FedEx appears to be slipping again in many key ways including what the OP is talking about. They may say they insure the contents but try filing a claim and having it go quickly with proper reimbursement; that's another thing altogether!. In addition their tracking systems don't show updates for hours and sometimes more than a 1-2 days at a time in the case of a problem. If they have a weather or mechanical delay the tracking simply 'stops' and shows the package in its last state or depot location before the problem occurred. This has happened 3 times in my last 3 shipments with them over the past month alone. Their customer service reps have no better visibility than what we have on the public website either and the litany of apologies is long and frustrating.
UPS on the other hand is much better at showing location/status of a given package but is reportedly very difficult in extracting payment for the exorbitantly priced "replacement value" shipment insurance (at least $2.49 USD per $100 valuation over the first $100). There are countless stories out there of difficulties proving the case and getting money back.
I've had a number of shipments with both over the years where I was forced to contact Esoteric, Classe, Edge, etc...and buy, out of my own pocket, replacement shipping cartons. There seems to be no way to get a shipment across with the peace of mind of it looking decent when it arrived as a guarantee. It's good the contents make it intact but these shipping cartons are not inexpensive, often costing $100-$300 or more per set.
The only way I've seen to ensure both FedEx and UPS do a good job overall is to pay the very high additional shipping charges for at least "Standard Overnight" (Next Day Saver often gets less quality handling) or "Priority Overnight"/"Early A.M." levels of service.
As an aside,...for high-value electronics, I was pointed to SBA ("Service By Air") by Esoteric and BAX Global. I've used SBA several times and their quality is first rate. BAX is reported by some friends as being 1st rate as well, particularly for super large amp, speaker and other high-end shipments.
UPS on the other hand is much better at showing location/status of a given package but is reportedly very difficult in extracting payment for the exorbitantly priced "replacement value" shipment insurance (at least $2.49 USD per $100 valuation over the first $100). There are countless stories out there of difficulties proving the case and getting money back.
I've had a number of shipments with both over the years where I was forced to contact Esoteric, Classe, Edge, etc...and buy, out of my own pocket, replacement shipping cartons. There seems to be no way to get a shipment across with the peace of mind of it looking decent when it arrived as a guarantee. It's good the contents make it intact but these shipping cartons are not inexpensive, often costing $100-$300 or more per set.
The only way I've seen to ensure both FedEx and UPS do a good job overall is to pay the very high additional shipping charges for at least "Standard Overnight" (Next Day Saver often gets less quality handling) or "Priority Overnight"/"Early A.M." levels of service.
As an aside,...for high-value electronics, I was pointed to SBA ("Service By Air") by Esoteric and BAX Global. I've used SBA several times and their quality is first rate. BAX is reported by some friends as being 1st rate as well, particularly for super large amp, speaker and other high-end shipments.