[Kent Whitten]

I had a vanity I shipped out a month or so ago. The initial shipping quote was much less than the actual cost, but at the time I just said the hell with it and shipped it out. Whatever.

During this exchange, they asked me the dimensions and how much it weighed. No idea, I gave a best guess with what I knew my materials weighed raw and stated that. They gave me a price, I paid it, and it shipped.

I heard nothing until yesterday when I got an invoice saying I owe more for shipping costs because it weighed 3½ times more than what I said, which is complete bull****.

So my question is do I have any leg to stand on since they didn't contact me about the discrepancy? If I knew that it was going to cost yet even more than what they originally quoted me, I would have found someone else, which would easily have been less money.

 

[Inner10]

How did you ship it? Are you sure you weighed it properly? I've made some "educated" guesses with Fedex and have been pretty far off. :whistling

 

[hdavis]

Depends on how it was shipped and who has it now.

If you have a drawing and BOM, you can certainly calculate a range that it should be in or you can go to a big box and pull shipping weights off of the boxes there. I wouldn't tell them you made a swag on the weight, just that they made an obvious mistake and give them your supporting info.

If they have it in a warehouse, or bouncing around on a truck undelivered, they're probably trying to hold you up.

I think it's the ICC that deals with shipper complaints. If the invoice was sent by mail, there's always the possibility ofa mail fraud complaint. If you can find out where it was weighed, you can always request a scale check by the local weights and measures guy. Then there are online complaint forums, the BBB, yada, yada, yada.

Look at your contract carefully to see whether they are breaching it (probably not). Sometimes a bunch of pressure from all sides is enough to get things straightened out.

Good luck!

 

[Live_oak]

Did you remember to factor in the weight of the shipping crate as well as the vanity? Did you crate it yourself, or did they? My husband has a bad habit of putting more wood in the shipping crate sometimes than the product that's being shipped! But, it won't ever get damaged.

 

[rustyjames]

If you're getting overcharged that much you could argue based on the estimating means that you stated, unless you made an error somewhere.

 

[Kent Whitten]

It was a freight company and yes it was an educated guess. I crated it myself, which how I did it did not add much weight to it. It was a board of styro and 4 - 2x's. No ply. I said 100#'s, they said it was 325, which there is no way I could have lifted that with my son with the back I have. We lifted it UP about 5' onto the shipping ledge.

 

[BamBamm5144]

It was a freight company and yes it was an educated guess. I crated it myself, which how I did it did not add much weight to it. It was a board of styro and 4 - 2x's. No ply. I said 100#'s, they said it was 325, which there is no way I could have lifted that with my son with the back I have. We lifted it UP about 5' onto the shipping ledge.

Do they have proof of that weight? Your item on the scale?

 

[Kent Whitten]

That is what I was wondering myself. Doesn't 325# seem like such a made up number?

 

[jlsconstruction]

Has it already been delivered?

 

[Kent Whitten]

Yes, sorry, it's been delivered already.

 

[jlsconstruction]

I'd just tell them I'm not paying them.

 

[TimNJ]

That is what I was wondering myself. Doesn't 325# seem like such a made up number?

325lbs? Unless your nicknamed "Herc", you wouldn't have been able to lift that. Was it that heavy?

 

[Tinstaafl]

I could handle half of 325 lbs, even with my bad back--and I'll soon be 64. Before getting too deeply into contesting the weight, I'd grab up some equivalent scrap laying around and actually weigh it. At least then you'd have a somewhat closer guess to go by.

But already delivered, it's your word against theirs. How much is the principle worth to you?

 

[Inner10]

Is the amount worth making a stink over? I'd probably give em a phone call and see if they say "sorry sir that was a mistake, here take this refund" if they told me to take a hike I just wouldn't use their service again.

 

[cleveman]

It is probably some scam they pull on all their first time customers. I wonder what percentage of people just pay up without a question.

I had an attorney charge me $500 for a $200 title opinion the other day. When I questioned the charge, they told me they had made a mistake and immediately lowered it down to close to $200.

Instead of telescams, I think one would be better off by just sending out bills to municipalities for something low cost, like a delivery of paint or something. Then when you get caught, you just tell them it was a mistake and blame it on your computer. I think blaming something on a computer will hold up just fine in court.

 

[Kent Whitten]

How much is the principle worth to you?

Is the amount worth making a stink over?

At the moment...yes, it is. I would say any other day, it probably would as well. I've lived through enough of these "learning lessons" that I think I deserve to push back and complain that they are playing games.

 

[TimNJ]

I could handle half of 325 lbs, even with my bad back--and I'll soon be 64. Before getting too deeply into contesting the weight, I'd grab up some equivalent scrap laying around and actually weigh it. At least then you'd have a somewhat closer guess to go by.

But already delivered, it's your word against theirs. How much is the principle worth to you?

I could tell the difference between 100lbs and 325lbs.

To put it into perspective...move one bag of Portland or move three bags of Portland at once.

 

[Tinstaafl]

I could tell the difference between 100lbs and 325lbs.

Tim, you might have missed that he and his boy lifted it. So you'd have to tell the difference between 50 and 162.5 lbs. :laughing:

 

[hdavis]

Yes, sorry, it's been delivered already.

Good, contest the charge in writing. They have no leverage, and no more proof than you have.

 

[tgeb]

I once was quoted or actually paid some ridiculous freight charges for something that was large but not too heavy.

It turned out that the freight company was considering the "space" that the item took up.

Therefore if a large item is light, yet takes the "space" of other items that would pay an equal or higher rate, you pay for the weight the other items would have paid had there been room.

Make sense, or add to the confusion?