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What's your experience with Pirate Ship "adjustments"?

I've used Pirate Ship twice so far, and both times I got hit with a UPS surcharge after the fact, which PS immediately charged to my credit card on file. Both shipments were incoming, so I have the packaging and I was able to confirm that the actual dimensions in fact matched those on the label. 

On one box, UPS claimed a one-inch difference and assessed a 10% surcharge... Seems like one inch would be well within the margin of error of their automated measurement portals?

Now there's no doubt that Pirate Ship is much less expensive than going through UPS directly, and I'm wondering if UPS has a zero-tolerance policy towards Pirate Ship-originated shipments to help them recoup some of the lower cost... Have you had similar experiences with PS?

 

devinplombier
nogaps
165 posts
 

I recently shipped a power amp to SMc for a rebuild.  I measured the box at 25.5 x 24 x 17.  I was careful to measure it accurately, more than once.  The PS website allows half-inch increments. I received a notice from Pirate Ship  within a couple days that UPS measured the 25.5 dimension as 26 inches.  UPS made an adjustment to the shipping cost by increasing the cost by $0.01..one penny.. PS could only bill my card a minimum of one dollar..so I have a $0.99 credit on my PS account. 

Of course no human being ever touched this transaction, but...

Really?

fiesta75
1,535 posts
 

I have not had a problem with PS using UPS, great prices. I'm sure to always round up to the nearest inch in all dimensional measurements and do the same for weight. For example: for 25 lbs. 10 oz., I use 26lbs. So far it has worked every time. 

devinplombier OP
1,638 posts
 

@nogaps that’s pretty funny! 

My transactions were also prepaid labels sent to shippers.

It’s not so much the surcharge in itself that bothers me, it’s the arbitrary nature of the process and the fact that PS help themselves to my credit card, which I hate. 

I had a chat with a PS agent, who was very nice. She was basically saying (in a nice way) look that’s the way it is, it’s UPS doing it, not us, so don’t look at us cause we’re just a small business and our hooks are tied (she actually said our hooks are tied 😂😂🤣).

 

buellrider97's avatar
buellrider97
943 posts
 

I had a similar occurrence with Pirate ship. My surcharge was about $18-20, can’t quite remember. The other issue is it triggered a charge for the $80 approx label again as I had one I didn’t use or delete. They have zero phone interaction so it was all typing. They refunded the extra tag charge and said the oversize charge needed to be resolved through/ with UPS. That’s like urinating into a strong headwind, so I just settled for the refund on the shipping label. FWIW I went with the dimensions provided by Rogue on their crates Vs measuring myself. Next time I’ll add an inch on all 3 dimensions. Cheers , Mike B. 

devinplombier OP
1,638 posts
 

@fiesta75 

In the future I’ll make sure to round up numbers too.

At one point I did change 16.5 lbs to 17 lbs and the price didn’t change, so I guess their system already rounds up to the next pound.

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