UPS Ground shipments billed at approx. double the correct shipping price.

[mapleleafgolfco]

I've been selling golf clubs on eBay more than 20 years and recently have switched primarily to UPS Ground for shipping as the recent $15.00 surcharge USPS adds to boxes longer than 30" for Priority Mail make USPS no longer a viable option for us as this more than doubles the shipping price. In the past I have UPS Ground for just shipments more than 3 lbs such as multiple club shipments or single putter and driver shipments would would be 3 lbs and have always been billed the same as the UPS Ground shipping quote on eBay. In our case, the most expensive single club UPS Ground shipments would be $12.65 in a 5" x 5" x 48" box @ 3 lbs to eastern time zones from CA. Since changing over exclusively to UPS on April 3 when the USPS surcharge went into effect we have been getting billed an extra $12.75 on many shipments, but our box sizes, weight, etc... are not subject to extra handling charges according to UPS info. on their website. Furthermore, when I phone eBay to talk about these overcharges, UPS is not giving a specific reason for the extra $12.75 handling fees they are charging, such as, box longer than 48", girth greater than 108" etc.... today was quite frustrating as I was billed for 12 shipments and 7 of them were billed with the extra overcharge so essentially I was charged double for  7 of the shipments so as of now I'm on the hook for $89.25 more than I should be pending eBay's inquiry with UPS. I had to deal with a few other random single shipments where UPS over billed in the last couple of months and eBay took care of this by issuing me a eBay coupon, but I don't think they ever reached any sort of corrective action with UPS. After today I'm a little nervous to print anymore labels through eBay, I think I'll print at Pirate Ship and manually import tracking to eBay. My biggest shipping box is 5" x 5" x 48" so I don't see how this could trigger any extra fees, I'm sure I'm not the only seller dealing with this, if anyone has any suggestions or guidance on this subject it would be appreciated.

[714ricki]

Are you entering the correct dimensional weight for your UPS shipping labels? If my math is correct, the billable weight would be 8 lbs at those dimensions. 

[mapleleafgolfco]

Yes, these are the correct dimensions, I've been shipping golf clubs in these same size boxes for over 20 years on eBay. The issue isn't billable weight, even if that was the case, our 3 lb. eastern time zone shipment would only go from $12.65 to between $15 and $16. The issue is UPS is randomly adding a $12.75 extra handling fee to some shipments where the label was purchased on eBay. I have been billed on 19 UPS Ground labels on eBay since April 5, 2022 and 9 of the 19 had the extra $12.75 added to the correct/quoted shipping price when printing the label. Same boxes, same weights, but billed incorrectly on over half the shipments. We have purchased many UPS Ground labels on Amazon Buy Shipping and Pirate Ship this month and not one has been assessed these erroneous charges.

[donsdetour]

Hmm Set up you own UPS account with them: That should take care of the problem.

[1tuna]

the golf club shipping ways have changed

I am sure UPS is aware of this and is going to price fix it for the carboard tube shippers or fishing rod guys

I am unsure if you have your own UPS account but if you are using ebay shipping with   UPS then you are going to get plenty of surcharges

ebay shippers come on here and complain about surcharges. thats what happens if you do not have your own account

I am sure your great at shipping golf clubs but I really think you need a UPS account to keep an eye on things

I hope the future of golf clubs is not dead on ebay

good luck

[mapleleafgolfco]

I have a UPS account, but printing the shipping labels through eBay, Pirate Ship etc... offer substantial discounts to what UPS can offer small business accounts such as mine. I'll be printing UPS Ground labels on Pirate Ship which offer the same discounted prices as eBay labels until I can be assured that the UPS shipping label will be billed at the correct quoted price on eBay at the time of printing. @1tuna, I've been selling and shipping clubs daily on eBay for almost 22 years, the reason I'm complaining about surcharges is there is no valid reason for them, these happen randomly with the same size, same weight packages. None of my boxes are subject to any extra handling fees, I've been at this long enough to know the ins and outs of shipping costs, this is UPS incorrectly billing eBay for charges that are not valid and this leaves eBay sellers having to use up there time to get shipping costs corrected. 

[donsdetour]

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@mapleleafgolfco wrote:

I have a UPS account, but printing the shipping labels through eBay, Pirate Ship etc... offer substantial discounts to what UPS can offer small business accounts such as mine. I'll be printing UPS Ground labels on Pirate Ship which offer the same discounted prices as eBay labels until I can be assured that the UPS shipping label will be billed at the correct quoted price on eBay at the time of printing. @1tuna, I've been selling and shipping clubs daily on eBay for almost 22 years, the reason I'm complaining about surcharges is there is no valid reason for them, these happen randomly with the same size, same weight packages. None of my boxes are subject to any extra handling fees, I've been at this long enough to know the ins and outs of shipping costs, this is UPS incorrectly billing eBay for charges that are not valid and this leaves eBay sellers having to use up there time to get shipping costs corrected. 

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Still cheaper with the added costs??????

[rfmtm]

Coast to coast with PirateShip shows $12.65 for your example.   PS often beats ebay rates for UPS, and always quotes and bills correctly, unlike the hit and miss on ebay.   If you don't have deep discounts on your own account, which is always preferred rather than a third party, the second best is PS.

PS will integrate directly with ebay to import your orders and then upload the tracking back to ebay.  Plus PS support is great, and they will help with any dispute with UPS. 

For your overcharges on ebay, try going to the bulk label management page and click on the label.  It should show details of all the charges.

https://www.ebay.com/lbr/labels-history/seller-hub

[fm2000]

If you buy a UPS label on PirateShip, do/can you get hit with an additional "residential delivery" surcharge after you ship your item (as an adjustment later?) I can't get a straight answer on Pirate Ship's site, parts seem to imply you don't pay that surcharge, on other pages they say you might. So far, I have not been hit with any residential surcharges using them. When using FedEx labels from eBay I almost always get socked with the residential surcharge.

[mapleleafgolfco]

I have never been assessed a residential surcharge on UPS Ground shipments, after the fact, with Pirate Ship. I have only experienced one incident where UPS imposed an extra handling fee of $12.75 after shipping with Pirate Ship labels. I was given the specific reason that the box measured 49" in length, I replied to Pirate Ship customer service explaining that the longest box we ship with is 48" and $12.75 was added to my account as a credit a few days later.

[mapleleafgolfco]

"PS often beats ebay rates for UPS, and always quotes and bills correctly, unlike the hit and miss on ebay. "

So true about the hit and miss w/UPS labels with eBay. 2 out of the first 7 UPS Ground labels I printed this month on eBay were billed $12.75 higher than the original quote, eBay could not tell me the specific reason why UPS billed with the extra handling fee because UPS apparently does not provide this to eBay. eBay customer service could see in my shipping history that the other 5 shipments and many more before had been billed at the correct original quote so they gave me an eBay coupon to cover the overcharges. Yesterday eBay billed me for 12 more UPS Ground shipments and 7 of the 12 were incorrectly billed with the $12.75 extra overcharge. Again, eBay could not give me a reason on the extra handling fees, but I'm currently on the hook for an extra $89.25 on those 7 shipments while eBay inquires with UPS. Previously, I had only used UPS Ground on shipments more than 2 lbs. but was required to move away from USPS Priority Mail when USPS started imposing an extra $15.00 surcharge on each box longer than 30" on April 3, 2022. 

[mapleleafgolfco]

This is the reply I just received from eBay concierge customer service below. Not only have they not offered any sort of credit for these erroneous handling fees they still can't even give me a reason why UPS imposed the $12.75 extra handling fee some of these shipments. Truly frustrating, I send the same items out in the same boxes and for some unknown reason half of the shipments are billed with a $12.75 extra handling fee, but of course the reason is a mystery because there is no valid reason for them.

Hello Jamie,

I appreciate you giving me the time to talk with UPS on the 7 labels that were charged double of what they normally state they will be. I was able to get a response back from them today, and it seems that for all 7 are stating they had an additional handling charge. Now while they won't specify what that charge was, they did give me a couple of links to share with you as well.

https://www.ups.com/us/en/help-center/billing-payment/avoid-charges.page

https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/package-accessorial-pricing-preview.pdf

I know this isn't quite the answer we were hoping for, especially since you are so careful with your packaging and staying consistent. I wish we could have gotten a more favorable answer for you. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

Ashlee S

eBay Concierge

[THREAD ID: 1-433157539609]

eBay Document ID: 117469744001

[mapleleafgolfco]

Sellers please be aware that if you print UPS labels on eBay you may be billed for extra fees that cannot be disputed by eBay on your behalf, so Caveat Emptor! You would think being a top rated seller on eBay for almost 22 years with 100% positive feedback would be a decent enough reason for eBay to make these erroneous charges right, but I guessed wrong. Here is the second concierge email I just received and my reply further below.

Hello Jamie-

This is Mattie with eBay Concierge. First, let me say thank you for your loyalty to eBay for the past 21 years.  I appreciate you taking the time to reach out about the dispute we filed on your behalf for a few different UPS label charges that were more than expected. I know that surprise costs can come as a shock. I'm happy to assist and review the details further to see what I may clarify.

I took a look at the history and see we sent a dispute of the charges with the following labels to be reviewed:

Tracking #: 1Z14V5270306407361, 1Z14V5270315013868, 1Z14V5270335732393, 1Z14V5270325779442, 1Z14V5270332049226, 1Z14V5270318594744, 1Z14V5270311813859

The review came back as the extra costs being due to 'additional handling charge' of the package, which is not a fee we can dispute. While we provide the service of printing your labels through eBay, the additional fees are being charged by UPS guidelines per their fee structure and sole discretion. There are more than just handling charge fees that can be assessed to your packages, as the cost provided on eBay is an estimate that is finalized once you're billed for payment by the carrier. While we have been able to provide coverage for you in the past, this was as a one time courtesy, as generally UPS does not make errors and the extra fees are found to be valid. You can research about other possible fees with UPS below, along with how to avoid surprise costs when shipping through them:

https://www.ups.com/us/en/help-center/billing-payment/avoid-charges.page

https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/package-accessorial-pricing-preview.pdf

I trust this explains the reasoning clearly. We thank you for choosing eBay, and allowing us to look into resolution of this for you, even if we could not provide the desired outcome.

Best,

Mattie

eBay Concierge

[THREAD ID: 1-5IZORWJ2]

Hi Mattie,

This is not correct, our golf club boxes are not subject to any extra handling charges, fees etc...why has UPS billed the correct amount on most of the shipments, but randomly imposes a $12.75 fee on shipments that are the exact same in size and weight of the shipment that are billed correctly? I am not going to pay $89.25 extra in shipping for extra charges that are not valid for these 7 shipments.

We ship these same golf clubs with Amazon Buy Ship and Pirate Ship labels and do not deal with any billing that deviates from the original quote, after the fact. I have only had one $12.75 extra handling fee charged to a Pirate ship label by UPS and they gave the specific reason that the box length was 49". We replied that the longest box we use and order from Uline is 48" and Pirate Ship credited our account the $12.75 within a few days. If UPS is going to impose $12.75 extra handling fees on these 7 shipments, they need to give a specific reason so we can correctly refute it. Especially in light of the fact, if you look at our shipping history, they are imposing extra fees on the same size and weight boxes that were billed correctly without the extra $12.75 fee. I believe they have not given you any reason the charges is because there is no valid reason for them.

I've been selling golf clubs on eBay as a top rated seller on eBay for almost 22 years with 100 positive feedback, I know the ins and out of shipping, there are no valid reasons for these extra $12.75 fees. How can I get eBay to stand with me and support me with the correct billing for these incorrect charges?

Kind Regards,

Jamie Graham
Maple Leaf Golf Co.

[rfmtm]

What an excuse without any explanation of what "extra handling" means.  I would be calling UPS and work my way up the ladder to someone that will look into what specifically this "extra handling" is and why it was billed.

Even though ebay is the shipper of record, someone still owes you a clear explanation for the charges, if ebay has not clue.

[mapleleafgolfco]

eBay changing their story, now claiming they did dispute the charges. Furthermore, it appears they are suggesting I call UPS myself and try and dispute the extra charges which seems ridiculous considering the labels were purchased through eBay's UPS account. Here is the latest eBay concierge email below that was received this morning.

Hey there Jamie!

This is Jeanna with eBay’s Concierge Support team.. I will have the pleasure of helping you today. Thank you for reaching back out to us about your dispute with UPS. I understand that you shipped seven items, and was charged an extra 12.75 for handling on the seven items.

I was happy to research this for you. I found that we did fight on your behalf. We disputed these seven labels. UPS denied the dispute stating that there were extra handling charges on these items. When we inquired as to what the extra handling charges were for, we were told only that they are legitimate charges. That is as far as we could get with them. We understand that you have been a seller for a very long time, and that you are well versed with how the shipping is supposed to work. We hope that you will get further with UPS, as you did when you disputed the extra 12.75 charge that you experienced with them before. You won that dispute. That's great!

Since we have already fought this dispute for you with no success, the best thing for you to do at this point is give UPS a call. Their phone number is 1-800-742-5877. This line is available 24/7. If you don't have any success at this number, you can also call 1-800-782-7892 ; Hours: Weekdays, 7:30 AM to 9 PM EST.

I hope this information is helpful, clear, and concise. We wish you all the best in your adventures on eBay. We're glad you are a part of our eBay Concierge family!

Thank you again for reaching out to us. Please feel free to contact us anytime. We are always here and eager to help in the best way possible.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Take care.

Jeanna with eBay Concierge