Date:         Mon, 18 Jan 1999 08:58:14 -0700
Reply-To:     "Michael A. Radtke" <m.radtke@ELM.AZ05.BULL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Michael A. Radtke" <m.radtke@ELM.AZ05.BULL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Too big to ship UPS.
Comments: cc: Budd Premack <bpremack@WAVETECH.NET>

Budd,

You said, "I do not believe the 2 person folding middle seats are too big
to ship via UPS ... A triangular shape will save a lot of inches of girth,
so that length plus girth stays under the UPS limit of 130 inches."

Don't believe it.

I carefully wrapped my seat in a tarp, confirmed the measurements just like
you said, and went off to UPS.  The clerk carefully measured the length of
the seat (the longest dimension) and then wrapped the tape around the seat
to get the girth.  The only thing is that she pulled the measuring tape
(actually a bead chain) away from the seat at the hypotenuse of the
triangle to make it a rectangle.  I cried foul and she said that's how they
always do it.  I got out their guide book and read the words again.
 Nothing about pretending an unboxed object was in a box when it was
measured.  I asked about how a car muffler was measured (since there was a
picture of that in the guide) and was shown that in that case they wrapped
the tape tight and didn't pretend it was in a box.  I asked why and the
only answer that I could get was something like "because it wasn't a seat."

I talked a supervisor.  I talked to headquarters.  I spent a week calling
around talking to folks who always agreed with the clerk but couldn't see
anything wrong with the way the guide was worded.  Finally I got to a
person who understood the issue.  She said that everyone at UPS was trained
to do the measurement as if the object was in a box, and she agreed that
the wording in the guide was wrong by that standard.  So she agreed to take
the issue to the documentation committee.

The bottom line is that measures by using the imaginary box method.

Mike


Michael A. Radtke  -  Z74               Voice: 602-862-4897
Bull                                      FAX:         4853
13430 N. Black Canyon Hwy.
Phoenix, AZ  85029                      Email: m.radtke@bull.com