Magnepan Service HORRIBLE???

*True story: I was talking to the UPS guy who services the company where I work and I asked him how packages are treated. He said some workers are more conscientious than others. He advised me no to label packages as "FRAGILE" as some of those people see that as a challenge. Timrhu*

I'm a big fan of UPS, overall, & think it far superior to "Fed-ex Ground", which I think is how Etmerritt33 shipped his speakers (?). 10 years ago maybe, I took a Rega TT to the local Fedex office to ship by "Fed-ex Ground", & they actually warned me not to do it, to send it by UPS instead.

But if the packing isn't very, very good, for delicate or heavy items, it will get damaged....

Steveaudio, despite the story, I also prefer UPS to Fedex. My horror story with Fedex is worse as it actually happened and wasn't just what the driver told me.

Whart,

Also, went back and revised my letter to Steve Winey as per your advice and to avoid return shipping to Richmond.

I also removed a paragraph that was a little strong but true.

I mailed the letter yesterday so I'm guessing they will see it on Friday.

I suspect Magnepan is going to dog me about this regardless and I am sure Magnepan could care less if they are selling everything they can make at this point. No company could be this incompetent so I can only assume it is deliberate. I still have yet to receive an email from Magnepan as promised last week with the estimate to repair the damage.

Tom

I think speakers are the worst things to ship. The farther the distance, the more handling equals greater potential for damage. I live in the Midwest, had a pair of vintage Advent speakers shipped to me from New York. These speakers were in pristine condition from the seller. He sent them UPS in one big box. The package weighed about 80 lbs. When the box arrived, I couldn't believe it. The box had been dragged across the floor (probably at a UPS hub) with a grappling hook. A 3/4 inch steel rod with a sharp hook at one end and a handle at the other. They had sunk the hook into the box totally destroying one of the speakers. The other had various scratches and dings evidence by the outside of the box. By dragging the box, the tape wore off the bottom and when I picked it up the contents started to fall out. I had to file a claim but lost out on my shipping expenses of $160. Never again. Lesson learned.

Mr m, I agree completely. After I had the DHL with the Wadia incident a few years ago I did some research on shipping damage with audio equipment. As you would guess there are horror stories relative to all carriers some of which would just make you go nuts. I concluded that you have risk with all carriers and the only difference can be how they deal with damage claims. Unfortunately, not a lot of difference there either that I know of.

I have tried to hedge by going to extremes with packing and carefully documenting the entire process with pics, hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. In my somewhat limited experience if you do have damages and present meaningful documentation it becomes more difficult for the carrier to not pay the claim. That can also change.

I have learned from this experience to never ship speakers via regular FedEx or UPS but to use a freight company along with wood crates. Not bullet proof but much better odds IMHO.

I suspect Magnepan would argue to the contrary but I like the way Soundlabs packs their speakers in wooden crates. I had a pair of Soundlab M-2’s several years ago and they are much better protected than the Magnepans. IMHO, the Magnepan 3.7 and 20.7 may have reached a point where a reusable wood shipping crate is justified. Hard to believe it would add that much to the price if all 3.7 and 20.7 speakers went out with them and Magnepan could sub the job out to a local company. The materials could not be that expensive.

I just wish Magnepan had responded better in my situation. If they had quickly provided an estimate after the speakers arrived at the factory and repaired the damage in 2-3 weeks or so I would feel entirely differently at this point. Just a big disconnect relative to expectations between the manufacturer and the customer.