UPS "upcharge" for shipping wine?

The only thing I can think of is that many wineries in the Napa area use a 3rd party shipping company to handle all the ins and outs of direct shipping compliance. This 3rd company then charges the winery a shipping & handling fee: the shipping is exactly what the common carrier charges them, and the handling fee is usually a few dollars more to cover pick and pack & materials. The more bottles you buy, the better it breaks down per bottle. However, since you called the winery, I'm sure they would have mentioned that this was the case. Beyond that, I have never heard of the carrier charging MORE than the rates on their website. In fact, if you are a company doing a larger bit of business with them, they can offer discounted rates. Odd bit of business you ran into!

e.

I would go to the nearest UPS office and ask them in person.

You might get a better response

Greg R

Did you have it sent to a residential address? UPS charges $1.50 for residential delivery which may not be included in your $5.50 quote. Also not included in your quote was the $2.75 adult signature fee or fuel surcharges beyond the base rate. Also remember there is relatively more costly packing material for 2 bottles than for 12. A 12 bottle box costs little more than 2 or 3 bottle box. These costs raise the total shipping for 2 bottles close to the $15.

Spence

You say UPS charges a "fuel surcharge" beyond the base rate; we assume it is because it has to pay for fuel. OK then, since it has to pay its employees, why not impose a "labor surcharge". Ditto for rent with a "rent surcharge". Hey, what about those expensive trucks; anyone up for a "truck surcharge"?

Seriously, whenever I see anybody charging fees beyond initially and usually prominently quoted prices, I see plain old deception at hand.

Companies sometimes low-ball their advertised prices to look more competitive and then stick it to you >Did you have it sent to a residential address? UPS charges $1.50 for

-- ================================================Do you like wine? Do you live in South Florida? Visit the MIAMI WINE TASTERS group at

Not to say the obvious.

You are supposed to be told the total including shipping and taxes before the item is shipped. The place you ordered it from should of know the actual total. We you order something from Amazon it gives you a chance to cancel the order after it reveal the shipping and taxes.

Greg R

Nope, commercial. -$1.50

UPS charges $1.50 for

What? Get out. There's no such thing attached to my other UPS shipments.

Nope again. The UPS rate calculator says the $5.50 shipping includes the fuel surcharge, which was a meager 2.75% that week. If it hadn't, the surcharge would have been 13 cents. So now we know that w/o the surcharge the rate would have been $5.37.

I'm going to assume you mean it costs almost as much to package up two bottles as it does 12. I respectfully disagree. The packing material itself can't really be a factor. A 12-bottle styrofoam case has got to cost much more than a two-bottle box. But I'll spot 'em two bucks for the box.

Not the way I figure it. $2 for a box, $5.50 for the shipping = $7.50. That's half of what NWC charged us. And as UPS's e-mail reminded me,

"Please note, any discounts or incentives that the shipper may have associated with their account will not be included in this rate."

I'm guessing a huge winery doing regular business with UPS has likely negotiated some kind of deal.

Just for the whack of it, I put a full 36-lb case into the UPS calculator. It came up with $21.90 including the fuel surcharge. Add two bucks for the 12-pack box and voila! There's my usual $24 shipping. No matter how you cut it, there's no way two bottles gets to $15 without some creative math involved.

Possible. But NWC didn't say it was a 3rd party shipper who charged them $15; they said that was what UPS charged them for shipp>You are supposed to be told the total including shipping and taxes

I checked with my girlfriend, who placed the order. She says she was told the shipping would cost $17. When it was invoiced out it was $15. She presumed that's what it costs to ship two bottles of wine via UPS Ground. At the time, and until I questioned the billing, she had no basis for comparing rates. She's now aware she should have been billed $5.50 for freight.

JJ

snipped-for-privacy@unspameljefe.net wrote in news:2umrb19okcq8cst5skbh9av5j13ovugpr0@

Are you sure it wasn't $15 for Shipping and Handling? S & H is where the profit is in online retail. Experienced ebayers for instance will look at the S&H before bidding on anything as there is some creative thought going into those numbers, but when the profit margin is low . . .

Maybe your other shipments had it "Additionally, all shipments of alcoholic beverages within the United States require an adult's signature at the time of delivery. $2.75 additional cost of acquiring a signature is included in the cost of S/H."

Yeah, you right! (As they say in Louisiana.) I always watch for that padded stuff. My gf didn't think about it until I said something. And I probably wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't seen the bill, with the charge itemized as "Freight." Then I started smelling the brett. :)

JJ