Saturday, February 20, 2010

UPS vs. US Postal Service


Lawgirl and sodaman have a new queen-size bed in their guest room, compliments of Carman, mom and me. We have ulterior (and anterior) motives for gifting the bed--we're the ones who will be resting our backsides on it when we visit!

I searched through my cupboards and found linens and blankets and packed them in a really cool apple box. On Tuesday I sent Carman to mail it to the Bay Area. I told him it would probably be cheaper to go through the postal system. He countered that UPS was the way to go.

When Carman arrived at the UPS store, he stood in line behind an irate lady.

"My daughter just went back to college (in the Bay area) and she left her bottle of medicine. She needs it by Friday. How much would it cost to send it to her?"

"For 2-day delivery, that would be $22.00. It'll get there by Thursday."

"$22.00!!!! I'll kill her!!!!!"

She paid and left.

Carman stepped forward and wondered how much his large and heavy box would cost given that the miniature pill bottle cost so much.

"That'll be $15.01."

Carman paid and while he was exiting the store, called back and asked, "When can I tell lawgirl and sodaman to expect the package?"

"They'll get it on Wednesday or Thursday."

Moral 1 of the story: Don't make assumptions about anything. Ask.

Moral 2 of the story: Don't expect government services to be less expensive than those offered by the private sector.

Moral 3 of the story: Don't leave medicine at home or someone might kill you!

For more about mail, visit 50somethinginfo.com


2 comments:

karen said...

Very good advice. I went to the ups store to send something because I did not want to mess with packing it. Big mistake. Next time I will pack it myself.:)

Diane J Standiford said...

hahahahaha, funny! I love UPS. With all things---good idea to call before you go and get prices. I know I pay more, but UPS takes anything I have and away it goes. I once had to return a huge hoist in many pieces---the money was worth it to me. Being old and/or disabled is EXPENSIVE.