Pitney Bowes

[CanuckSigns]

I was just wondering i anyone else has any experience with this company? We got a postage meter from them a few years ago thinking it would be a big time saver over going to the post office to buy stamps.

After we got our first bill we realized there were some charges we weren't told about when we signed the contract. When we called to find out what was going on, we were told that it's all in the contract we signed (after looking for about 25 minutes I did find mention of it) just to give you an idea of the charges you incur ON TOP of the ones they tell you about:

$15 every time the machine has to connect to the phone line to be updated (about once every 2 months or so)

$5 "service charge" every time you order more postage on the machine

$185 for a single tiny ink cartridge that lasts about 300 stamps!!!

So about 2 months before our contract was due to expire, they sent a "tech" out to "fix something" after he was done he kind of hung around untill a customer came in the door and I was distracted with them, he than shoved a piece of paper in my face and said he needed a signature to show his boss that he had made the repair. I signed it without reading the document because the customer was there (stupid I know)

Turns out it was a new contract for 2 years!!! We tried calling them to cancel and were told there was nothing they could do unless we wanted to pay an $800 cancellation fee! I explained I was not told it was a contract i was signing and was told it was a work order, they didn't care.

So we pretty much stopped using the thing from than on so we wouldn't incur any more charges or fees (except the $20 monthly rental fee), Our new contract is due the end of this month and we got an email from them asking how we wish to return the machine to them, either we can deliver it 2 hours away or they can send someone to pick it up for $100!!!!

Just a warning to anyone considering getting a Pitney Bowes postage machine, beware of all the hidden fees before you sign anything!!

 

[Fred Weiss]

They were at one time a solid value but what you've said is very similar to the experiences we had with them. I would totally recommend against anyone ever doing business with Pitney Bowes.

 

[rushworks graphics]

we got a pb mail station 2 approx 2 years ago now. we to incurred a service fee for updating the postage, that was $7.50.
i rang pb's to complain and they said it was all part of the deal, until they looked at my account and noticed i was classed as a "high level" customer so they said they would no longer charge us the service fee. we spend quite alot on stamps per month, so i guess they wanted to keep us as a client. i never buy the ink from them, i go to staples, its a little cheaper as $55 per carton.
i get charged $25 per month for the rental and thats it. i have never noticed any other charges for any updates or anything like that though.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Fred, I learned my lesson, just hoping to help anyone who may be considering signing up!

Especially now that Costco sells rolls of 100 stamps for less than face value!

 

[Fanaticus]

We use ShipRush with Indicia for USPS. It's a $40 a month subscription fee and whatever we spend on postage. Just being able to use it to print out our postage has saved countless hours of waiting in line at the post office.

We now use it for purchasing almost all of our shipping (we sell online). We set it up so customers automatically get a delivery notification email that includes tracking information... as well as automate some actions on one of our online venues that saves hours by itself.

It's easy to use, easy to set up, and we haven't had any problems with it so far like we did when we used paypal multi-label shipping powered by pitney bowes. We got tired of system errors and postage being charged before we could print it, then the system would crash and we'd have to re-purchase postage in order to get a good label and request refunds on the bad postage.

So, $40 a month solved A LOT of issues and probably saves 8-10 hours worth of time every week. At least.

 

[RJ California]

I agree that PB is run by weasels. I was suckered about 15 years ago, never used it and returned it after the contract. About 3 years later I get a notice from a collection company wanting $1500 or so for the machine I had already returned. I forgot how we proved the return after all those years but somehow we did.

We just buy stamps and keep it simple. Those charges that PB sneaks in would get very annoying real fast.

 

[CanuckSigns]

can you imagine how long you would be in business if you used a similar business model? Joe Mechanic comes in to pay for his sign and you charge him a "processing fee" to take his money! you would be out of business in a month!

 

[gabagoo]

can you imagine how long you would be in business if you used a similar business model? Joe Mechanic comes in to pay for his sign and you charge him a "processing fee" to take his money! you would be out of business in a month!

Dude i get these guys in here almost once a month. I have to admit, at times I was tempted but now after hearing this, i gonna turf them out next time. maybe I should put a decal on the door. Sales by appointment only.....Pintney Bowes stay the *#%#$% out!!!


I am pretty sure you are allowed a cooling off period, so you were entitled to cancel within 48 hours of signing the document.

I would just not use the machine and never pay the bills if thats the way they do business.

Heck in this country it's near impossible to get money from someone if they dont want to pay!!!

 

[gabagoo]

You know I bet CBC's market place would love to do a story on these guys

 

[CanuckSigns]

Dude i get these guys in here almost once a month. I have to admit, at times I was tempted but now after hearing this, i gonna turf them out next time. maybe I should put a decal on the door. Sales by appointment only.....Pintney Bowes stay the *#%#$% out!!!


I am pretty sure you are allowed a cooling off period, so you were entitled to cancel within 48 hours of signing the document.

I would just not use the machine and never pay the bills if thats the way they do business.

Heck in this country it's near impossible to get money from someone if they dont want to pay!!!

that's true about the cooling off period, however, by the time you notice (usually the next billing cycle) the 10 days has passed. Also I heard that the 10 days doesn't apply to businesses, it's there to protect people from signing up with companies like Direct Energy and Embridge who go door to door at your house.

I hear you about the difficulty collecting money in Canada, we have never been successful in collecting over due accounts using collections etc.

 

[Malkin]

We had a similar experience and are now just waiting a few more months for the 2 year contract to expire.

Stamps are way easier (except for the few times I need a scale...)

 

[CanuckSigns]

We had a similar experience and are now just waiting a few more months for the 2 year contract to expire.

Stamps are way easier (except for the few times I need a scale...)

Make sure you have request in writing that you want to cancel your contract, I would email and send it registered mail, I wouldn't trust this company as far as I could throw them!

 

[signmeup]

So what do they do to you if tell them to pound sand?

 

[Malkin]

Make sure you have request in writing that you want to cancel your contract, I would email and send it registered mail, I wouldn't trust this company as far as I could throw them!

Noted, thanks

So what do they do to you if tell them to pound sand?

Not sure, but I would be willing to ship them a pound of it if needed.

 

[jiarby]

My postal solution:
1. A Zebra ZP450 thermal printer. $25 on Craigslist. Prints UPS 4x6 & USPS Priority/First Class labels
2. A Dymo Twin Turbo thermal printer, another CL deal... $50 Prints individual stamp labels, and address/return/postage combo labels.
3. A USB 5lb postal scale ($10 shipping... part of a demo stamps.com promo) It is mostly a plastic POS. $50-80 buys you a good one.

A couple rolls of endicia labels (HouseLabels.com) on eBay
1. 3 part (Stamp, Return, & Address) #30383 Dymo ($9/150pcs 6¢ each)
2. 30195 1 part Dymo stamp label ($7/700pcs 1¢ each)

UPS provides 4x6 shipping labels for the ZP450 for FREE.

I am test driving various postage printing services now... They are all about $15-50/mo depending on volume & options + the cost of postage. The beauty is the integration with fullfillment systems (eBay, PayPal, online shopping cart systems) to automatically generate your shipping stuff (invoices, packing slips, shipping labels, receipts).

I do not ship much right now... just a few a week, but I really want to develop a few online ideas that will require all this.

My post office is 8.5 miles away, which is a 17mi round trip. Just over 1 gallon of gas (now almost $3.20/gal). The trip also takes usually at least 30-45 minutes.

Dump the postage meter and look into an online system of your own.