My experience at Mailboxes, Etc. Franchise #3505, Beverly Hills
Postal Place, 9663 Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA
90210
Owners: Robert Reider and Ron Reider
What this site is about: My business and personal mail went to this
MBE franchise from November 2003 until July 2007. I selected them because we needed a
reliable and professional mail receiving service. My choice in mail receiving services turned out to be a
painful mistake. Sometime in
August of 2006, our mail went from its normal volume of 50 to 100 items a
month to 5 or fewer items per month. Every time I came in, between
December 2006 and May 2007, and saw that I had received about five pieces of
mail for the month, I asked their staff members repeatedly, why are we not
getting our mail? They repeatedly said everything was
fine. I asked them, "could you please check that there is nothing wrong with
the account?"
They said they checked and everything was fine.
Our bank informed us that our bank
statements were being rejected. I didn't get a single holiday card from the
2006-2007 holiday season. I have no way of knowing exactly what was lost,
other than in cases like our bank which documented that statements were being
returned.
Finally in early May, I talked with Robert Reider, the store owner.
He said nothing is wrong, and if I'm not getting my mail, the problem is in the
US Postal Service. A
few days later I talked to their new manager, named Eric. I asked him, "where
is our mail". He checked and
found out that we were not on the roster, and that's why our mail wasn't
getting delivered. He took me in back, and showed me the roster printout
itself. He showed me clearly that box #366 was missing from the roster. It
jumped from 365 to 367, skipping 366.
I believe the roster is used by the MBE staff to decide which mail
to send back. Any staff member, or Robert himself, could have checked the
roster on any of the numerous occasions between December 2006 and May 2007 when
I asked them (with increasing anger and bluntness), "where is my mail". They
always said, "everything is fine" and "we checked" but
no one had bothered to take three minutes to look until they brought in a new
manager (Eric) who was not in denial about the problems they were having.
I asked them to make this situation right. Eric said that the people who
had experienced problems would be
getting some kind of discounts. I did not accept that and sent certified
letters to both the franchise, and to MBE Inc, demanding compensation, due to
the harm caused to my business.
Robert stopped communicating with me and never responded to any of
my letters. He also instructed Eric to not communicate with me. I brought
this up with MBE's corporate offices in San Diego. They said that they were
fine with the situation and didn't see any problems. Both Robert and MBE
corporate claimed to have investigated my claims.
To be clear, I'm not upset that they dropped my mailbox number off the
roster. In business, and in life, as the bumper sticker says, "stuff happens". Everyone
and every business makes mistakes sometimes. This is a natural and normal part
of business. What
matters is how businesses and people react to mistakes they have made.
This particular Mailboxes Etc franchise should have investigated when I first
complained about not receiving my mail. Robert should have investigated when I
talked with him seriously about the problem, when I could no longer deny that I
was losing the bulk of my mail. When Eric finally found the problem and fixed
it, Robert should have investigated how the problem happened, and should have
immediately offered to make it right financially. Instead, when it was obvious
that his store had messed up, he stopped communicating with me. Instead of
investigation there was nothing but denial. Ignoring problems is usually not a
solution.
There are many
mailbox choices in Beverly Hills, and if I had known the lack of responsibility
of Robert Reider and the MBE franchise at this address, I would never have used
their services, at any cost. Now I know that MBE corporate does not take an
active role in assuring the quality of services at MBE franchises, so I will no longer
consider the MBE brand to be a sign of reliability or quality service. MBE
Inc. repeatedly informed me that they had no responsibility and would not take
any action to remedy the behavior of their franchisee. I also found out that,
financially, MBE franchises make money on the "Etc" part and don't make money
on the "Mailboxes" part. Getting mail into their renters' boxes isn't how they earn
their money. Shipping
stuff at high prices is how they make their money.
Robert Reider and Ron Reider are also the owners of the MBE franchise at 269
South Beverly Drive.
This site is not affiliated with or authorized by Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. or any of
its franchises. I was informed by Mario G., of MBE Inc, that
Robert is satisfied with how he handled this situation, and Mario is satisfied
with the investigation, and he closed it. He said he didn't have time or
interest in resolving this situation; "the
phones are ringing" he said. I guess customers losing large amounts of mail
from a franchisee isn't a major concern for MBE. Seems strange; that should be a
red-alert for them, given that brands are fundamentally about trust. But I wouldn't
try to tell them how to run their business.
I told Mario that I would be putting this information on
a website. He gave his approval for me to do that ("that's fine, do whatever you want"). That
doesn't make this site endorsed by MBE, but it is an explicit approval
from them to post this information.
I did send a certified letter to Robert asking him to
confirm that my mailbox account was in good order. I never received a
response. I never got any direct communication from Robert other than
"everything is fine here, take it up
with the post office". I sent a certified letter to MBE Inc complaining about
this, and never got a response.
I will update this site should there be any
further developments, either positive or negative. I'm open to having
an in-person mediated meeting with anyone from their side. I created this site
solely for the purpose of sharing what I experienced.