Ship via a FedEx account? Step inside...

I've tried to fudge weights and the place I drop it off has adjusted it EVERY TIME...and yeah I'm not putting 1lb either it's usually just lower than the actual weight. I may try to find a new place to drop it off and see if they don't care.

 

I know having a bathroom scale can be a bit depressing for us BA's but I actually got one for this very purpose.

 

How do you know? Is this fee something that shows up on your billing statement?

 

No they don't. Perhaps if a reseller store does this, but not for online accounts. At least, I've never been charged a surplus, and nor have I ever heard anyone around here complain of it. And I've never actually weighed a single box, so I'm under at least 50% of the time (and probably much more).

 

As others have said, I just estimate the weight of the package based on the contents, box size and packaging. Once I drop it off at FedEx, they reweigh the box, scan it and provide me with a receipt with the actual weight. After it has shipped, I'll look online and the weight is listed with what FedEx read it as, not my estimate.

 

I think some people are misunderstanding the weight estimation thing. We're not (at least I'm not) talking about dropping a box off at a Fedex location where they obviously weigh the packages that come in. The issue is when a box is picked up at home - in this instance, there is no one reweighing your box.

 

Yup same here. My last box I thought was going to cost me about $12 to send and low and behold a week later I check my card and they charged me about $20.

 

I weigh it at home on a bathroom scale and then I even add a little more just to make sure. I think I was under a little bit one time and I was charged the difference. I did hear that when they make an adjustment like that that you lose the online account discount you would normally get. Just hearsay as far as I know though.

 

So do they itemize it out as "surcharge for trying to screw us" or something? I've simply never seen this, and the inevitable prices fall in line with what they should be.

 

If they are anything like UPS, it doesn't matter what you put on the label...they bill you for what it weighs. I used to work in a shipping department at a manufacturing company and to avoid having to buy and maintain auto-scales, we just entered a pound for every box that left no matter what - some were actualy a pound...some were well over 40 lbs. When they hit the first hub, they get weighed and that shows on your bill.

 

The Price is Right mentality - closest without going over.

 

What you have been saying is somewhat true. I just talked to the UPS guy who delivers where I work. If someone said a box weighed two pounds and it was really around twenty they will hit you for extra, or will refuse the box depending how blatant it was. A few pounds they wont care about and wont charge you extra. If you hand it to a driver it won't get weighed until it hits a major hub. The FedEx place here in MA I drop it off usually never weighs it, but as soon as it hits the Willington, CT hub it is updated. So if your weight estimate is close or reasonable they shouldn't charge you. If you are blatantly trying to lie to them about the box weight then they will hit you with extra.

 

I was a 'revenue auditor' in 2003 for UPS. That fancy title meant I got to measure and weigh boxes to find additional revenue for the company. Oversize boxes were the biggest penalty and were usually the most obvious to spot. If a box wasn't oversize, it wouldn't normally get measured (LxWxH).

A 12 bottle wine shipper listed as 1lb would be highly questionable to the audit staff and likely find itself on a scale. A 12 bottle wine shipper labeled 15-20 lbs wouldn't usually get pulled as it's not as gross an understatement if it were understated at all. I.e. Listing a 40 lbs box as 1lb = stupid. Listing a 40lbs box as 20lbs = whatever your conscience tells you it equals.

At the hub I worked at, the boxes came quick and we only had time to grab the obvious ones. Keep your boxes from being obvious and you'll be fine being a few pounds underweight.

 

way to kill the discussion with all your fancy facts, "revenue auditor"

So you mentioned a penalty...was there actually a penalty...or did they just adjust the bill to charge you for what it actually weighed? I swear at the company I worked for, we had no idea there were any penalties...must be minimal if at all.

 

Oversized was way different than over-weight. More of a volume issue. We didn't deal in how much the extra charges were, just paid to find them.