The UPS Store — Local services in Cumberland

I had a terrible experience at the UPS store in Cumberland, RI, and I feel compelled to share it so others can avoid the same frustration. On Tuesday, June 4, 2023, I called the store and spoke with a woman about shipping a massage table with dimensions 31"x36"x9". She quoted me $189.00 for shipping and an additional $50.00 for boxing, bringing the total to $239.00. I informed her that my brother would drop it off the next day, and she assured me she would be there to assist.

However, when my brother arrived, the story changed drastically. The same woman now claimed that boxing the table would cost an additional $400. The table was already wrapped in plastic, so my brother opted to ship it as is. When I received the table, it was not boxed, yet the UPS charge was $243.60. I called the store to ask why it wasn't boxed, and the woman defended herself, saying my brother refused the boxing.

During our conversation, I noticed that the shipping charge for ground commercial was $184.08, matching her initial quote, but there was also an additional handling charge of $59.30. When I saw the receipt, I initially thought it was the charge for boxing up the table. When I asked what this was for, she claimed it was because the item was large. The reality is that she manipulated the pricing to match what my brother had told her I was quoted cost.

For those unaware, a handling charge is essentially an arbitrary fee a company can impose for "touching" the item. This store clearly uses it as a way to extract more money from customers.

Beware of this UPS store in Cumberland, RI. They bait you with a low quote over the phone, then upcharge you with hidden fees and inflated costs when you arrive. The woman's initial approach is very casual and seemingly helpful, but it's all a ploy to deceive and overcharge. As a consumer, you need to be vigilant, double-check all charges, and never trust their over-the-phone quotes. This store's business practices are underhanded and dishonest. Avoid it at all costs.

** To clarify the response UPS provided, the shipping DID NOT cost more than what was quoted over the phone. As I stated, they tried to charge an additional $400 to box the item. When my brother chose not to go for that, an "add'l handling" charge was added. For what? Not for anything that was provided by this UPS store. Again, the shipping cost was less than what I was quoted over the phone, even when the size on the receipt is 36"x31"x15", which is larger than I told her over the phone. Even though the size was still 9" with the computer monitor. The size and shipping cost can't be fudged, but "add'l handling" can be added to the cost if not questioned. Which is...

I hate leaving bad reviews, but I am at my wits end with this ups store. I used the Cumberland location back in September to ship a painting. The store owner suggested I use the store location as my return address to make sure that the painting would be safely returned from the art gallery. Fast forward to November, the painting was returned to the ups store as planned. However, whoever received the package at the store didn’t recognize it and sent it back to the art gallery all the way in Michigan. This added another month of unexpectedly not having my painting back, but I was able to give a new shipping label to the gallery with the help of Aurelia to then get it returned back to Cumberland.

Now it’s December 2022, and the owner of the store called me to let me know she had the painting. I unfortunately had covid and was not going to be able to come in for a few weeks because of the holidays. She assured me it was safe there and for me to come in when I was able to. By the first week of January, I went in to retrieve my package from the Cumberland store. Aurelia (Store owner and the original professional I had been working with), told me that the package had been misplaced and that she would personally deliver it to my apartment. I left her my phone number, yet I never heard back from her. Since then, I have stopped in numerous times only to find very confused sales clerks that had no idea where the package was or where it might be. I have left notes, sent emails, and am close to giving up on getting my painting back. This painting is valued at $2000 and I had insurance on it, however because it took so long to even realize it had then been lost after it had been sent back and forth, my ability to file a claim had passed because the shipping label was 90 days old. This store is completely unorganized and unprofessional. This is a plea to the universe to hopefully get this painting back, and it is also fair warning to not trust them with high values goods.

I’d be happy to remove this review if I were to safely...

I've read the negative comments and think that there has to be something wrong with those people, they were in a bad mood, or they had outrageous expectations. I wonder how many of the 1 star reviewers post when they get 4 or 5 stars, or is that just what they "deserve" and thus expect. With experiences at many other UPS stores, this is by far the best I have dealt with, by a long mile.

I've had 5 or 6 large shipments with this company, most multiple packages. All items were picked up at a local business (used and without boxes, so lots of work packaging) and the items are VERY fragile and VERY expensive scientific glassware as well as electronics, pumps, motors and special glass bottles, all items extremely expensive as they are used in the pharma tech industry.

I was scared to death about what they were going to charge me to ship these items and considered driving 11 hours if the price was too high. To my surprise, they had AWESOME rates, helped me out with packaging (as compared to a couple other locations that quoted almost 4x as much for packaging ALONE!!) I'm posting videos of unpacking their boxes online if anyone wants to check it out, Youtube Username is "KDE5FAN MKG" and the video will be obviously titles (maybe I can add a link later).

Their staff has always been awesome, knowledgeable, friendly and understanding of each of my odd requests and concern of cost.

If you are in or around Cumberland then you can find no better full service shipment center than store #4893 and Aurelia as the Owner/manager. Once you deal with a bad branch (that doesn't pack well and you get broken items they WON'T replace) then you will realize what a treasure a location such as this really is.

Thanks again for you and your teams...