UPS. Friend Or Foe?
Recently shipped two speakers and the stands all in very good (8/10) condition to a buyer in another state. One speaker and the stands were in the factory boxes. The other speaker was boxed by UPS. The buyer sent pictures and stated they arrived damaged. One of the speakers had a rattle but no visible damage, the other speaker, (the one UPS boxed), had visible damage. Not surprisingly, the stands arrived unscathed.
All items were picked up by UPS in that city and taken for inspection.
And the results were...UPS is not at fault because they have a policy, buried in very fine print, that it is the shippers' (sellers') responsibility to ensure proper packaging.
My wife and I also found out the local UPS stores are legally not affiliated with UPS!!!
We are currently attempting to discuss this with the owner of the local store.
Sad but true...
Funny, in hundreds of deliveries I've never had a damaged box, except when a 'FRAGILE' sticker is on it, had an amp packed by Conrad Johnson sent to me, appeared to have been rammed by a forklift prong, no amount of overpacking protects that. Agree that the drivers both UPS and FedEx are concientious, seems most of this manhandling occurs before the drivers get stuff, a FRAGILE sticker is a bullseye |
We ship hundreds of packages a year and last year only had one "lost" but nothing ever damaged...so far lucky, I guess. BUT there's a little secret I've been told by my local UPS rep (and I'm assuming FedEx). If you insure the item for a minimum $2,500 they then place the package in a secure cage that must be signed off from employee to employee so it's handled a bit different. When we ship cables that are almost impossible to get damaged in shipping, we still place this dollar amt of insurance, even if the cable isn't worth the stated amount. This is a kind of insurance policy and piece of mind for us. Again, never have had to place a claim to verify and hope we never have to find out. |
what @arion said. ✔ In North America (in particular) UPS, FEDEX, etc. actually hires A LOT of incompetent delivery drivers. It doesn’t matter of they are an outsider refugee (bush- the people that we love, great song) or a person who has lived here their whole lives. Best pratice is to call them right after your parcel has arrived at their warehouse, as per their website/tracking. Let them know it is a gift for a client or a close relative. They will notify a deliver driver and make it their responsibilty to handle with care. I’m actually serious. I’ve had deliveries in the past where the driver who brought the box to door asked me again: so this an important parcel, eh? Well don’t worry, we handled it gently. End result - nothing is damaged. Want even more reassurance, pay for additional packing materials and/or have it double boxed + insured delivery. Yes, totally worth the addtional cost. Also have them include a "this side up/do not turn over" label on the box. Sometimes they can pick up boxes backwards and walk up your steps!! I’ve known folks who worked at FEDEX, UPS etc. and especially, during the sorting process, they have been known to treat parcels like bowling equipment lol. |
Not audio related, just my experience with UPS. 1) Received a WWII .22lr training rifle. A rare model with only a few survivers in this condition. It was double boxed and inside a hard case, we got it with the barrel sticking a foot out of the box and both sights sheared off and the stock in three pieces. 2) AK47 clone packed in two boxes in hard case with tire tread print across the box. Upon opening, it had bent barrel! They managed to break an AK! 3) They lost a transfer containing a HK mk23, they could not account for it's whereabouts. Told us "Too Bad" they will look into it. 3months later , nothing. We got BATF involved and low and behold, they "found it behind some machinery" it had been opened and had several rounds fired through it. |
@roadwhorerecords Wow! Unbelievable. |
