Can You Trust a Shipper? (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc)

the problem is not how often things go wrong. It’s when they go wrong, the customer is screwed. To get through to UPS with a complaint requires an IQ of 160 and communications skills of a university professor and the patience of a turtle, then, maybe then you have a 10% chance. Otherwise, forget it, everyone at the other end of the line is a robot (not literally - yet) reading from a script with the purpose of causing so much stress to the customer that s/he will give up.

I get stuff shipped to me via various carriers. The key is packing and palletizing. 

Bespoke shipping- the guy with the Halliburton case handcuffed to his wrist tends to cost. I once inquired about shipping jewelry- not something that is easily dealt with as a citizen, but the dealers know how to do it. I rely on DHL Express for records outside of the US--I typically get them in 5 days. 

Ditto, Japanese post-priority. Fast.

But for gear, you have to take extra precautions. Part of it depends on the sender to do it right. When I had my old Quad Loudspeakers restored, Kent McCollum shipping me good packing, then arranged for UPS ground to pick them up-- the UPS guy palletized the packed boxes, and when Kent was done, they were shipped to my new location in Texas. Not a problem.

With Lamm, they use wooden shipping crates with custom foam. Require air freight. Thankfully, I have not had to do that- I used to be in NY metro and would drive them over to Vlad (RIP). 

It can be done without issues. I had a friend who used to ship multi-sk-zillion vintage racing cars all over the world. Same deal- palletized, shipped as air freight. Lord only knows what that costs now, used to be 5k one way. You don't need to spend like that to ship a piece of gear, but packing and palletizing is key in my estimation.

Bill Hart

Amen, grislybutter! UPS customer interface protocol is designed to confuse, confound, and perplex anyone with a complaint to the point that they just give up. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, and I was like a blind man in a maze when I tried to find an answer to what had happened.

On Friday July 19th of this year I purchased a Conrad Johnson GAT S1 from The Music Room. In the deal they agreed to pay for next day shipping via Fed-X to the company I run (not my home) because we have a receiving dock and a receiving team ready to sign for items arriving. My rationale for next day delivery vs ground is because there are fewer stops along the way with fewer changes of transports. So I thought. On Monday morning July 22nd the package was at my local Fed-X center and then on the truck for delivery between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. At 11:05 I checked and the Fed-X tracking stated that it had been delivered and signed for a by "W.Brown". Problem is, no such person works for me. I went to my receiving dept, ant indeed Fed-X Express had not been by and I did not have my package, even though Fed-X showed it as delivered. TMR was notified and Fed-X entered an investigation. After nothing for two days, miraculously a man showed up in our lobby with my package. He informed my receptionist that he works at a warehouse nearby and the Fed-X driver had dropped it off there with multiple other packages. Thanks to this good gentleman, my CJ GAT shoed up unopened, unmolested, safe and sound. The next day, Fed-X notified TMR that the package had been found. Lesson learned by me: Have packages held for me to pick up at the Fed-X distribution center two streets away from my company and do not let their drivers touch it.

That is exactly what happened to me, but the recipient in my case was not trustworthy, so you are one lucky duck!