Why One Montpelier Retailer Is Down on Brown

cheryl

I started this.
Staff member
Why One Montpelier Retailer Is Down on Brown - Seven Days

A Montpelier copy-shop owner may finally get his day in court this week, six years after suing United Parcel Service for the damage he claims it inflicted on his small business. The suit filed by Capitol Copy owner Glenn Sturgis and 130 other office-services store operators around the country seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for what “Brown” has allegedly done to them.

Their legal action gets in the public face of a company defined by ubiquitous brown trucks piloted by smiling drivers in sexy uniforms. “The drivers are their PR guys, and I think they do a great job,” Sturgis says. “Corporate UPS is arrogant, though. They don’t seem to care how many bodies get buried.”
 

UPSNewbie

Well-Known Member
That was quite possibly the dumbest lawsuit I've ever read about. Holy crap.

The store owner is suing UPS because of his own decision to not take the UPS brand.
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
That was quite possibly the dumbest lawsuit I've ever read about. Holy crap.

The store owner is suing UPS because of his own decision to not take the UPS brand.

Obviously you didn't read the whole story. When it was a "mailboxes, etc" franchise, (which you pay money to buy), he could use Fedex or UPS or whoever he or the customer wanted to ship with. Since UPS bought mailboxes, I gather they would not allow franchisee's to use other then UPS. That changes the terms he purchased the franchise under.

After he may have researched a franchise type business, then made a decision what kind of franchise he wanted to buy, then a few years down the road the game gets changed. I guess he had no control over the changes, and that's why he's upset.
 

brownIEman

Well-Known Member
Obviously you didn't read the whole story. When it was a "mailboxes, etc" franchise, (which you pay money to buy), he could use Fedex or UPS or whoever he or the customer wanted to ship with. Since UPS bought mailboxes, I gather they would not allow franchisee's to use other then UPS. That changes the terms he purchased the franchise under.

After he may have researched a franchise type business, then made a decision what kind of franchise he wanted to buy, then a few years down the road the game gets changed. I guess he had no control over the changes, and that's why he's upset.


Sorry, but I am going to take a page out of your own book, and tell you, that no, obviously you did not read the whole article, or at least not carefully. UPS has not insisted that the UPS store franchises use only UPS. They are free to send stuff out Post office, Fedex, or anyone else. (I believe they do get an incentive to steer folks to UPS)

It was Fedex that said they would not maintain their associated shipper relationships with any store that rebranded to UPS Store.

From the article:

"FedEx was among the shippers available to customers of Mail Boxes Etc. But because it views UPS as a direct competitor, FedEx will not handle parcels sent through UPS-branded stores."

Seems like he has other beefs, but if his main issue was choice of shippers, maybe he should be suing Fedex.
 
Top