UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc. Franchisees To Demonstrate

Biz Journals :

Mail Boxes Etc. and The UPS Store franchisees plan to picket at the United Parcel Service Inc. shareholder meeting in Wilmington, Del., on May 4.

The group said it will demonstrate over issues related to multiple lawsuits filed against Atlanta-based UPS (NYSE: UPS). The store owners’ chief complaint is that UPS, which sets the rates that more than 4,100 UPS Stores in the United States can charge customers for shipping, offers cheaper rates to its direct-pickup customers and imposes requirements burdensome on the store owners. More than 450 franchisees who own Mail Boxes Etc. stores and The UPS Stores have filed three lawsuits in California. In separate complaints, the franchisees accused UPS of intentional misrepresentation, concealment and breach of contract, intentionally failing to disclose performance and financial data in addition to multiple violations of franchisee laws among other allegations. The store owners, who say that UPS is undercutting their profits, claim the shipper has made as stated in their complaint “unabashed and illegal efforts to profit on the backs of their own franchisees.”

Store owners want compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.