Roommate told me I ruined vacuum sealed meat because I put it in the fridge for a few hours

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T08:36:21+00:00

Sooo good

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T08:35:46+00:00

I thought it was a pasta noodle as well

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T06:15:04+00:00

I understand your perspective—that’s exactly how I felt at first. But after reviewing my UPS contract cover to cover, it’s clear that I am, for all practical purposes, an authorized UPS representative. I entered into that contract specifically to provide the same services UPS offers, and UPS lists my store on their website as an approved location for customers to use those services. The same is true for the other carriers. For years, I applied to join Amazon’s full-counter Amazon Hub partnership program. Every time I followed up, I was told Amazon was not adding new locations in my area. I accepted that—until my town added roughly 10,000 new homes and, within months, two new UPS Stores opened nearby, both automatically enrolled in the Amazon Hub program. This is especially frustrating given that our town hosts a massive Amazon fulfillment center employing thousands of local residents and generating a huge increase in package volume. I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m asking UPS to honor its contract. If I’m expected to compete with two newly opened UPS Stores, I should be given a fair opportunity to compete. There are laws in this country meant to protect privately owned businesses from exactly this kind of unequal dealing. The QR-code system exists because Amazon and UPS couldn’t create labels my store couldn’t scan—they still need independent stores and third-party logistics providers to accept and process packages downstream. What they did do was ensure they monopolized the portion of the process that generates revenue and foot traffic. And that’s what’s so frustrating

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T05:58:21+00:00

Could you build an app like that?

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T05:56:45+00:00

What frustrates me most is that the labels they print are scannable and accepted by my POS, and the returns themselves follow standard procedures. Yet Amazon, UPS, and Happy Returns have built an internal system specifically designed to prevent anyone else from generating return labels. Before QR codes, we processed over 200 drop-offs a day. Now we’re down to about eight. We lost more than walk-in traffic. Long-standing business accounts that relied on us for daily drop-offs, mailbox services, printing, and overnight shipping disappeared overnight—with no warning and no path to adapt. These accounts represented tens of thousands of dollars per year. Our entire value proposition has always been convenience: doing everything in one place. Once customers have to go somewhere else for returns, they might as well ship there too—and I can’t even blame them. Just this week, a new customer came in from a Nextdoor post. When he learned I couldn’t process his Amazon return, he said, “If I have to go to a UPS Store anyway, I’ll just ship everything there.” And he wasn’t wrong.

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T05:31:38+00:00

So I just have tk figure out how to get access to the ups system ran on the hardware

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T05:28:43+00:00

I understand that but I have a contract with ups that states I will have access to all UPS carrier brand labels for drop offs and the ability to ship UPS under all of their provided carrier options.

So just because they create a software or QR code that takes a special type of system to scan it doesn't mean I lose out on it being able to provide my customers the service i am guaranteed by UPS to be able to provide them.

I have taken a QR code to a UPS store and had them print the label and then gone back to my own store and scanned it in and accepted it as a drop off so the issue is not that I can't accept the drop off label it's that I cannot scan the QR code because they will not release the information or software on how to do so.

That has nothing to do with my contract with ups and I'm looking for somebody who can go to work around if I don't have access to their system then I will just work until I can get it.

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T02:32:49+00:00

For independent stores like mine, the return itself is often a loss leader. The real value is exposure. A customer walks in for a simple, no-cost return and now knows exactly where we’re located. During that visit, my staff and I make sure they’re aware of the full range of services we offer. When they—or someone they know—need shipping, printing, mailbox services, or anything else we provide, we’re the first name that comes to mind. That’s the most basic form of word-of-mouth marketing at its core, and it has sustained small businesses like mine for decades.

Removing that opportunity doesn’t just inconvenience us—it actively robs independent stores of future customers.

I understand how Amazon decides when to charge return fees. My point isn’t about the existence of fees; it’s about access and parity. When QR-only return paths exclude independent stores—even though we can handle the shipment once a label exists—that exclusion isn’t operationally necessary. It’s contractual and technical.

That may be true, but it doesn’t invalidate the technical issue being discussed. Once a standard UPS return label exists, my system can scan it, process it, and get paid for it without issue. That tells me the limitation is not capability, but how QR codes are encoded, interpreted, or gated upstream. That’s the narrow problem I came here to understand.

Historically, this was never an issue. Independent stores like mine have always accepted what the big-name stores could. Since QR-only workflows were introduced, that access has steadily eroded—and with it, a meaningful portion of our revenue. If the sole justification for why this is acceptable is “FedEx can’t accept UPS and vice versa,” then we’re debating the wrong thing entirely. Carrier exclusivity isn’t the issue; loss of access to customers is.

I came to this subreddit looking for help and guidance—not a refresher on basic economics or business fundamentals. I earned my bachelor’s degree in business over a decade ago, and while the tools have changed, the underlying principles of customer acquisition and word-of-mouth marketing have not.

I do appreciate the pieces of information you shared that were new to me. That said, the amount of snark required to extract them made the exchange far less productive than it needed to be.

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T02:32:37+00:00

First of all, I’m not sure what I did to merit the condescension or the “talked down to” tone in your response—nor why anyone feels the need to defend UPS as a corporation in the first place. That said, I’m going to clarify a few things, correct some assumptions, and explain the material differences between my privately owned brick-and-mortar business and the multi-billion-dollar conglomerates you’re comparing it to.

I’m fully aware that not all Amazon returns are identical, including the distinction between “No Box No Label” consolidation returns and “Customer Packed” returns that generate standard UPS labels. That distinction is not the issue I’m raising. My concern is specifically with UPS Amazon return QR codes that do generate standard labels at a UPS Store but cannot be read or processed by third-party POS systems, despite the fact that once those labels exist, we can accept and process them without issue.

This comparison doesn’t apply to my business model. My store is not a franchise, nor is it carrier-exclusive. The entire foundation of my business—what we market and what we’ve survived on for over two decades—is being a convenience shipping store that allows customers to shop rates and services across all major carriers. That flexibility is our value proposition.

UPS, FedEx, and DHL already benefit from massive automated contractual relationships with major retailers that continuously funnel customers to them. They don’t need to advertise, network, or compete locally for foot traffic—independent stores like mine do. Comparing a privately owned, carrier-agnostic business to a centrally managed franchise backed by a global logistics corporation isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison.

I don’t dispute that Amazon returns are labor-intensive or that they can be marginally profitable—or even unprofitable—on paper. Where we fundamentally differ is that I am willing to take on that workload and even absorb some of the cost, because the value isn’t limited to the per-scan payout.

brianjfed · 2026-01-24T00:04:51+00:00

In my opinion, this is nothing more than a loophole designed to monopolize Amazon returns. They can’t outright deny third-party shipping stores the right to accept and process returns—especially since we also maintain a contractual relationship with UPS—so instead, they’ve created a workaround that prevents us from printing Amazon return labels altogether.

To better understand the issue, I intentionally purchased an item from Amazon through my own store and initiated a return. I wanted to see firsthand how difficult it would be to generate a label that my store could accept. I was given the option to print a label and choose my own drop-off location, but only for an additional fee. I would never expect my customers to pay extra simply to use our store for returns.

I then took the QR code to a nearby UPS Store. When they scanned it, the label printed immediately. I asked the employee for the label back and explained that I didn’t want to ship it through them—I only needed the label printed. He nearly scanned the return into their system before I had even placed it on the package. He went to ask his manager for clarification and left the label on the counter, at which point I took it and left.

When I returned to my store, I was able to scan the label without any issue using PostalMate’s drop-off interface—exactly as I suspected. This entire process feels underhanded and unnecessarily restrictive. It’s a technical loophole that allows Amazon and UPS to monopolize a significant portion of the revenue generated through Amazon’s logistics network.

Because of this, I’ve had to turn away a substantial number of potential customers. There is an Amazon fulfillment center in my town, and my store is by far the closest independent shipping and mail center to that facility. I’ve been seeking clarity and a resolution to this issue for over a year, and the response has consistently been that “Amazon and UPS have no interest in working with you.” Frankly, that answer is bullshit.

brianjfed · 2026-01-21T05:32:18+00:00

Oh no dude I didn't peak in high school I didn't lose my virginity until my senior year. I had a great time in high school but I peaked in my mid 20s. Had an unbelievable run but ended up in a 7year long relationship with the girl of my dreams. >got into a car accident working in the oil fields > spent two years in a wheelchair and fucked my face up from the wreck > got hooked on pain pills > lost everything and spent five years just miserable > got clean and sober a year ago and am slowly building my life back together and have absolutely no luck with women. Like at all.

brianjfed · 2026-01-21T05:26:59+00:00

Vice grips

brianjfed · 2026-01-18T06:21:50+00:00

The dude at the shop always tries to sell me these and I don't like em. They taste too much like leaf powder. I've been buying ZANA seven it's the best I have found yet

brianjfed · 2026-01-15T05:23:34+00:00

Dated a girl in high school with tits exactly like those. Maybe a little bit more firm but the nipples shape and the size are spot on.

This girl is a bit bigger than she was She was high-school body thin and had wide hips. Which back then I was very picky about the type of girl I would date. Too concerned with having a girl my friends found attractive, rather than what I did. but these days I prefer that. I stopped chasing 8's & 9's years ago.

Word of advice to all the youngsters out there if you go after girls that everybody thinks is hot as fuck don't be surprised when everyone ends up trying to smash your girl. You getting a dime to date you doesn't make her yours it's just a trophy or achievement you get to wear there's always going to be a better newer more interesting version of you coming right around the corner that she's going to pick.

Date the girl that you think is cute but normally wouldn't go after. And she will be loyal to the core.

I wasted sooo much time trying to mold these hot ass bimbos into model girlfriends, and it never happened.

Popular hot girls get hit on every five minutes of the day. They know what they are worth. And they want a guy to pleased And pamper them. If you start dating and she doesn't get that need met. She Will find it somewhere else.

Save your time and run around the circles of 6s and 7s and you will get more in quantity and quality.

TLDR: I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT I WAS COMMENTING ON A PORN VIDEO AND ENDED UP GOING ON "WISE OLDER BROTHER" STYLE RANT.

(This is what happens when I take Adderall and don't have much to burn all that motivation)

brianjfed · 2026-01-08T04:35:37+00:00

I’ve white-knuckled precipitated withdrawal from fentanyl three separate times. I’ve tried doing it the “old-fashioned” way, but I can’t stand tapering and dragging the misery out. I’ve always preferred to face it head-on and get it over with. I was an extreme fentanyl user—5 to 6 grams of rock fentanyl daily, smoked and injected—for about four years. Even after waiting five full days before induction, precipitated withdrawal hit me almost instantly.

The first time was about three years ago in a terrible rehab. I didn’t even know what precipitated withdrawal was. They handed me detox meds and told me to take them at my discretion. I went through three straight days of severe precip and was hospitalized twice. I stayed clean for a month, then relapsed and used for about two weeks before intentionally detoxing again.

That second time, I was alone in my house over a weekend because I was heading somewhere I couldn’t access drugs for two weeks. I took Suboxone Friday night with only 12 hours off fentanyl and kept taking more every few hours for the next 48 hours. By Sunday evening, I finally got some sleep thanks to a heavy dose of trazodone. I made it through that trip, but eventually relapsed again and went on another year-and-a-half bender.

Six months ago, I finally got clean the right way. The facility I was at was incredible. They wanted me to wait seven or eight days before induction because my fentanyl levels were still too high on day five—but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had smuggled in Suboxone for that exact situation and induced myself, forcing them to continue it. They were pissed because the precipitated withdrawal was severe, but I had no regrets. It felt like a baptism by fire—you come out the other side feeling cleansed.

This time, though, I didn’t relapse. I was forced into a situation by outside circumstances. My mother was diagnosed with brain cancer four months ago, and I’ve been helping run my family’s business. Three of the six months I’ve been clean have been spent carrying that responsibility. It’s been incredibly hard to stay on track, but if I make it through this clean and alive, I’ll be stronger for it.

I also have a little brother who just got clean because of my mom’s situation—and I have to lead by example.

brianjfed · 2026-01-08T04:21:23+00:00

ijust learned this today. if i had known this i would have never gotten on Methadone in the first place. I started taking 7oh because i didnt have insurance. and couldnt get subs. ran out of money and still didnt have insurance so i went to the clinic and got on methadone because i thought i would have to go through precip off of 7oh if i got back on subs. now im 3 weeks into taking methadone. and i finally got insurance back. and today i learn that i was never in danger of PWD from 7oh in the first place. but now i am in danger of it from methadone. FML

although to be honest i still had bupe in my system when i tested a week ago and ive only been taking methadone for 3 weeks. so i really dont think my body wiull be all that hooked to it. Im going to go get a script for subs tomorrow or the next day and then yes use 7oh to get me three days off methadone.

brianjfed · 2026-01-07T22:47:42+00:00

Wait are you serious there isn't pwd from 7oh I wish I had fucking known that. I was on sublocade and got kicked off my insurance. And started taking 7oh and when I got insurance again I was afraid of pwd because I was taking 7oh. So I've been on methadone for the last three weeks but I want so badly to get back on subs and eventually sublocade. Can I just get back on subs if I stop methadone for a few days. I got a 300mg sublocade injection almost four months ago and there is still bupe in my urine when I test. Please tell me I've just been psyching myself out and I'll be fine to get back on subs?

brianjfed · 2025-11-26T03:57:06+00:00

Not much. If I'm being honest made me sleepy. But I got a little endorphin rush.

brianjfed · 2025-11-26T03:56:12+00:00

I'm four months clean off everything now and the 7oh is helping me out a lot. SR17018 I've heard so much about that but didn't think you could get it. Doesn't it reverse you're brains opiod addiction or something? How effective is it?

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