The internet order thing is huge, and lucrative, so these companies are falling all over themselves to become "exclusive deliverer" for these guys who now have a huge chunk of their sales from the internet. Obviously they feel it's worth it, because the rates they charge must be really low. Otherwise, why would so many places say "ship UPS only"? If they're cheaper than the post office, they must be cheap! I know damn well, that if a schmuck like me walks in off the street to a UPS agent and asks for rates to send a small package, UPS, Fedex and the rest are WAAAAYYYYY more expensive than the post.
The other salient point that you make is that there does seem something of a groundswell, if this list is any indicator. How many here are now prepared to say to a shipper, "if you send UPS, I'll go somewhere else?" Sounds like a few! Maybe UPS doesn't care if they don't deliver the odd package, and has insurance pay for the item, but retailers are going to start using other shipping companies if they get enough customers taking their business somewhere else. ~That's~ when the almighty dollar means something.
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Butch Black" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: OT:Parcel delivery. Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 14:46:00 -0500
Frank wrote:
UPS won't dump the residential deliveries, because they want to be "Your One
Stop Courier Company". They want secretaries, receptionists and mail room
guys to have one courier company on their speed dial, for all their needs.
Then there is the ever increasing internet "mail order" shopping business,
which I believe will generate a big chunk of change for the delivery
services. The problem, for the consumer, is that the courier companies are
probably going to offer good deals to large mail order companies to be their
exclusive shipper. Since the almighty dollar talks, once that happens the
courier company is going to have to screw up badly and often to get the mail
order company to change.
My 2¢
Butch
Each man had only one genuine vocation - to find the way to himself.
Hermann Hesse (Demian)
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