Starting about 2003 I shipped my UPS packages with this store. Every time I came in to ship my packages Mr. Desai would pester me about having my own account with him, he said that he would give me a discount that would be cheaper then shipping the packages myself. He was always very pleasant and almost overly friendly. He kept up the pressure and finally in 2004 I agreed to have an account. I would bring in the box ready for him to ship or sometimes I would let him put it in the box (I sell an transmitter for churches and schools on the Internet). He was always very friendly during this time, and overly helpful. After having this situation for some time, about a year, I decided I wasnt happy with it, I decided to start shipping from home. His billing was typically 2-3 months behind, that was a problem, and in looking at the statements it looked like I was I really wasnt saving money as he had said. That is when the trouble started; the second I told him I didnt want to have the account anymore. He got a strange look on his face and from that time on we feel we are being discriminated against because we arent spending money with him. I am easy going and forgiving, I just ignored it for a year, but it became very clear after going into Store #3558 many times that I or my wife were not welcome. And we were to be treated very differently then the customers who had an account or were spending money with him.
Every drop off for UPS or FED EX I have ever done at other locations the experience is the same, you walk in, tell them the packages are ready to go, and then you can leave. Not at store #3558 for us! Mr. Desai has required us to wait in long lines (and while we were waiting we would see other customers pop in and throw a package on the counter, he would go into smile mode and tell them he would take care of it. I assume and hope those people were account holders, that he would not have had the audacity to make us wait in line when other people there for the exact same thing got premium service.) Then when we got to him in line he would carefully inspect, weigh, and measure the package. (I have never seen anyone else anywhere take out a tape measure!) If anything was off, he wouldnt take the package! I know that if the shipping label says 2 lbs and it is really 3 that UPS will take care of it with my account, or if the box measurement is off by an inch. Or if with a UPS Red letter he thought it was too thick he wouldnt take it! He will just hand the package back, with an attitude that we must be stupid to try to ship this package.
If the package is ready to go I dont see what business he has going over all this and forcing us to stay there while he does it. Its not so much that he is checking every detail of the packages we bring that are supposed to be ready to go directly to UPS, It the manner in which he does it, his demeaning attitude, as he is looking for a problem to reject the package. When I go into store # 3558 it got so I would wonder if I would pass the test today. After a time (and shipping with a dozen or more other stores in the area as I was traveling around town), I began to realize that no other store was doing that.
We got him to do a notary on a title for a car we were selling and he started trying to tell us we were doing it all wrong! He checked the (Odometer reading is false) box on the title which caused us some problems with DOT, I hope it was an error on his part but with everything else that has happened Im not sure.
Here is how I think Mr. Desai runs business and is the basis of my discrimination charge. When a customer who ships a lot of packages starts coming in (like I did) he starts putting the pressure on to have an account. He slowing increases pressure until some, such as I did agree to have an account He promises a deep discount that will save them money. Somehow Im sure he makes a lot more money when people are shipping in this mode, letting him do the shipping instead of bringing the packages in ready to go. Then if someone loses the promise of being a money maker, or they are not shipping with him anymore with the account at this point the customer is wasting his time. He will hassle you and makes things difficult when you come in. When I had an account he couldnt help enough, now when I go into the store he glares at me and goes about his business.
My discrimination complaint is that my wife and I are treated badly and get poor service now that we arent spending much money with him. I feel that here in America that all should be treated fairly, equally and with respect no matter if they are spending $1 or $100.
Keith h
Cary, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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