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About 10 years ago, I dated a woman who worked at a distillery, and they were looking for some software to automate the labeling and shipping process for their

by imroot 12y ago

About 10 years ago, I dated a woman who worked at a distillery, and they were looking for some software to automate the labeling and shipping process for their bottle and label samples. FedEx just released their API, so, I wrote them a little web based program that generated the label, and then automatically identified which packages were delivered outside of the delivery window so that they could be submitted for refund. While FedEx had no problem refunding the shipping for the packages that were delivered outside of the window, they raised the distillery's rates dramatically (over 100%) over the next few months. At the time, UPS nor USPS would accept packages from a distillery (regardless of if they were shipping spirits or not), so, I turned off the functionality that sent the 'out of window' reports, and a few months later, the distillery's rates went back down to normal. Would I use this today? Not at all -- FedEx is really on top of areas where they're going to be delivering late and if you have a package or packages going to that area, they're preemptively sending you "Service Alerts" letting you know that they're using the weather or other clauses from their terms of service to not honor the guarantee. I haven't shipped UPS in years due to them not wanting to pay on a warranty claim, but my guess is that UPS is probably also doing the similar type of things to their customers as well.

maratd 12y ago
> but my guess is that UPS is probably also doing the similar type of things to their customers as well. This isn't possible with UPS. They publish their regular rates. If you're a large enough shipper, you'll have a contract that explicitly defines your rates and discount. This kind of thing is mostly useless for UPS. First, they notify you when they screw up. Second, they screw up maybe 1 out of a 1000 packages in my experience. That's a small enough number that it's absolutely worthless for a business to pursue. You're better off aggressively negotiating your rates.
- bdcravens 12y ago
  Second, they screw up maybe 1 out of a 1000 packages in my experience. I have years of data at my disposal. It's more like 2-5 packages out of 100. :-)
bdcravens 12y ago
Refund Retriever, the company I work for, has been doing this since 2006. I haven't seen the situation you describe, but that's not to say it doesn't happen; they don't always play by their own rules.

by imroot 12y ago

maratd 12y ago

> but my guess is that UPS is probably also doing the similar type of things to their customers as well. This isn't possible with UPS. They publish their regular rates. If you're a large enough shipper, you'll have a contract that explicitly defines your rates and discount. This kind of thing is mostly useless for UPS. First, they notify you when they screw up. Second, they screw up maybe 1 out of a 1000 packages in my experience. That's a small enough number that it's absolutely worthless for a business to pursue. You're better off aggressively negotiating your rates.

bdcravens 12y ago
Second, they screw up maybe 1 out of a 1000 packages in my experience. I have years of data at my disposal. It's more like 2-5 packages out of 100. :-)

bdcravens 12y ago

Refund Retriever, the company I work for, has been doing this since 2006. I haven't seen the situation you describe, but that's not to say it doesn't happen; they don't always play by their own rules.