UPS Store

[JohnRodriguez]

Today I went to ship my 2 S&W frames to have new trigger studs replaced. They were being shipped as gun parts, so they could be shipped 2 day instead of overnight. The person at the UPS store, told me that he could not ship any firearm with a firing pin in it, which I told him they were two stripped down frames only, no barrels, cyclinders, yokes or side plates or firing pins. He had the box open staring at the two frames at the time. He started to argue with me that he was not sure if he could not ship them in the first place, which I told him that I have shipped more complete firing arms in the past from the same store. At this point he got pretty beligerant with me and told me to take my package directly to UPS.

When I got home, I called the UPS stores customer service line (1-800-789-4623) to lodge a complaint about the store and individual. The person who was on the other line told me that they have always had the policy of not shipping anything that even looked like a gun or firearm. And he also had the same type of attitide at the store employee. I asked if they had just recently taken a anti-gun stance, and they need to take our recoreded message and pass it on to his corporate management level.

I suggest that we call the phone# above and flood the ups store with calls about them being apparent anti-gun. Things like this that make me hope that the supreme court makes a bad ruling about DC. Probably should not have added the last line. but o'l well.

Edited June 16, 2008 by JohnRodriguez

[lcs]

Today I went to ship my 2 S&W frames to have new trigger studs replaced. They were being shipped as gun parts, so they could be shipped 2 day instead of overnight. The person at the UPS store, told me that he could not ship any firearm with a firing pin in it, which I told him they were two stripped down frames only, no barrels, cyclinders, yokes or side plates or firing pins. He had the box open staring at the two frames at the time. He started to argue with me that he was not sure if he could not ship them in the first place, which I told him that I have shipped more complete firing arms in the past from the same store. At this point he got pretty beligerant with me and told me to take my package directly to UPS.

When I got home, I called the UPS stores customer service line (1-800-789-4623) to lodge a complaint about the store and individual. The person who was on the other line told me that they have always had the policy of not shipping anything that even looked like a gun or firearm. And he also had the same type of attitide at the store employee. I asked if they had just recently taken a anti-gun stance, and they need to take our recoreded message and pass it on to his corporate management level.

I suggest that we call the phone# above and flood the ups store with calls about them being apparent anti-gun. Things like this that make me hope that the supreme court makes a bad ruling about DC. Probably should not have added the last line. but o'l well.

I believe UPS has had the policy in effect for a long time. UPS will only ship firearms from a UPS main location.

The UPS "Stores" you see everywhere will not take firearms.

[Paul Santiago]

Today I went to ship my 2 S&W frames to have new trigger studs replaced. They were being shipped as gun parts, so they could be shipped 2 day instead of overnight. The person at the UPS store, told me that he could not ship any firearm with a firing pin in it, which I told him they were two stripped down frames only, no barrels, cyclinders, yokes or side plates or firing pins. He had the box open staring at the two frames at the time. He started to argue with me that he was not sure if he could not ship them in the first place, which I told him that I have shipped more complete firing arms in the past from the same store. At this point he got pretty beligerant with me and told me to take my package directly to UPS.

When I got home, I called the UPS stores customer service line (1-800-789-4623) to lodge a complaint about the store and individual. The person who was on the other line told me that they have always had the policy of not shipping anything that even looked like a gun or firearm. And he also had the same type of attitide at the store employee. I asked if they had just recently taken a anti-gun stance, and they need to take our recoreded message and pass it on to his corporate management level.

I suggest that we call the phone# above and flood the ups store with calls about them being apparent anti-gun. Things like this that make me hope that the supreme court makes a bad ruling about DC. Probably should not have added the last line. but o'l well.

I believe UPS has had the policy in effect for a long time. UPS will only ship firearms from a UPS main location.

The UPS "Stores" you see everywhere will not take firearms.

Correct.

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources...ch_phr=firearms

Last paragraph states 'stores' are no-no's for handguns

[Chris Keen]

Ditto ........... go directly to UPS, do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

[bkeeler]

What about using FEDEX?

BK

[Keith]

About a year and a half ago I was told NOTHING firearm related is allowed to be shipped from a UPS store when I brought in an AR barrel (just the barrel) to ship. It was already all wrapped up and labeled and they asked what the contents were. They suggested that I take it to the UPS hub, about 45 miles away, or to a gun store to ship it. That was the last and only time I went near one of those stores.

I usually just ship stuff from work. If I need to ship the serialized part of the firearm I will take it to one of the FFL's I deal with and he just ships it for cost. Last time it was $10 or $15.

[38superman]

The UPS retail stores will not ship firearms.

I always take them directly to the terminal.

If you do so you should not get any static.

However, I often take the guns to a retail store to have them packaged and made ready for shipment.

The aggravating thing is that the firearm has to go "next day".

This has nothing to do with government regulations.

As far as I can see it is only UPS policy.

They want an adult signature and next day shipping guarantees that.

At least that's how it was explained to me.

I think they just want to get deeper into my pocket.

I suppose you could just declare it as machinery or parts to get around this but I never do.

I've never tried Fedex so I don't know how they work with firearms.

If any UPS employee tells you they don't ship firearms, they are idiots.

They ship many thousands of them every day.

How do they think the guns get from the manufacturer to the gun shops in the first place?

Carrier Pidgeon?

Armored Car perhaps?

Tony

[JohnRodriguez]

We have no fedex here in BFE. I'll be taking the frames to ups when they open from 300-500pm this evening. I have 5 recepts from the last 4 years from the same ups store, 3 to magnaport, 2 to S&W, all shipped as parts. all time the cases have been open to confirm that they are not functional firearms.

[JoshF]

My experience with the UPS Store is the primary reason I will never use UPS for packages I send. I tried to ship a slide back to Springfield for some work about a year ago and as soon I told them it was a firearm part they said they wouldn't touch it and basically told me to take my business somewhere else. They didn't even mention trying the hub and this was the store Manager I was talking to.

I tried another UPS store a few months ago (what can I say they are everywhere) for magazines and got the same response.

From now on I use Fedex and go directly to one of the two hubs closest to me. The primary one I use is a major hub with people who are pretty cool when I tell them it's a firearm and don't look at the package like it's going to explode or jump up and shoot them.

P.S. I've been told the require the fastest shipping method possible (typically overnight) is so the tracking info is closer together and packages have less chance of being stolen or lost. When I had one pistol disappear the Fedex support people made sure I was informed almost hourly on it's status and where they were in the process of tracking it down. I don't think they like losing guns

[open17]

Today I went to ship my 2 S&W frames to have new trigger studs replaced. They were being shipped as gun parts, so they could be shipped 2 day instead of overnight. The person at the UPS store, told me that he could not ship any firearm with a firing pin in it, which I told him they were two stripped down frames only, no barrels, cyclinders, yokes or side plates or firing pins.

UPS stores will not ship firearms. What you are trying to ship is firearms. Doesn't matter

if you strip it down to the bare frame, if it's the part with the serial number that IS the

firearm. Sucks---but that's the policy. If a main UPS store (hub??) is too far out of your way,

get your friendly local FFL to ship them USPS for you. FFL to FFL USPS handgun shipping is

allowed.

[Rob Boudrie]

The aggravating thing is that the firearm has to go "next day". This has nothing to do with government regulations.

It really depends - do the UPS stores have "common carrier" status. If not, many of the laws that allow the shipper to transport items while not being legally "in possession" of them do not come into play until the UPS driver has picked up the package. This would present complications in states requiring a license to possess the guns, or if the UPS store employee were a prohibited person. If, on the other hand, "common carrier" status extends to the stores, then it's just anti gun bs.

[eerw]

I thought UPS stores were franchises and not owned or operated by UPS..

UPS stores are PIA, and the people are goofs..

the UPS main counter people here are great..know there stuff and are cool with all the regs on guns, parts, ammo, etc. no issues...straight information and a lot of help.

[UW Mitch]

I've been happy with my UPS Store where I have a mailbox. One of the guys came to the range to shoot with his brothers. The others seem okay with whatever packages I'm getting. Although I don't usually send things out from the UPS Store (I go USPS Priority for most packages, and haven't needed to send a gun anywhere). I guess for the most part I've found a gem in the rough...

~Mitch

[Rob Boudrie]

I thought UPS stores were franchises and not owned or operated by UPS..

In which case it would be *very* unlikely for them to have governmentally recognized common carrier status.

[Holliday89]

I've had trouble with the UPS store, i started going to the local hub. I got to know the lady at the counter, she let me in on some info.

If you ship it thru the hub, it must be open for inspection by the counter person. (at least our hub)

Info she gave me. If you print the label from home pack it up and bring it ready to go and just drop it off, no questions or inspection.

You can even do this at a UPS store, I have many times.

If you pack it up, print your own lable, you can drop it off at a UPS Store.

The only thing I sugest is you put a persons name on the ship to address. I would leave out the store name only if it contains firearms or guns in the title.

I havent had any trouble since i went to shipping this way.

The few times i miss gauged the weight UPS has either refunded the difference or charged me more to make up the difference.

[38superman]

I thought UPS stores were franchises and not owned or operated by UPS..

In which case it would be *very* unlikely for them to have governmentally recognized common carrier status.

You may be right about that Rob.

It could be common carrier regulation that prevents the retailer from shipping guns.

When I made the comment about UPS policy vs. government regs, I wasn't talking about retail stores.

I was referring to being forced to use "next day" shipping when I take it to their main terminal.

As far as I know, the government couldn't care less if my package goes next day or 2nd day or ground.

"Next day" is UPS policy.

In fairness to UPS, there may be reasons for this that I'm not privy to.

That said,

I have questioned UPS personnel many times and one answer is that they want an adult signature.

The other reason they give is that they want the gun to go through their system as quickly as possible.

This is to minimize the chance of employee theft.

My response?

If a signature is an issue, they could require a signature without dictating next day shipping.

Theft?

So you as a corporation are unwilling to bond your employees, do background checks or whatever is necessary to mimimize the risk to items in your care.

Instead you want specific customers (gun owners) to subsidize your security at their expense by using your highest cost shipping option.

This on top of the cost of insurance.

I may have to deal with it but I don't have to like it.

Tls

[Rob Boudrie]

USP regulations do not require overnight for inoperable guns (for example, assembled 1911 or AR15 lowers). If you're shipping to S&W, two boxes is probably not a realistic option due to the difficulties in synchronization into a single order at the factory - but it may be quite practical if you are shipping to Dawson, Brazos, Bedell, SVI, STI, or another of the smaller companies.

Instead you want specific customers (gun owners) to subsidize your security at their expense by using your highest cost shipping option. This on top of the cost of insurance.

They don't care if you like it. This is the best business model for them since they get to use the felonious activities of some of their staff as a reason to charge you more, and there is no competitive carrier that does not impose a similar requirement

If you pack it up, print your own lable, you can drop it off at a UPS Store.

Non-declaration of firearms may run afoul of federal regulations regarding interstate commerce, and will certainly assure that you will not receive any insurance payment in the event of a loss - no matter what limit you have purchased.

[scirocco38s]

Before many of you take sides with the ups stores and ups in particular, bear in mind that ups is screwing you at every turn they can. The reason that you must ship the gun overnight is because they cannot regulate the people that work for them. Theft at ups is commonplace and was especially bad from any destination that was firearm related. If you think I am being too harsh, think about how much you pay in hazmat fees for powder and primers( and they cant be shipped together you must pay 2 fees) That fee isnt govt. mandated, that is ups just sticking it to us. Every package you ship with this group of idiots has a feul surharge on it now, because they can and we use them. If the corporate group tries to discipline any of them then they go on strike as they are teamsters.(and if any of us in this group are teamsters and you are offended, too bad) These and other reasons such as personell attitudes are why I only usefedex or usps. UPs is antigun, but they will ship your stuff, just at a premium.

[LPatterson]

I thought UPS stores were franchises and not owned or operated by UPS..

They are not owned but rather controlled by UPS. UPS does periodic audits of all paperwork and if the records show that a firearm related part was shipped then they can be fined or lose their franchise. If the customer knowly lies about what is inside then the insurance is void.

[davidwiz]

The aggravating thing is that the firearm has to go "next day".

This has nothing to do with government regulations.

As far as I can see it is only UPS policy.

They want an adult signature and next day shipping guarantees that.

At least that's how it was explained to me.

I think they just want to get deeper into my pocket.

UPS changed their policy around 2001, IIRC. The reason that UPS gave was that they were experiencing too many employee theft of customer guns. I guess overnight packages are placed in a different location than the regular shipments? Don't know why UPS had to pass the costs on to their customers.

I suppose you could just declare it as machinery or parts to get around this but I never do.

The risk you run if you do this is, that UPS might try to disavow any insurance on the lost package, as the contents were not listed correctly.

[38superman]

UPS changed their policy around 2001, IIRC. The reason that UPS gave was that they were experiencing too many employee theft of customer guns. I guess overnight packages are placed in a different location than the regular shipments? Don't know why UPS had to pass the costs on to their customers.

The risk you run if you do this is, that UPS might try to disavow any insurance on the lost package, as the contents were not listed correctly.

I don't want to come across as being bitter toward UPS but,....

In my experience you can expect them to disavow the insurance anyway.

A few years back, I used UPS to ship a computer monitor.

It was taken to a retail shipper called "Mail Boxes Etc."

This is the company chain that later was bought out by UPS and became the "UPS Store".

The monitor was insured for $800 dollars (replacement value) and was packaged for shipment by the retail store.

It was double boxed and double insulated with bubble wrap and Styrofoam. In spite of every precaution possible, the monitor casing of the monitor was virtually destroyed in shipment.

UPS first started out by simply denying the claim.

They stated that it was not properly packaged.

This was done without any investigation on their part.

I can only assume this is the default position.

The store owner who packaged it (and was trained by them in proper packaging) took exception.

After much correspondence and wrangling, the best we could do was get them to pay $57 for parts to repair the monitor housing.

That's a far cry from the insured value of $800 that I paid for.

If I'd packed it myself, I wouldn't have stood a prayer of collecting anything.

The shipping insurance is by UPS, not a third party.

It is a profit center for them.

Based on previous experience, if I ever have to make a claim, I expect a fight.

Tony

Edited June 17, 2008 by 38superman

[Rob Boudrie]

Don't know why UPS had to pass the costs on to their customers.

For the same reason that dogs lick their private parts (because they can)