Glitter of jewel deliveries spurs anti-trust allegations.An El Segundo-based player in the highly specialized world of expedited jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. delivery has sued FedEx Corp., claiming that the express package leader was trying to squeeze it out of the $50 million-plus industry. In an anti-trust suit filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, OneService International Inc. maintains that FedEx has cancelled contracts and altered its rates. FedEx and its main rival, United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), commonly referred to as UPS, is the world's largest package delivery company, delivering more than 15 million packages[1] a day to 6.1 million customers in over 200 countries and territories around the world. Inc., typically offer limited insurance on high-end deliveries of goods like jewelry, in which there is a vast international trade. Mary Moses Kinney, director of merchandising and trade shows at the Independent Jewelers Organization, said UPS typically insures about $25,000 per package, while FedEx has insured only $500 per package. About a dozen smaller firms have cropped up in the last 10 years as third party carriers that can, by pooling clients, insure values of up to $75,000 per package. They provide overnight service through contracts with a larger carrier. OneService, founded in 1993, picks up packages from retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers and delivers them to a FedEx distribution center, the suit says. It has service centers in jewelry districts in L.A., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. and Bangkok. The company tracks packages using a computer system connected with FedEx's tracking program, the suit says. Under its contract with FedEx, OneService receives a 59 percent discount off the published rates for retail customers in exchange for its third party business, it said. The company claims in its filing that at a Sept. 17 meeting, FedEx gave 30-days notice that it was terminating the agreement and offered to replace it with a new contract cutting the discount to 30 percent and disallowing third party billing. "They're trying to use their power to take over another market--the market for jewelers," said Robert Noblin, a partner at Blecher & Collins PC representing OneService. FedEx spokeswoman Liana liana (lēä`nə) or liane (lēän`), name for any climbing plant that roots in the ground. Sucar declined to comment about the suit. Two years ago, FedEx introduced a service allowing jewelers to declare value of up to $50,000, rather than the normal rate of $500. OneService seeks treble damages A recovery of three times the amount of actual financial losses suffered which is provided by statute for certain kinds of cases. The statute authorizing treble damages directs the judge to multiply by three the amount of monetary damages awarded by the jury in those cases , attorneys' fees, costs of the suit and a 10-year injunction prohibiting FedEx from denying third party billing and charging more favorable rates. |
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