FedEx / UPS Claim Nightmares

[Blueracer]

George,

Sorry to hear that a nice instrument was broke due to negligent shipping. I know how much you were looking forward to finding a new LP and how dissappointing it must be to receive it in this condition. You know my paranoia regarding these guys when I asked you to recommend a shipper for a recent amp purchase of mine. I do hope all resolves itself in an equitable manner but as you have indicated in your post I also have my doubts that this will occur.

My bad shipping experiences have only been in the lost package category and only with UPS. The down side of UPS is that all transactions regarding lost packages are negotiated with the shipper only. As the receiver you are at the shippers mercy to interceed on your behalf and then to compensate you fairly once the issue is concluded with UPS. Another down side is the amount of time it takes for UPS to conduct its internal traces for the lost item and then to provide the refund. I have had several packages "lost" by these guys one of which they actually showed on there website as being delivered. Additionally some of these shippments were for relatively high value items (several hundered dollars). The up side for me is that UPS has always paid off on my lost items and fortuanately the individuals I was dealing with were up front enough to see the process through and then pass the refund on to me. BTW both the cost of the item and the associated shipping costs have always been refunded.

My take away from these experiences are to always insure an item if it exceeds UPS's $100 automatic coverage and to always find a way to interact and evaluate the person you are buying from. Ask the buyer something and maybe even ask something a little irritating just to see if you get any sort of bad attitude from the individual. If the item gets lost this is who you will have to deal with to recoup on the deal.

I have had things come to me damaged but it has always been a function of inadequate packing on the part of the shipper. So far the damage has either been something I could fix or live with or I was able to send it back to the shipper for a refund. My experience so far has been if it has been packaged properly and doesn't get lost I get the item in good shape.

Let us know how things develop on this George. This is a topic that I am interested in both for you personnally and for my own edification. Hope the process works the way it should and you are treated in a fair manner.

 

[fatoni]

apex inernational used to use ups until they lost a container that had over $100000 in car parts that they werent allowed to insure. they use fedex now i believe

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

UPS made me wait forever but they came through when I needed them. I shipped a guitar with them that was insured for $800. It got damaged and it took them 5 months to work with their insurance company but eventually I got a check for the amount I insured the guitar for. So I can't fault them... it just took SOOO long to get it done.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I'm in the waiting stage with UPS as well. I shipped a thiele that got tossed around and the speaker ended up pulling loose! They shipped it back and I had to take pictures coz they said they 'could not find evidence of damage that occured during shipping'. They just had to lift the speaker out to see the screw holes that were ripped apart! I've emailed and called the claim adjuster that gave me his email and phone number and he's dragging his feet considerably. I REALLY hope it doesn't take 5 months for them to finally take care of it. That is unacceptable!!

I'm done shipping large items for a while - needless to say...

 

[Tweeked]

I had a HB killed by UPS.All tubes smashed,speaker ripped out of
the baffle and the cabinet was smashed.Sent the amp to UPS insurance
who sent it back to the seller.I contacted him and he said UPS had denied the insurance due to improper packaging.Very odd since it was packaged and insured through the UPS store.I bought another HB in the meantime.I had to finally have my credit card company go after the seller(who did nothing wrong)I never heard what happened with him but I finally got credit for the amp(whew!)My advice: do not have an irreplaceable amp shipped to you via UPS etc ,if you do put it on a credit card to protect yourself.Had I paid cash for this I would have been out the $ for the amp with no way to recover.Last time I ever buy a Mesa I cant pick up and take home myself.

 

[lockbody]

I'm in the waiting stage with UPS as well. I shipped a thiele that got tossed around and the speaker ended up pulling loose! They shipped it back and I had to take pictures coz they said they 'could not find evidence of damage that occured during shipping'. They just had to lift the speaker out to see the screw holes that were ripped apart! I've emailed and called the claim adjuster that gave me his email and phone number and he's dragging his feet considerably. I REALLY hope it doesn't take 5 months for them to finally take care of it. That is unacceptable!!

I'm done shipping large items for a while - needless to say...

BTDT

Took about three months to take care of it. They denied my claim the first time until I proved my case - The buyer had unpacked it and put the packing material in a bag. When the driver came to pick it up, the buyer asked the driver if he needed to take all the packing material and the driver said no, they didn't need it, so of course they denied it for "insuffecient packing". Worse thing is, they shipped back to me in the "now" empty box and smashed it up more. :evil:

However, confronted with the buyer's email and threat of pictures, and my description of the packing job and pictures they finally relented.

Stay on them until they pay!

 

[MesaENGR412]

two of my band mates actually work for ups, and I hear a great deal (way too freakin' much if you ask me) about what goes on at the hub they work at. It's ridiculous how they treat packages. If you work unloading or loading their trucks, they expect 1 person to be able to handle up to 150 ibs. packages, no matter how bulky they are. (Trying to life my cab in it's ATA case by myself is almost impossible because of it's width.....weight?...i'd say about 130 ibs) So, if it's oblong and heavy (ie any cab, head, or other delicate item) it gets shoved around so that the person handling it can pick it up and move it as fast as they can to a conveyor belt that takes it (and I've heard of several items falling off of these belts and busting to hell) to wherever it needs to get to to be re-routed and taken to the customer....in-tact or not....it's all about speed and efficiency of movement, and how much product you move off one truck and onto another in a limited amount of time......throwing care of the product out the window of the truck, and backing over it a few times......

..and so to

I give the

stay after them and make them pay......it's just not right for you to be paying (and I'm not just talking about S&H) for service like that...


-AJH

 

[MusicManJP6]

In THIS case, the damage was not bad at all and I was able to repair it. I told UPS that it was NOT repairable (because I had to refund the money to the buyer)! It took them right at a month to decide they were actually going to pay. I should have a check in the next two weeks now. I was able to resell the thiele too so I came out making twice as much on it... If they destroy it again I'm just going to keep the **** thing!

A different cab I shipped with a lighter speaker (G12H30) got beat to sh!t! The speaker pushed through the grill and chewed up the baffle board and backing for the grill insert. It was all to hell when I got it back... Kind of like yours lockbody! It's all a gamble when you ship stuff. I've only had bad luck with cabs so far... And it's definitely not my packing that is to blame.