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Can anyone explain this? If you tell me a candy bar costs $2 (e.g., that's the posted price), and then at the register, you actually charge me $10 and I don't s

by notJim 14y ago

Can anyone explain this? If you tell me a candy bar costs $2 (e.g., that's the posted price), and then at the register, you actually charge me $10 and I don't say anything, can I sue you later? I realize that's a ridiculously simplified example, but it seems in principal/by analogy the same.

DannyBee 14y ago
Like anything in law, it depends. To answer, I'd first need a clearer example. Define "didn't say anything". Did you notice there was a problem, but didn't say anything Or did you not notice until later?
debacle 14y ago
Businesses are huge, and contract law isn't that simple. The reality is that the person sending the package is not the person who brokers the relationship with FedEx - they're paid mailroom wages (10-15 an hour).
ericcholis 14y ago
Close, but not really the same. FedEx and UPS tack additional fees on to packages for various delivery scenarios. In this example, they were charging a "Residential" delivery fee for places that were clearly not residences. I'm not sure how it works with FedEx, but with UPS you can override this fee when creating the shipment...but you could get charged anyway as a correction on your bill.
maratd 14y ago
That's far too simplistic. FedEx, UPS, and other couriers charge more for residential deliveries. This is fine, because it is more difficult to deliver to a residence. However, frequently, these couriers charge a base rate and then tack on a residential "surcharge" at a later time. Most shipments aren't paid for at the counter. You get a weekly bill. If you ship more than a few packages a week, it's very difficult to tell which surcharge is attached to which shipment. All they give you is a tracking number and unless you spend all day memorizing their tracking numbers, you won't know which end is up. Also, are you going to spend 15 minutes on the phone every time you get dinged for two bucks unfairly? No thanks. At this point, it's not so much ripping off ... everybody knows it's happening. Just a hidden cost of shipping.
- isleyaardvark 14y ago
  To go with the candy bar analogy, it's as if you paid $2 with your credit card, then were charged another $10 a week later. Close?
  - pfortuny 14y ago
    No, you go to the candy shop say thirteen times a week, buy some candy (do not remember the exact number although you have the statements but they do not specify numbers but weight) and after a week you receive a true invoice with just the transaction IDs and a grand total. If you check this and you notice a $0.50 surcharge... Are you going to spend 10min to fix it, if it is fixed ("please call later when our accountant is in")?
endersshadow 14y ago
Because organizations aren't the same person. So Jan calls from purchasing, and she gets a quote from FedEx of $2/package. Bill in shipping is told by Jan to use FedEx using this company code. Bill ships it via FedEx and just sends the bill off to Accounts Payable. It doesn't really pop up until much later when you're closing out the quarter or year and go, "Hey, wait a minute, why is our shipping so high?"
bcoates 14y ago
There's a little sign at the cash register of most stores in California to that effect, that you are entitled to buy at the lowest advertised price.
Negitivefrags 14y ago
My company recently had to ship out a lot of small parcels in bulk (Think kickstarter style rewards). We had never done that before, and it is very difficult to actually work out how much it is going to cost. The rates are confusingly specified, you can't get a per package breakdown and you don't get invoiced until weeks later. Because of all that it's actually very hard to say if you are getting the rates you agreed to. At best you can try to estimate what it is going to cost you. Thankfully in our case our estimates were actually higher than what we eventually paid, but I can see how it would be very difficult to know if you were over charged.
joe_the_user 14y ago
Not really. More like: I ask you how much a candy bar is, You say $2, I give you a ten and you "forget" to give me change. Can I sue you later? You bet your sweet bippy!

by notJim 14y ago

DannyBee 14y ago

Like anything in law, it depends. To answer, I'd first need a clearer example. Define "didn't say anything". Did you notice there was a problem, but didn't say anything Or did you not notice until later?

debacle 14y ago

Businesses are huge, and contract law isn't that simple. The reality is that the person sending the package is not the person who brokers the relationship with FedEx - they're paid mailroom wages (10-15 an hour).

ericcholis 14y ago

Close, but not really the same. FedEx and UPS tack additional fees on to packages for various delivery scenarios. In this example, they were charging a "Residential" delivery fee for places that were clearly not residences. I'm not sure how it works with FedEx, but with UPS you can override this fee when creating the shipment...but you could get charged anyway as a correction on your bill.

maratd 14y ago

That's far too simplistic. FedEx, UPS, and other couriers charge more for residential deliveries. This is fine, because it is more difficult to deliver to a residence. However, frequently, these couriers charge a base rate and then tack on a residential "surcharge" at a later time. Most shipments aren't paid for at the counter. You get a weekly bill. If you ship more than a few packages a week, it's very difficult to tell which surcharge is attached to which shipment. All they give you is a tracking number and unless you spend all day memorizing their tracking numbers, you won't know which end is up. Also, are you going to spend 15 minutes on the phone every time you get dinged for two bucks unfairly? No thanks. At this point, it's not so much ripping off ... everybody knows it's happening. Just a hidden cost of shipping.

isleyaardvark 14y ago
To go with the candy bar analogy, it's as if you paid $2 with your credit card, then were charged another $10 a week later. Close?
- pfortuny 14y ago
  No, you go to the candy shop say thirteen times a week, buy some candy (do not remember the exact number although you have the statements but they do not specify numbers but weight) and after a week you receive a true invoice with just the transaction IDs and a grand total. If you check this and you notice a $0.50 surcharge... Are you going to spend 10min to fix it, if it is fixed ("please call later when our accountant is in")?

endersshadow 14y ago

Because organizations aren't the same person. So Jan calls from purchasing, and she gets a quote from FedEx of $2/package. Bill in shipping is told by Jan to use FedEx using this company code. Bill ships it via FedEx and just sends the bill off to Accounts Payable. It doesn't really pop up until much later when you're closing out the quarter or year and go, "Hey, wait a minute, why is our shipping so high?"

bcoates 14y ago

There's a little sign at the cash register of most stores in California to that effect, that you are entitled to buy at the lowest advertised price.

Negitivefrags 14y ago

My company recently had to ship out a lot of small parcels in bulk (Think kickstarter style rewards). We had never done that before, and it is very difficult to actually work out how much it is going to cost. The rates are confusingly specified, you can't get a per package breakdown and you don't get invoiced until weeks later. Because of all that it's actually very hard to say if you are getting the rates you agreed to. At best you can try to estimate what it is going to cost you. Thankfully in our case our estimates were actually higher than what we eventually paid, but I can see how it would be very difficult to know if you were over charged.

joe_the_user 14y ago

Not really. More like: I ask you how much a candy bar is, You say $2, I give you a ten and you "forget" to give me change. Can I sue you later? You bet your sweet bippy!