Boycott UPS Over Photo ID Requirement?

[Rael]

UPS Expands Photo ID Requirement for Retail Shipping
By Juliann Neher - Dec 7, 2010

United Parcel Service Inc. will require customers shipping packages to show government-issued photo identification in an effort to intensify security after explosives were found on October cargo flights.

The new policy expands a previous rule in place at UPS Customer Centers to include all retail outlets. Customers without a pre-printed shipping label will have to display an ID, Atlanta-based UPS said in a statement today.

“Since retail centers experience a significant increase in business from occasional shippers during the busy holidays, this enhancement adds a prudent step in our multilayered approach to security,” Dale Hayes, vice president of small business and retail marketing, said in the statement.

British authorities discovered a bomb in a printer cartridge sent from Yemen at the U.K’s East Midlands airport that was timed to explode over the eastern seaboard of the U.S. Another device was intercepted and defused at a FedEx Corp. facility in Dubai. Both were bound for Chicago from Yemen.

[Michael Landon]

To use UPS, I'm now forced to get a government issued ID.

"Papers please."

No thanks, I'll stick with USPS.

- ML

[oyarde]

To use UPS, I'm now forced to get a government issued ID.

"Papers please."

No thanks, I'll stick with USPS.

- ML

Where I live , you have to have one to vote .

[ivflight]

So because people in other countries are trying to bomb us we have to show id when shipping stuff?

Last time I went the lady didn't even look at it - she was satisfied with me just flashing some type of card for a moment.

[oyarde]

So because people in other countries are trying to bomb us we have to show id when shipping stuff?

Last time I went the lady didn't even look at it - she was satisfied with me just flashing some type of card for a moment.

I only use them about once a year . They have never asked for id .

[ivflight]

I only use them about once a year . They have never asked for id .

They just started doing it recently.

[oyarde]

I always paid cash , sent package to same town & state and they have me in computer .

[Tennanja]

If UPS feels that this is the best way to protect their property and the property they are liable to as they ship it then i think that they should be allowed to require whatever they feel necessary to do as long as they are forthcoming about any new policies.

However saying that I feel no need to tell people that they must ship by UPS, feel free to ship with FEDEX or any of the other package carriers that you wish to ship with.

It is these types of new competitive security strategies tried out in a market place that will determine the best means of providing what the consumer wants in his or her shipping experience.

There is a high likelyhood that UPS feels that people will be interested in more security in who gets to ship a package so that the other customers packages are more secure and they will see a rise in shipping or perhaps they feel that even though they lose some shipping business from people who do not want to show a photo ID they will make more profit through lower insurance payments.

In the end it comes down to each consumer choosing what he or she wants in a shipping experience, if you don't want to show your ID then FEDEX and DHS will probably be eager for your business, otherwise if you like the idea that someone who doesn't want to show an ID can't have his box next to yours then I guess UPS just got your business.

As long as the government doesn't step in and start regulating whether or not you have to show and ID the market place will find out ways to please as many customers as possible through the use of competing and differentiated business models.

While I don't agree that showing an ID proves that your not a terrorist, I do not feel threatened by it as I know that I can freely work with one of their competitors, and if they begin to lose money because of this new plan then they will change it.

Personally I don't think that showing my ID will change my shipping habits as I consistently look for the cheapest way to ship, but if it matters to you then act upon your morals and use a different carrier.

[Bruno]

How will this work for their drop-boxes?

[Matt Collins]

I am willing to bet that the government strong armed them into this.

[oyarde]

How will this work for their drop-boxes?

I guess no changes there , since payment info is traceable .