DC10/FedEx horror story

[fdesalvo]

Well, my DC10 head arrived and FedEx destroyed it on the way over. The Middle EQ slider is crooked, though it works, and there are dents along the outer edges of the knobs.

In addition, the Middle pot on the clean channel is crackling and will hardly pass the signal through to the master, so volume is very low.

The tubes are old as hell- they look original. The 6l6s are STR430s (I hate these) and the 12ax7s are the stick mesas- without the spax7 in v1.

The lead channel is flabby and lacks the compression, bottom end, and sizzle that my other DC10 had. It sounds awful.

The people that shipped it are filing a claim with FedEx and I’m very frustrated. I expected to have to replace the tubes, but this has turned into a nightmare and now I am full of buyer’s remorse.

Now I have to drive the chassis over to Mesa/Boogie Hollywood and let them have their way with her. I would like them to go over everything and replace the filter caps, check the pots and all…this is a bad place to be.

 

[lesterpaul]

raw deal,man....you can do a fed ex or ups search here and find a lot of info probably....it usually isnt good for the shipper-I have started using a 3rd party insurance for stuff that is $$$-seems like gts had listed some on this forum

 

[MJ Slaughter]

Sorry to hear about that man. I've gone through a couple of horror shipments before as well so now, like lesterpaul, I use a 3rd party insurance company. That way you have complete control over the process, not the seller, and the one I use www.dsiinsurance.com even covers the shipping charges.

I'm sure you'll get satisfaction eventially but it sure is frustrating.

 

[Xqzdust]

I feel your pain. My Mk4 was fedex'ed up in shipment also. They sent a rep to my house and he said he had to take it for a few days to investigate. Three days later I find out it's on it's way back to the seller. No way would I have reshipped it in the box it came in if I had known. The rep I talked to on the phone was surly and arrogant. She said sending it back to the seller, ie. the insurer was standard policy. Meanwhile my Koa mk4 is on it's way back to the seller who doesn't want it back and I still had the matching theile. Luckily the damage was cosmetic and not very noticeable from the front. FedEx paid $1100 for the claim but that goes to the insurer. I was very fortunate that the seller was a great guy. He met me halfway and delivered the amp in person along with the insurance money. I hope your story ends OK because I know what pain it is when something like this happens

 

[Esromeron]

When I bought my Carvin Legacy head, I saw the UPS man drop the box in the back of his truck as he went to grab the 2x12 cab. I didn't even accept it and told them they had to deal with it. I did get a whole new one sent from Carvin. Its heatbreaking when someone doesn't do their job right at your expense.

Anyhow, is it possible that the amp was in this bad of shape before shipping? Or is there visual signs on the box it was shipped in of this abuse. I say this because I really don't see how the Middle pot can be crackling from physical damage outside the amp.

I wish you all the luck in getting it all situated. I absolutely love my DC5, especially with a whole new set of tubes which cleared up all my flabbiness.

 

[mrd]

I would never trust a fucking shipping company with anything... I would rather take a week off work and fucking drive to Mesa Boogie on my own time and gas expense and get my amp myself than let some underpaid ******** touch my stuff. Sorry to hear about your story...this stuff really frustrates me. I have friends who work at a parcel company and they tell me about how they trash the **** out of everything. Even though they are my good buds, I still tell them off for it, and I sure as **** ain't ever gonna use their company for anything.

 

[fdesalvo]

Thanks for the empathizing, guys. I ordered a set of factory 12AX7s and a quad of Ruby 6L6GCMSTRs. I’ll be taking the chassis to mesa/Hollywood later this week.

I’m telling you, when I opened the box, the **** thing had no insulation around the face and top of the head. It’s likely it landed on the controls a few times…
:evil:

 

[Elpelotero]

**** Frank...I hope it turns out well!

 

[nosajwp]

Shame on the person shipping it for not packing it better too.

In all my amp dealings, I've received 3 busted up pretty bad...every time was a FedEx shipment. Thankfully, I've never had a problem with UPS.

 

[MesaDCLP]

2 shipped perfectly via fedex here ...
UPS reminds me of the Barney Story here ... poor RK

 

[LEVEL4]

Now I have to drive the chassis over to Mesa/Boogie Hollywood and let them have their way with her. I would like them to go over everything and replace the filter caps, check the pots and all…this is a bad place to be.

Sorry to hear of your trouble, fdesalvo. I know how terrifying buying amps off of Ebay can be. Thankfully, I've been lucky, but there's always a few surprises. Have faith, maybe the seller and FedEx will surprise you, and totally come through.

FedEx tends to be pretty liberal with their claims because they know things get f*cked up all the time. I had about had it with one seller who sent me a cello with a broken neck. Three weeks later, FedEx honored the claim without even inspecting the damaged cello, and he's finally made good, and is shipping a new one out to me. Cheer up, most Ebay sellers want to make the buyer happy. Things may still work out for the best somehow.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

That fucking sucks. The guy should have packed it better. Next time I'm in the Phoenix area, I'll make sure to kick him in the balls. :lol:

It's bad enough that there are so few DC-10's out there, this guy had to pack yours poorly and let it get screwed up. He better make it right.



MB Hollywood should get you back up and running though.

and get my amp myself than let some underpaid sh!t touch my stuff

I don't know about Fed Ex, but the UPS guys here get paid really well. That makes it even worse when they destroy something.

I had UPS destroy a Heartbreaker that I sold a couple of years ago. I had to buy the amp back and then deal with the insurance claim myself.

They shipped it back to me in the same fucked up box. It left my shop 38 inches high and returned 3 weeks later 20 inches high. Reminded me of those old trunks that are only held together by the stickers that say where they have been.



Hope you get this sorted out man.

 

[fdesalvo]

^^Thanks, all

 

[Stonge]

Well, my DC10 head arrived and FedEx destroyed it on the way over. The Middle EQ slider is crooked, though it works, and there are dents along the outer edges of the knobs.

In addition, the Middle pot on the clean channel is crackling and will hardly pass the signal through to the master, so volume is very low.

The tubes are old as hell- they look original. The 6l6s are STR430s (I hate these) and the 12ax7s are the stick mesas- without the spax7 in v1.

The lead channel is flabby and lacks the compression, bottom end, and sizzle that my other DC10 had. It sounds awful.

The people that shipped it are filing a claim with FedEx and I’m very frustrated. I expected to have to replace the tubes, but this has turned into a nightmare and now I am full of buyer’s remorse.

Now I have to drive the chassis over to Mesa/Boogie Hollywood and let them have their way with her. I would like them to go over everything and replace the filter caps, check the pots and all…this is a bad place to be.

I feel your pain..but at least you can drive it to boogie. They..Yes BOOGIE, sent my F'ing C+ back to me packaged like complete **** and it bent the tranformer brackets to all hell. I wish I could have drove it back to their asses.

 

[fdesalvo]

I'm not sure what I should do at this point. I am trying to get them to refund my money and let them deal with Fedex to get their money back.

In the the meantime, I don't want to wait weeks while they try to resolve the problem. Should I take the hit and just get boogie to take care of it? I was going to have them bench test the **** thing anyway. How much more could it cost to have a pot or two replaced anyway?

I think my logic is off because I just want this to be over. I am so pissed off.

 

[Xqzdust]

Hang tough! Your logic is definitely off. You should get an estimate from MB to fix anything that's wrong with the amp and present that to Fed Ex. You will need the help of your seller because that's who insured it. The seller's alternative is to refund your money and deal with Fed Ex himself. If it were me I would do what I could to get you satified so I don't end up with a trashed amp to deal with. As a last resort, if you paid with a credit card, you can call the card company and tell them your problem and they will probably credit your account and do an investigation.
Frustrated, pissed off, just want this to be over. This is the point at which people cave in and get less than they deserve. Focus on being patient until you get what you want whether it's a refund or the insurance to repair the amp.

as an afterthought: When you take it to MB have them check everything from structural integrity of the cabinet to the tube sockets for cracks. Any thing that could be caused by dropping the amp or an impact to the amp. Charge it to Fed Ex! You could come out of this with a pretty sweet amp!

 

[fdesalvo]

Man, thanks for the dose of reality. First steps first- I need to get the pics of the container and amp to the seller..I'll keep you all updated.

 

[Racerboy44]

That f%&# sucks. The guy should have packed it better. Next time I'm in the Phoenix area, I'll make sure to kick him in the balls. :lol:

It's bad enough that there are so few DC-10's out there, this guy had to pack yours poorly and let it get screwed up. He better make it right.



MB Hollywood should get you back up and running though.

and get my amp myself than let some underpaid sh!t touch my stuff

Yeah, but what you don't realize is that the drivers wouldn't have to treat packages poorly if they weren't so overworked and overloaded. UPS management are like slave drivers and they completely overload all the trucks. Sometimes those drivers have 300 hundred stops on their truck. I quit driving for UPS because of this very reason. They would not allow me the opportunity to do quality work. It was a struggle sometimes just to get the route done by 7pm at night. Let's not even talk about the Christmas season. I'm not saying a driver shouldn't try to be careful with packages, but you should understand the root cause.

I don't know about Fed Ex, but the UPS guys here get paid really well. That makes it even worse when they destroy something.

I had UPS destroy a Heartbreaker that I sold a couple of years ago. I had to buy the amp back and then deal with the insurance claim myself.

They shipped it back to me in the same f%&# up box. It left my shop 38 inches high and returned 3 weeks later 20 inches high. Reminded me of those old trunks that are only held together by the stickers that say where they have been.



Hope you get this sorted out man.

 

[fdesalvo]

^ Argh: What did you do about your amp while the **** thing was under investigation?

 

[fdesalvo]

^ thanks. I think it's insured for $750