
Rated: 5/5 stars Customer comments:“I… had the opportunity to witness them service other customers. They were great to all of them too.”
“I’ll definitely ship through this store from now on :)”
“I can tell you “ALL” of their staff are so helpful and great people. They treat all the customers that come there, even the crazy ones with kindness and professionalism.”
“I listen to them telling someone information that they probably repeat hundreds of time and just think, how they always say it in an informal nice way? I don’t know how they train or pick their people but it empresses me.”
“They win the award for best businesses in San Francisco for me.”
Which of these stores do you think does better financially? Which of these franchisees is happier (or less miserable)? And which has more credibility in building a case against UPS?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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I drop-off and ship everything off at Goin’ Postal, they take all UPS, FedEx, Postal Service, DHL and treat people with respect regardless of dropping off and the same as those paying for shipping
a UPS store receives very little compensation for drop off or prepaid packages , most of the frustrations comes in when the prepaid package is brought to the store and the misconcepion that customers think we are required to tape there package , If you go to the post office they will not provide you with tape , for prepaid USPS packages , yet the customers wont complain to the post office , how ever they will complain about a small business owner , so i dont agree with a rude attitude , which is completely wrong , but lets support our local small business owners and understand that we are not provided with free supplies to cover this expense of prepaid packages after all if you wind up taking that package to a competitor they will charge you five dollars to dropoff the prepaid package , not to mention higher shipping rates for paying customers. lets look at the convenience of spending very little time in the store as opposed to waiting 1/2 hour to 45 minutes in a post office. , there is always the option of taking that prepaid package to a UPS hub center which in most cases will be a 45 minute ride for the customer . we are a retail store , we are in business to serve the local community and most stores hire local college students to work there . you will find that the majrotiy of the ups franchise have hard working owners trying to make a living to support our family . just as you do every day you go to work .
Very interesting & good information about UPS, and Very true about the franchise owners getting ripped off by the UPS corporation. I’ve had very bad experiences with ups as a logistical company having them take shipments from other countries into the USA. Their employees are very unreliable and don’t care about how important your shipping products are when they will show up at your business.
UPS in court
05-02-10
UPS in court ready to lose; do NOT get into this garbage right now!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dMgO7eGXq4&feature=player_embedded#!
1003 days ago
[...] The UPS Store franchise opportunity: Is The UPS Store a Good Franchise Opportunity? (260 comments) THE UPS STORE Franchisees: Drop-Offs Can Drop Dead Franchise Owners Say Opening a UPS Store Franchise is a “Bad Financial Decision” THE [...]
I find it amusing that UPS is always delighted to inform store owners of new agreements with companies for their customers to drop-off their returns at UPS stores. Wow, thanks, looks like I’m gonna be earning an extra $5 a day (if that much).
Charging fees for drop-offs is probably not the way to go. I only work at our UPS store, but I realize that customer relations is big. Most of the time, drop-offs won’t pay for any other services, but in case they do (and whether they do is completely dependent on your ability), you don’t want to drive them away for the sake of $2.
I am sorry, but I own 5 businesses and 3 of the 5 businesses have UPS stores within a block of them. We do TONS of mail orders to clients and do you know that I have never been visited once by an Owner or a Manager of a UPS store inviting me in to do business with them. How can a concept succeed without sales calls? These UPS stores have tons of opportunity all around them, and they are so busy blogging and complaining instead of going out and working for new accounts to fund their P and Ls. It really is pathetic. Who says anyone should sit in their store all day and wait for customers to come to them? Get out with flyers, do some direct mail, go call on accounts. WORK!
I find it amusing that UPS is always delighted to inform store owners of new agreements with companies for their customers to drop-off their returns at UPS stores. Wow, thanks, looks like I’m gonna be earning an extra $5 a day (if that much).
Charging fees for drop-offs is probably not the way to go. I only work at our UPS store, but I realize that customer relations is big. Most of the time, drop-offs won’t pay for any other services, but in case they do (and whether they do is completely dependent on your ability), you don’t want to drive them away for the sake of $2.
Hello I own a UPS store and these “drop-offs” have greatly diminished my business so much that I will probably sell it within 1-2 years.
My new tactic will be to go after drop off customers by telling them that I can ship the same box at lower rates than UPS corporate. This may work but will be less than 5 percent of drop off customers may switch. Would be very hard to do this I know.
My other new policy sure too ANGER MANY PEOPLE will be to charge $2.00 fees for all untapped dropped off packages. Since it takes time and material why not do this. I encourage all UPS store owners to do this ..
UPS like most big business is extremely crooked and deviant business.
Amos Exposes Insider Information in UPS Acquisition of MBE
Posted Fri, 2009/07/17 – 17:07 by Janet Sparks
LOS ANGELES – Franchisees are currently engaged in litigation with the world’s largest package delivery company regarding whether they should have been forced to convert from their original concept of Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) to that of The UPS Store. United Parcel Services (UPS), through its acquisition of the 20-year-old franchise system in March 2001, has dramatically altered the MBE network, and now it is having to defend its actions in court against claims that it withheld crucial information and made misrepresentations in persuading franchisees to change over. In the closely watched trial of Morgate LLC v Mail Boxes Etc., a deposition taken in July 2006, MBE president and CEO James H. Amos’ memory was tested on the intricacies of the sale of his company. When he was asked about certain details surrounding the acquisition, he stated, “UPS actually only ended up acquiring MBE by accident.” Amos proceeded to tell the story, under oath, as to “why UPS owns this company [MBE] today.”
Now, these detailed accounts could prove to be crucial in the upcoming trial, currently scheduled for August 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court, as they could be with other similar court cases. Along with Amos’ testimony, other vital information will be allowed as evidence, including the following:
Boston Consulting Group report (sections now unsealed by the court, pdf) – An intensive study on the franchise network determining the health of the system.
UPS Asset Purchase Agreement with the “deal bonus program and deal bonus payment made by MBE to Thomas Herskowitz in the amount of $182,150 and deal bonus payment made by Parent to James Amos in the amount of $455,375.
2000 Strategic Overview of the Mail Boxes Etc., a simultaneous presentation used in discussions with potential buyers of MBE showing its success, while testimony suggests otherwise.
But there are certain aspects to Amos’ testimony that must be questioned.
Jim Amos’ deposition shows that he took confidential company information and passed it on to UPS, such as U.S. Office Products (USOP), then-parent company of MBE, was going to file for bankruptcy. His testimony also shows that USOP had negotiated a deal with Apollo Equity Group and that through insider information that he passed on, UPS was able to return to the bidding game and eventually acquire MBE. Those close to the case argue that in this regard Amos did not protect the interests of MBE franchisees by making sure that UPS in the asset purchase agreement would not force their own agenda on the franchisees in the system.
And regarding the bonus program, Amos and Herskowitz were only paid if the UPS/MBE deal closed, showing that they were in conflict with the idea of protecting Mail Boxes Etc.
Amos’ Untold Story of UPS Acquisition
Amos gives his testimony of how UPS’s purchase came about, stating, “I am the only person, one of a handful of people that really knows the truth, because after these transactions, there is always a lot of revisions [to] history, particularly when things go well.” As background, he said he came on board with MBE in 1996 because the board felt it was time to move former owner/CEO Tony DeSio out. After that, MBE gave Amos a year to complete the transaction of selling the company to U.S. Office Products, and in 1997 it was finalized with a transaction cost at $75 million.
After a chain of events, detailed in the deposition, Amos and his team were looking for an opportunity to sell the chain through private placement, engaging in management discussions with 18 interested parties. At that time, he said he presented his strategic overview of the Mail Boxes Etc. system. That’s when UPS first engaged MBE. But after all negotiations were whittled down to one company, Amos and his team entered into formal talks with Apollo Equity Group. The MBE parent company reached an agreement with Apollo. Amos, according to his testimony, put a management buyout (MBO) on the table with American Securities for $175 million. When the investment bankers and dealmakers became involved in the acquisition, they would not accept Amos’ offer. Later, they once again started over in the process, bringing the interested parties back to the table, including Apollo Equity and UPS. The bid ended with U.S. Office Products selecting Apollo Equity as the top acquisition prospect. At the end of the day, according to Amos, their offer was somewhere around $220 million. But as negotiations went forward with the successful bidder, Amos said Apollo became brutal in their tactics against USOP and he became concerned.
As the discussions were continuing with MBE and Apollo, Amos was also stepping into the chairman position of the International Franchise Association during its Las Vegas convention on February 27, 2001. Early in that week Amos said he received a call on behalf of stamps.com, or Stamps (previously doing business as Iship), in which MBE had invested $4 million on their technology to do online shipping. They were negotiating on a new program to benefit the MBE network. The call came from David Mounts who was running mergers and acquisitions for UPS when USOP first engaged them. Amos stated that at that time he and Mounts had become good friends.
As they were talking, Mounts told Amos that UPS was interested in an acquisition with Stamps, and the two discussed some of the problems MBE was having with that company and how they could resolve them. But then Mounts asked Amos how the “transaction” was going. Amos told him he couldn’t answer that. But when Mounts asked if the pricing structure was anywhere close to what he knew UPS would have offered a year ago, Amos told him it was in the ball park. Amos stated that UPS knew the right price was what he had put on the table with American Securities ($175 million).
But, according to the transcript, Mounts called back within an hour and told Amos UPS wanted to re-engage. Amos testified that he thought he was talking about Stamps, but Mounts told him no, they wanted to re-engage with MBE. Amos said he felt he had a moral and ethical dilemma—he could say nothing and the deal with Apollo would happen, or he could call somebody and talk to them about it. He said he had no love lost for U.S. Office Products. “I thought they were horrible operators and bleeding us dry,” he said in his testimony. He added, “The worst thing you want to be is the crown jewel in the hat of a bleeding parent.”
Amos said he sympathized with USOP because of the way Apollo had treated them, but he made the decision not to call them. He said he prayed about it. His final decision was to call the person involved in the transaction with Apollo, who was now co-chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston, and lay it out to him. According to his testimony, Amos stated, “ . . . I need to tell you what just happened, and I’m not going to make this decision, but I think it’s beyond my scope of authority with fiduciary responsibility to you as well as the system not to tell you what just occurred.” Credit Suisse thanked him for the information.
One person close to the case, who did not wish to be named, said, “The revealing of confidential insider information is inconsistent with the fiduciary duty that Amos owed MBE.”At that time, USOP officials were getting the paperwork done with Apollo to sign the contracts, and they were at such a late date they decided to bring in consultant Michael Seid to work with them on the franchising side. Apollo officials were toasting with champagne because they thought it was a done deal, since MBE had an exclusive with Apollo that they couldn’t talk with anyone else. But in a day or so Amos said he received a call back from Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, which owned 38 percent of USOP, saying they made the decision to disengage from Apollo Equity Group. Amos stated that records now show that USOP had to pay Apollo several million dollars as a break up fee if USOP could get through the process with UPS in order to complete the sale with UPS.
The Rest of the Story
But in his deposition, Amos said he wanted to tell one other thing that was salient. He said he also received a call a week or two before the IFA convention from Chase Bank in New York, a banker who knew him, asking, “Jim, do you know what USOP is about to do?” Amos told him he wasn’t sure and asked him what he was talking about. He answered, “Well, I have to tell you off-line because I can’t tell you officially, but I think you need to know that they [USOP] are about ten days away from filing bankruptcy.”
Amos testified that he immediately called USOP and confronted them with this news. He told them he was leaving on Friday to attend the IFA convention to become its chairman. He knew that he was within a day or so of having a deal cut that would exclude USOP, but “with a company that may be worse.” Amos said the whole breakup process was going on as he went to Las Vegas. On Monday he was named chairman, and on Tuesday he said he spoke on the phone with 200 bankers making a strong case that he’s not a “dip.” He said he had “upstreamed” 80 million bucks, and he hadn’t “taken a dollar from these guys.”
Wednesday, a year after their first discussions with UPS, MBE re-entered the war room with UPS. They didn’t leave for three days, Amos said. At the end, Jim Kelly, chairman and CEO of UPS, called him saying that they had a deal.
Amos said the whole deal was made in one week. When people asked him if he thought it was a miracle he told them no, “I know absolutely it is.”
But Amos also stated in his testimony, “And here is what the franchisees, my good friend[s], don’t understand.” He said he had several options, including the choice to say the heck with it and allow USOP to go into bankruptcy. He said, “I can become a debtor in possession.”
When the deposing attorney asked Amos if he believed the UPS acquisition was in the best interest of the franchisees, Amos said, “Absolutely 100 percent, no question.” He then asked if he knew during the discussions leading up to the execution of the Asset Purchase Agreement, that UPS was going to require the franchises to convert from MBE to The UPS Store. Amos responded with, “Of course not. How would I know that?” When he asked at what point he knew UPS was going to in fact require the franchisees to convert to The UPS Store, he answered that you can only offer them incentives. You cannot force them or require them to convert, not in the MBE program or any other program.
When the attorney asked if it was Amos’ understanding that the MBE franchisees had the option of converting to The UPS Store or remaining an MBE until the conclusion of their franchise agreement, Amos stated, “Well, I think that’s exactly what happened.”
After reading the Amos deposition, one person close to the case, who did not wish to be named, said, “The revealing of confidential insider information is inconsistent with the fiduciary duty that Amos owed MBE. The legal duties that he owed the MBE franchisees is no doubt what will be revealed in the courtroom. They were supposed to protect the franchise agreements and instead, they turned over the franchise to a company that had no interest in maintaining the franchise. And then that company, once they got hold of the franchisor, exercised their authority and power to wipe them out.”
–
Related reading:
UPS Denies Existence of Feasibility Study, Now Unsealed as Evidence
Court Certifies Nationwide Class Action against UPS on Fraud Claims
Mail Boxes Etc Franchisees Head to Trial with Crucial Exhibits in Hand
James H Amos, Franchipedia entry
Amos to Lead IFA in 2001
UPS Picks Up Mail Boxes Etc. – Forbes.com
COMPANY NEWS; U.S. OFFICE PRODUCTS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY – The New
The corporate PIGS that run UPS should be made to work 60-70hrs a week at a UPS STORE only then will they understand the evil that they do.
Lets start with the coward, and grossly incompetent, Stuart Mathis
The dude should be in jail
You are right the UPS Corporate are full of pigs, and they don’t care about their employees, which makes their employees not care about people outside of the corporate UPS
Obviously, UPS bought the MBE franchise with the view of competing with FedEx and using the cheap labor and venture capital of franchisees to secure a retail presence.
Apparently, they knew the status quo of low and process and procedure would allow them to use and unfairly exploit their The UPS Store franchisees while growing their profits and visibility throughout the United States on the backs of their franchisees.
Their “drop dead” attitude and arrogance is typical of those who know that “big business” like “franchising” is protected by the laws that they influence and under which we live.
The UPS store isn’t competing with mcdonalds or starbucks. You’re competing with Fedex-Kinkos. And since Kinkos are not franchises but instead all owned by Fedex Inc, they’re more than happy to take drop offs- in fact, I can walk in something to ship and my fedex account number, have them package it and they’ll bill me at my prenegotiated rate, with a smile and no franchise surcharge!
I have a local UPS store that is extremely nasty for UPS dropoffs. So I switched my shipping from UPS to Fedex ground, and the people at my local Kinkos are absolutely delightful to work with. I don’t know if this is representative of a nationwide trend, but my local UPS store (and there are only two in my whole city) usually has five or six packages every night for pickup, and my local Kinkos (one of seven) has packages stacked five feet high through half the store.
From what I am reading here, I guess judges no longer take this oath–
Each justice or judge of the United States shall take the following oath or affirmation before performing the duties of his office: “I, XXX XXX, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as XXX under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”
Moving quickly may actually be in the franchisees interest. Most franchisees would actually rather have their day in court quickly. The problem is that some of these Judges do not find these cases “sexy” and no upside for them. The large corporations have great influence (lately, like the last 8 years) over which judges have a chance to move up the ladder.
Francois,
I’m not playing politics here, but actually it was a well meaning Joe Biden who introduced the legislation requiring federal cases to move more quickly.
Wow! Sean Kelly! That’s telling it like it is! Amen! Hallelujah! Just love the fighting Irish who know that so many of the attorneys have kissed the “blarney stone” and play the game of “law” only in their own interests.
But Michael Webster makes his points as well, and if I lived in Canada, and needed an attorney, I would feel safe with Michael Webster —and, at least, Ontario has a private right of action for violations of disclosure laws. Maybe the public wouldn’t care at all if they knew what was going on! Maybe he is right —but at least the public is available to franchisees to get the word out —and jury trials seem to be a thing of the past.
However, when the deck is stacked in the Courts, as here in the US, through law, process and procedure and the franchisor has the means to delay and fight and still sell new franchises out the front door and discounted businesses of failures out the back door —and still collect royalties and shipping fees and commissions, etc.. from struggling franchisees, why aren’t the INTERNET –as Sean says, “the weapons of the youtube, email campaigns, blogs, videos, and new media, and not the Courtroom, the better and cheaper alternative for ALL franchisees to get the word out.
Just look at what those Curves Franchisees are paying as a retainer and monthly dues as well but, in my opinion, public regulatory policy and the federal Courts will protect the Curves organization if enough of those 10,000 Curves are still standing and serving the economy —-want to bet?
Just look at what it has cost the UPS Store franchisees to get this far and how much more it will cost them in Appeal in terms of money and time and suffering? And the courts will be inclined to protect the UPS paper that is out there and the billions of dollars in franchisor securitizations that have been completed in the past couple of years.
I believe the current status of the economy and the widespread fraud that will be dealt with just as “civil violations” because it is so widespread that it cannot be thought of as “deviant and criminal” will not be dealt with by the courts —-in my opinion. Read the new Fortune Magazine Article on this subject matter.
Michael: You’re creative. Internet- and new media-savvy. And a franchisee advocate. I think you should lead this guerilla info insurgency. You could be franchising’s Paul Revere. Thomas Paine. G. Washington.
“The worst part about it is that federal judges need to get these cases off their books in a hurry, so the complicated cases often end up in appeals. Unfortunately, this takes more time and money for the plaintiffs.”
J. Brown, a good portion of the federal judges are now appointees of republicans. The importance of this is that the only way to make their “bones” and have a chance to move up to the next level (US Appeals Court) is to rule on absolutely every single abortion case that comes along. The loonier and kookier the decision (look at some some of the stuff Alito wrote) the better chance that some nut job will push them for an appeals court job. Unfortunately, this leaves very little time for these Judges to worry or care, or work to understand cases that involve franchisees. Additionally, to rule in favor of a bunch of little franchisees against a large corporation can only undo some of the goodwill gained by the loony, kooky, bozo rulings in the abortion cases!
(Luckily, (especially in California, the ninth circuit court of appeals) many of these nutjobs have not been successful in getting appointed to the appeals court!)
I admit… I’m a marketing and pr guy so that’s my bias. I just don’t see much getting returned to franchisees for their investment in these big lawsuits. They seem to lumber on forever… and the big company has the time, resources and their agreements in their favor.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs are told not to speak about the case, so the franchisor is free to keep collecting franchise fees to fuel their war chest.
I feel for those participating – it’s must be far from a liberating experience.
In the revolutionary war, the redcoats lined up in neat rows and shot on cue, while the Americans hid behind trees and rocks (At least in my grade school history class). If we had adopted the same techniques, we’d all be drinking tea & talking like John Cleese.
Today, the revolution is online… the weapons are youtube, email campaigns, blogs, videos, and new media… an unprecedented chance to get the word out.
But hey, it’s probably prudent to stay quiet and let the lawyers fight it out at their hourly rates.