Fuel surcharge???

[Colin]

This is a small thing, but I just placed an order with a supplier (who I rarely deal with), and noticed on the invoice a $5.00 "Fuel Surcharge". It seems to me that this sort of extra charge would be made by the courier company, not the supplier themselves. Your thoughts? It just seemed like a little money grab to me, as they're not the ones delivering the item.

 

[Gino]

Do you pay the courier separately ?? If not, they proably jacked it up and splitting it with them. They'll make a profit on anything.

 

[Colin]

They have an arrangement with their own courier company, and there was a separate shipping charge on the invoice for that. When I asked about it, they said: "There is a $5.00 Fuel Surcharge on all Shippable Orders. That’s a Management Directive from our Head Office. I have no control over that."

 

[Gino]

However they wanna skew it. It's only 5 bucks. Throw it in on your invoice and just pass it along. Everybody down here has surcharges for fuel. Just work it into the overall equation to your advantage.

 

[Colin]

Ya, it's not the amount that bothers me, it's the principal. If they apply that to every invoice for no good reason, that adds up to a lot of money at the end of the year.

 

[Solventinkjet]

It's a money grab plain and simple. These fuel surcharges popped up when gas started to hit $3.50 - $4.00+ which kind of made sense except that when gas prices went down, the fees didn't. It's a billing tactic to make sure you know that they aren't the reason for the fee, the gas prices are. If the courier is not charging them the gas fee and they are just tacking it on after the fact, they are a sleezy company. I would ask them to justify the charge and if they give you the run around, tell them to pound sand. If a company is willing to lose you for $5.00 of crap fees, they aren't worth your business.

 

[Gino]

Most of the suppliers we deal with have fuel surcharges. I've negotiated with the majority of them and have had most of them dropped. Even UPS and FedEx costs have been negotiated. Like you said, on the principle of the thing, if they were coming to me and me only, I could see it. However, most of them make a big loop and might have 20 or 30 stops. So, in your case that would be $125 or more they make just to deliver for a round trip of maybe 100 miles or so. Maybe more, but that more than covers the cost. We have a local guy who charges $32.00 for delivery of anything, if your order is under $300. Over that, it's $28.50. If I need anything I go the 3 miles to their place and pick it up myself, but I make sure they pack my truck and don't hurt anything. I basically stopped using them and they constantly ask me why.....??

 

[CanuckSigns]

ND graphics is horrible to deal with, plain and simple. From their horrible pricing structure to their terrible customer service.

I've tried asking them about the fuel surcharge and the answer is always "the computer applies it automatically I can't remove it"

The biggest pain about dealing with them is trying to get a quote, when you call the order desk they give you the retail pricing, if you want trade pricing you need to speak to your sales rep, and if they are out of the office or on vacation, tough you can't get a price until they come back.

Needless to say I spend less than $300 a year with them dispite them having materials I would normally buy, I can't support them.

 

[tdupster]

That's too bad. The people at our Winnipeg branch are amazing to deal with. My dad has dealt with them since he bought his first Edge/plotter set up almost 25 years ago and they've been our go-to for most things since then. I agree their pricing is always on the high side, but their service makes up for it. We have other suppliers that have better pricing but their service is crap - so I pay more for the service with ND. Great folks all around. Our pricing is always current on their website and if anything we can get a better price. It might be worth talking with the branch manager (not sure who's working there these days) about your concerns to see if they can make things work for you - at the very least if you get set up on their website you don't have to call for pricing, and sure as hell shouldn't be quoted retail costs.

I have to agree with RJPW. I deal with the folks in Montreal and Toronto and have always treated me like gold. I had issues with some 3M 1080 and they ended up crediting me the roll and giving me a extra one. I agree the extra $5 is a shame, but like other said.. Charge the client for the extra $5...no harm no foul

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[printhog]

While I agree that a fuel surcharge in today's fuel prices is just a money grab, I wonder about the big picture. If you're keen to track that expense what about time? At $60 an hour that's 5 minutes of your time. Posting here likely took that much away in addition. Sometimes we only consider those expenses that are easily seen.

Not being critical, just pointing out that you may be paying more for other losses you don't see.

For example - if one supplier has online ordering and inventory checking and another requires you phone in an order. The first one will be a time saver for you. If you can place an order, confirm stock, and get back to work in 2 minutes, vs the 10 minutes a phone call takes. That's $8 to your benefit. If they have a $5 whatever fee, you're still ahead $3.

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[ExecuPrintGS]

N Glantz added a "fuel charge" for delivery a few years back when gas was $4 +, they insisted it would go away when prices came down.... Its still on every bill.