Discuss: Denver UPS/MBE Franchisee Blames UPS for Destroying Her Business Plan

[cheryl]

Denver UPS/MBE Franchisee Blames UPS for Destroying Her Business Plan With Inferior Model - Yahoo
Suzy Meadows owns both UPS franchise brands and knows MBE was better.

Across the U.S., many former MBE franchisees were given the same 2003 ultimatum by UPS: Convert to the UPS Store format within 30 days or risk paying a steep bill for later conversion. Furthermore, MBE was a dying brand. In order to sell a store or renew a franchise agreement, the store owner had to sign the UPS store agreement, which relinquished most of the owner's control -- most significantly retail pricing -- to UPS and become a UPS store.

[loyalmbe]

So, there you go!

In a heads up comparison, the UPS Store comes up way short!

[freeloader]

I always thought that MBE offered much better service at a reasonable price than the UPS Store does. Everything at the UPS Store is ridiculously priced.

I recently went to the UPS Store to ship something. I was helped by a kid who looked to be about 19 or so. The shipping charges amounted to about 8 or 9 bucks, then he wanted to charge me another few dollars for a new box and another few dollars for him to "professionally" package it for me. I saw a few used boxes (in good condition) behind the counter area and asked if I could use one of those. Nope, you have to buy a brand new box he told me. Everything there was a rip-off. I ended up going to the post office and shipping it using the "media rate" for way less. The UPS Store sucks.

It also seems that UPS strategically places new corporate-owned UPS Stores so that they will compete with the MBE franchisees. Why would they do that other than to line their own pockets instead of letting the franchisees make a few bucks. It looks like pure, ruthless, corporate greed.