Shipping Change

Switching to UPS

In order to get the shipping discounts that we pass on to you (shipping is non-profit for us), we have to use either FedEx or UPS; we can’t use both without giving up our discount rate. Three years ago it was an easy decision: FedEx was the best. Over time, things change. UPS has made some major innovations and changes, and they came to us a few months ago asking us to consider a change. At the same time, we’d been seeing an increase in shipping problems over the last year. After a month-long trial involving hundreds of round-trip shipments, the LensRentals preferred shipping carrier will change from FedEx to UPS, effective Monday, September 21. Among the deciding factors:

• UPS provides more “hold for pickup” locations, which on average are closer to our customers.
• UPS provides a 2-day AM option for about $5 more, which a number of our customers wanted. The only way to get morning deliveries with FedEx was to ship overnight.
• UPS gives you a confirmation phone call the day before delivery, reminding you that a signature will be required, and lets you change to a “hold for will call” if the delivery isn’t convenient.
• Re-routing shipments in transit is much quicker and more reliable with UPS. With UPS we can access their computer systems and make the change immediately, where before we had to ask a rep to change, they’d call us back in half an hour, etc.
• UPS will allow us to begin shipping directly to Canada at fairly reasonable prices, something we can’t do with FedEx.
• On-time, damage, and lost shipment rates were about the same for both companies, and our customer preferences were equally divided between FedEx and UPS.
• UPS lets us lower shipping costs a bit – the small reduction in shipping charge isn’t why we changed, but every little bit helps. Lower rates are already in effect.
• The biggest thing is “this isn’t our father’s UPS.” We’ve seen a big improvement in customer service and ease of use compared to when we last looked into this 3 years ago.

Naturally, if you already have a reservation scheduled to a FedEx hold-for-pickup location, we’ll ship FedEx even though it’ll cost us more. No reservations are affected by this change.

We will still be able to ship FedEx if you have a strong preference, but after next week it will cost about 50% more than shipping with UPS.

Bottom Line

Things that are the same as before:

• All shipments spend 2 days or less in transit.
• All deliveries require a signature.
• All return shipping is prepaid, and you are still responsible for getting your package to the carrier.
• Overnight service is available for +50% over the base shipping rate.

Things that are different:

• Hold for Pickup locations are now UPS Stores instead of FedEx Kinko’s/FedEx Office.
• The driver’s uniforms are brown. So are the trucks.
• Shipping rates are cheaper.
• We now ship to Canada. *NOTE: Our shopping cart is not yet automated for Canada shipping. Shipping to Canada is significantly more than shipping to the U. S. (which is what the cart shows). We suggest you call or email us for a quote before placing an order to Canada, so we can get you an accurate shipping quote.

LensRentals doesn’t believe in sacrificing quality to save money. UPS suits our needs better — that they manage to charge less while doing so is a bonus, but it’s not the deciding factor in this change.