[R-390] FedEx Follies & Postal annex's

[Perry Sandeen]

List,
I sold a radio to a list member.  We agreed on the price and shipping.
So Far, So Good.
I go no line to the fedex shipping calculator web site, enter all the shipping info and get a quote of $56.
Now the nearest fedex office is 12 miles away but there's a "Postal Annex" four blocks away from our house.
So I go to the "Postal Annex" and ask them to ship by FedEX.
Yer sir! No problemo!
So they take all the shipping info.  Low and behold the cheapest rate is $111.38. Reluctantly I pay and off goes the package.
I go home later and call the actual FedEx office that is 12 miles away.  I give them the exact same shipping info and I get a quote for $83.  So I asked the FedEx employee why such a large difference between the online quote and his quote.  All he could say is the rates vary at different times. OK.
My beef is that the surcharge from the "Postal Annex" was $28. That's a bit over 33%.  I now that they're a private company and I wouldn't mind say a 10% surcharge.  At the "postal annex" that I used said all of their type of business's charged "about the same rates."
Now this a busy location and FedEx stops by there every day. The area where I live is considered dense urban next to a large shopping mall and FedEx delivers to business and residential addresses here every day.
I don't know why the difference between the on-line and fedex store rate.  Perhaps I made and error with my on line data.
I do know I can and will make a 24 mile round trip and it won't cost me $23.
YMMV
Regards,
Perrier