Posted by snoopdogMs on 2/15/12 12:46pm
Msg #411868

If someone gives me a preprinted label

and puts my name as sender, can I be charged down the road. I had a law firm send me a label and my name and address was in sender position. I did not realize it until I had shipped the documents. Any labels I have to fill in always have the receiver and sender, one and the same.

Reply by Barb25 on 2/15/12 1:34pm
Msg #411872

I don't believe so. I had a similar situation with a company that I had not done business with previously so I was really concerned. I called FedEx. They had charged it to their account and just plugged in my name. You can always check with shipping co as to the validity of account.

Reply by Jillian Hinrichs on 2/15/12 2:16pm
Msg #411875

Unless your account number shows on it or it shows to bill sender, you should be absolutely fine. The problem arises when using labels provided by Fed-Ex that you order thru your Fed-Ex account. Even if you choose to NOT have your name show within the sender section, I have heard that there is coding on the label that contains your Fed-Ex account information and could cause you to be charged if whoever is supposed to pay refuses to do so.

Reply by Lee/AR on 2/15/12 2:25pm
Msg #411878

Don't remember what company/s it is, but at least one that I deal with provides a pre-printed label and always has the name/address of the Borrower as the sender. I seriously doubt they'd ever get charged.

Reply by BrotherOwner on 2/15/12 2:27pm
Msg #411880

potentially yes, and very aggressively by Fedex if shipper refuses to pay or is out of business. My understanding is, to do this shipper has to MANUALLY remove a prepopulated field in the Fedex shipping label program and insert your name. YOU are not the shipper, nor the recipient, nor the owner of the account,or contents, and should not be listed on the label. If something goes wrong in/with the shipment the owner of the package should be contacted, not you. With all today's rules and regulations and tarriffs, (of which I am no longer current), their action may be a violation of one of the above.

Reply by ReneeK_MI on 2/15/12 3:37pm
Msg #411887

I just don't get it ...

I've never had any drama from FedEx or UPS. I had one charge-back YEARS ago, when I did a closing for a T/C that closed up shop that day. I've had my own accounts at both since '05, use the online systems and love it.

The pre-populated field you're referring to can be set to default to your own address, but can easily be edited to any other address w/out any type of "violation". The field is not even labeled "Shipper", it is labeled "From", just like you do on an envelope - TO and FROM.

Putting in where the package was sent FROM makes tracking things far easier than having to look up every pkg you're tracking and cross-referencing it to where it was sent from. The field in no way indicates, insinuates or hints at the party in the FROM field being held liable for costs. If you DON'T put the 'From' address in correctly, and you're tracking a hundred packages a week ... well, have a good time with that.

What I ask again, is there anyone who recently (say in the last couple/few years) used their own shipping account, with the online system (which automatically validates the account of the party in the BILLING section) - who has had a charge-back?

I have had the system alert me that an account is NOT valid - and boy, do I take THAT as a nice little red-flag that I might be gambling on that particular client altogether.

I've shipped thousands & thousands of pkgs - same with my network buddy, NO ISSUES. If you look it up, Paul/PAW also mirrored our experiences. With the exception of Paul, we're nothing special - why do we never have an issue, a charge-back, a problem of any kind?

Reply by BrotherOwner on 2/15/12 8:13pm
Msg #411906

Re: I just don't get it ...

Renee...with all due respect , you are not in the SHIPPING BUSINESS as a few of us on the board are or have been. To quote your own words, you HAVE had two issues, one a chargeback and one "redflag" issue. How much time and effort did it take you to resolve those? Drama? UPS and Fedex are not in the business of removing charges, rightful or not. They are like a junk yard dog. Once they got their teeth in ya, they just don't let go. Having an account with them only makes it worse. It can take weeks and many calls to "shipper" and carrier to resolve. I don't have time or energy to waste on that kind of bullet.

Why would you ASSUME the package is ever routinely tracked? Do you really think the companies track every package every day? What a waste of time/money. Doesn't happen. They are only concerned with the docs that don't show up when expected and their first call is to YOU for the tracking number. Remember, one hand doesn't know what the other is doimg in most cases.

This is not a POSTAL to/from on a nice little letter to Grandma. This is big business in a post 9/11 world. Why do you think you have to take anything postal over 13OZ INTO the post office?

Just because you haven't been bitten, doen't mean you're not vulnerable...Let's be careful out there!

Reply by CopperheadVA on 2/16/12 6:36am
Msg #411922

Re: I just don't get it ...

I have been chargedback for a UPS shipment that I generated an online label for (several years ago). The TC decided to close its account and use DHL instead, and didn't/wouldn't pay for the UPS shipment. UPS could have cared less that I had instructions from TC to use that account number. I was on the hook for a $20 shipment plus a $10 chargeback fee, since I had created the shipping label on my account. At the time I generated the label, the UPS online system did not kick back the account number as closed. It took a couple of months and a lot of follow-up to get reimbursed by the TC. I no longer do labels online.

Reply by MichiganAl on 2/16/12 12:09pm
Msg #411944

Re: I just don't get it ...

I don't agree. Anyone can put anything into that sender field. You don't have to have the field manually removed as you state. I can log into my online account right now and list anyone I want as the sender. I can list Mickey Mouse as the sender. Will they go after Disney? I can list YOU as the sender, so that means FedEx can go after you? Nah. They'll go after whoever is associated with the shipping account.

Reply by BrotherOwner on 2/16/12 4:56pm
Msg #411996

Re: I just don't get it ...

we're talking PREPRINTED here, not your acct. But IF you list ME as sender on your label/acct.and you default on acct. or refuse charges, YES they will go after me for charges, as others have stated has happened to them.

Reply by walthtz on 2/15/12 2:41pm
Msg #411882

I have dne the following for 11 years.
On a label that I have to make up, I put in the sender as the company that sent me the docs
& the same or whatever company the docs are going to.
I do not sign the label as a UPS label asks for.
This way, I can never be charged for a delivery.
I also drop all packages in the box. Ups & Fedex never pick up at my home.
I am lucky that I do not have to drive out of my way to find a box. I have to pass both when I arrive & leave my home. In the memo section, I put the BR's Name for a reference.
This is what works for me.
Walter in NJ.

Reply by BrotherOwner on 2/16/12 5:12pm
Msg #411999

Re: Walt

Yours are the BEST practices to follow, but the OP was referring to a PREPRINTED label. A word of warning though, the carriers COULD LEGALLY REFUSE to deliver with a label that was incomplete, as in no signature, and it could go into a holding bin instead of being timely delivered. Remember, post 9/11 there MUST be a paper trail. Best thing is to sign with your "best" signature, you know, like some of our clients. The signature looks the same backwards and forwards and upside down too!

Reply by desktopfull on 2/15/12 6:38pm
Msg #411898

According to the fine print for FED EX & UPS the sender is responsible for the bill. If the receiving party refuses to pay they will reverse the charges to the sender and add $10.00 to the total and you will be held responsible to pay. I know because it happened to me to the tune of $331.00 from Residential Title in Tampa. I was never reimbursed from them either.

Reply by Allen/Mo on 2/15/12 7:33pm
Msg #411901

Absolutely YES, From experience I have had it happen 3 times in 6 years. Once with FEDEX and twice with UPS.

Reply by Luckydog on 2/16/12 12:29pm
Msg #411945

UPS is the WORST! Have had it happen 3 times with them. I like Walter's advice, I will not sign as requested, but do all of what he does. No problems with Fed Ex. Like FedEx the best and have later pick up times at boxes. Wish they would all switch to them, and their envelopes fit the packages much better!

Reply by Michael Senz on 2/16/12 2:28pm
Msg #411970

Yes, you definitely can. I learned that the hard way and never let my name be in the company or address field. I usually write: Michael Senz for John Smith, of JS Consulting, with their address but my phone number. That way if there is a problem with shipping it out for some reason, I get the call. But unpaid charges would be sent to their address.

--Michael, Night and Day Notary LA