Claim what is yours

your hard earned money. This is the THIRD time I have experienced this situation. Buy stuff online, including shipping. Receive great items but also notice actual shipping is 2-3 times less than what I paid.

On the three different ocassions I contacted the vendor to comment (complain) on this. All three different vendors told me: "oh, I'm sooo sorry. The overcharge was an oversight, we will credit you accordingly right away".

One time I can believe, but THREE? Me thinks times are tough and sellers are going to overestimate shipping (to cover themselves, and that's OK) but do not intend to refund the overage unless consumers call them on it. I was nice all three times because the items I bought were excellent but I refuse to give away more money than need be. I am not on the list that will get TARP money, so I need to fight hard to keep what is mine.

Thought I'd share w/ you in case this happens to you.

This message was edited Dec 24, 2008 11:24 AM

You need to take into account packaging and handling. It's not unreasonable for them to factor in these things. These charges should be reasonable, however. I guess what you need to consider is what the item is worth to you all up. If you're happy to pay the price they're asking for 'shipping', then it's not worth stressing over whether they actually forked out this money to the post office to get it to you.

Beware of ebay, sometimes the sellers 'make' extra money by over charging shipping. The shipping costs do not have to have a percentage paid to ebay in fees.

OTOH, depending on how much shipping they do, they will eventually have to purchase boxes, bubble wrap, tape, ect and that stuff is not cheap. Some sellers will charge a minimal fee to cover their time packing, gas to the po and their time to have it mailed. I think that is reasonable, but I guess that is between the seller and the buyer, how much they find acceptable. I too have noticed lower shipping fees than I paid. Kinda irks me, because I don't mind paying a small packing and handling fee, but I think the seller should be honest about what the charges are.

You are absolutely correct that pricing must include ALL costs, absolutely ALL costs related to that item. But my expectation is that when I pay a certain price and a certain shipping, those costs are included and reflected in the numbers. As a consumer I don't need to be second-guessing hidden costs. If they have some business sense, sellers will price stuff accordingly, if they don't--they'll lose their shirt and won't be long til they're out of business.

I don't even mind a seller overstating shipping. They should CTA and not be short but I do believe they OWE me the overage, just like it's done the in the coops. Hostess calculates a conservative amt for shipping and reimburse overages over $1 or whatever amt they designate. And if shipping is more, then I OWE that hostess every cent over and above. Real simple.

And about profit. Well, that is the fundamental reason for doing business, but profit margin is part of your pricing. Shipping & handling are operational expenses not profit centers. Again, real simple.

All of these vendors were BIG companies, not mom & pops who perhaps hadn't carefully thought about their hidden/incidental costs. In one case I paid $8.99 shipping. It was a little book that could have easily been shipped in the smallest padded envelope yet it was shipped in a huge envelope and shipping was $1.85. I called, thanked for the prompt shipping and asked for an explanation on the discrepancy. They did not tell me about any incidental expenses; what they said is they'd made a mistake and refunded me the money. Had I not called, I kinda doubt they would have refunded my money. One time is a fluke, but THREE times, completely different businesses? like frilly said, some businesses are subsidizing their mistakes or improving revenue with inflated postage. Not on my dime. And I didn't bully these vendors for an explanation, I was as polite and as nonconfrontational as could be and they promptly accommodated me, but only because I called them on it.

This is not a new phenomena, I just wanted to tell you what I've done when I've felt taken. Had any of those 3 vendors explained to me about extras charges I would have accepted their explanation (albeit with a grunt). But they didn't, they acknowledged error and refunded me. I hope this thread will inspire you to call if you think you've been fleeced w/ the shipping/handling. I don't guarantee it will lead to a refund but it might. $1-$2 I might let go, but double or triple the charge, I don't think so!!!!!!!

Vossner, I have been trying to stay out of discussions, but was lurking and read this thread. Shipping and handling are operational expenses and should be reflected in pricing. I totally agree. I worked in retail for many years and saw quite a few sloppy business practices. I even had one employer who "rounded up" on sales tax because it was easier for her to figure! When I mentioned that it was illegal to do that she was most annoyed! L.O.L.

oh you got me started . wayside is still charging a fuel surcharge even though fuel has come down . at least they did when i was trying to use my credit . they wouldnt have to do that if they didnt have to replace so much dead stuff . or ship each plant in a different box from a different place .lol . hortico is another that im mad at . they sent dead plants and ones that wouldnt have been nice had they been alive. then tried to sneak charge me another 15 bucks for shipping . 30 bucks total for 2 dead roses and 2 that havnt come yet, in shipping . i didnt let either of them them get away with it .

slightly OT but I got charged $24.17 yesterday at WM for a bag of day old mini bagels

Peggy

haha howd that happen. my mom taught me as a child to watch every price as you go . we grew up in ny and our grocery store was notorious for overcharging and not keeping up with sale price

bad barcode...almost gave me a bad code red....LOL

bigred, the same happened to me a WM some years ago. They scanned a small tray of tomatoes for $50+, woah!

Since then I watch the screen like a hawk. Not that it excuses WM or any other vendor, but it has to be a daunting task to change your software to update pricing every day/week/mo on thousands and thousands of items.

Also, my trash guy added not one but TWO fuel surcharges in the last year and now that gas is back down we haven't seen any credit. He is very cheap compared to other services so I suspect that the real problem is that he doesn't have a handle on his true costs. I sort of would like to complain about it but 1) he is a nice, hard working man that has NEVER missed a day in the 15 yrs I've lived here, even if that means pickup at 10pm 2) I don't want him to drop our subdivision and be stuck w/ a bad service.

But I am annoyed that so many people use flimsy excuses for price adjustment.

I'm always aware of about how much I'm spending and how close the total will be and I knew darn well,I didn't spend a total of $50.00 so I didn't even leave the check out stand....I stood at the end so traffic could still flow and looked the receipt over then pointed it out the the checker. A shift manager took the bagels and receipt back to the bakery to run the barcode. It came up one cent a bag but wouldn't ya know it...they wouldn't let me have it for that.

Peggy

L.O.L., Peggy. Yeah, it really is a good idea to check the receipt before leaving the store.

I'll be keeping an eye on them real good from now on....especially on the day old bakery goods.

Ha! Ha! That's where they really make their money.