Shoulda seen it coming…
I ordered some business cards online today. “Get 250 Full Color Business Cards FREE” the ad said. I’ve ordered from this company before so I’m well aware that their definition of “free” is usually “$25.95” but they’re still cheaper than anywhere else… So I log onto their site and reorder 500 business cards (“For Just $2.99!”) and continued on to the checkout. By the time I had opted to have them printed on gloss cardstock rather than toilet paper, added in shipping and whatnot, the final bill for my $2.99 cards was just under $30.
This is all fine and dandy. Like I said, that’s the way this company works, and I was expecting it. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was to see a very small sentence on my bill, right under “Shipping and Handling,” where they added a fifty-cent “Fuel Surcharge.”
Isn’t “Fuel Surcharge” part of “Shipping and Handling?” And how can it cost nearly $20 in shipping and handling to mail me a package the size of, oh, a square coffee mug via United States Postal Service? I know that’s how this company makes their money, but still… “Fuel Surcharge?” Aw, c’mon. Just add it into S/H and be done with it.
Vista print!
ME TOO!!!!!!!!! lol
Exactly! Ha!
I’ve had cards printed up once in my life, because there just aren’t that many instances in which people feel the need to contact me, which is the way I like it.
That’s the miracle of e-commerce, Chris. If shipping charges are calculated by weight, sometimes it’s difficult to reprogram the cart to add a fuel surcharge (which they likely intend to remove when the price of gas declines) in with shipping and handling. It’s also possible that your state laws require accounting disclosure — we have to show a full break-down of taxes and surcharges for accounting purposes here in Canada. There’s a reason for it, even though it seems stupider than Pistols having business cards.
…and right under the fuel surcharge there should be a mention of the “reach around” we should all get whilst being plooked…
Wait, didn’t the price of fuel drop to pre-Katrina levels now?
The way I see it is that they owe YOU about $1.00.
Pistols — I once worked at a print shop. They made me, no kidding 25 business cards. “We don’t expect the public to see you much,” they said. They were right.
Kat — Good point about the shopping cart, but can’t they just change the pricing attributes globally? I’m not sure… I’ve just never seen a “Fuel Surcharge” listed on a bill before. Startled me, it did.
Soul — Yep. Plooked indeed.
Poo — Amazing how the gas prices dropped around election time again, isn’t it? But I ain’t complainin’.
Make your own! You can do it! Just remember not to charge yourself excessively and ridiculously.
LOL! Dale’s got it!!!! Too funny.
Hi.