U.P.S. shpping

Ron Frederiksen · Post by **Ron Frederiksen** » 13 Sep 2008 12:42 pm

U.P.S. will ship and will insure your musical instruments and amps with no problem. I shipped a steel today from Ar. to south Ga. and had no problem at all..Ron

Carl Vilar · Post by **Carl Vilar** » 13 Sep 2008 1:51 pm

Good luck trying to collect on the insurance.

Eddie Thomas · Post by **Eddie Thomas** » 13 Sep 2008 9:56 pm

Carl, you are so right!

Carl Vilar · Post by **Carl Vilar** » 14 Sep 2008 9:51 am

Eddie I know I'm in the business always blame the shipper no matter what. One of the best ways out of paying a claim is insufficient packing. "But the shipper used bubble wrap" well not enough maybe he should have put styrofoam around the corners obviosly it wasn't enough if it was damaged. Another one is there was no fragile sticker on box and you know your shipping something fragile. Also if the guitar is 25 or more years old lie say it's 5 years old because they will not pay out on anything over 25 years old. The only claims being paid out are small claims or known intrument shippers that have an account and their sales rep gets involved in the process of the claim to keep the account. Best way to protect yourself is to take pictures of the packing process to show what you are doing and use fragile stickers and it doesn't hurt to put one of those bubbles that attaches to the box that turns red if package has been handled roughly.

Eddie Thomas · Post by **Eddie Thomas** » 14 Sep 2008 10:20 am

Carl, I couldn't agree more.I have some horror stories of my own, but I clearly understand what you are saying. It is a gamble, anytime you ship, no matter what carrier you use.

Lee Wilber · Post by **Lee Wilber** » 14 Sep 2008 10:25 am

carl--- i hade a steel come through that was a mess. ditto on trying to get money for the damage

Tom Higgins · Post by **Tom Higgins** » 14 Sep 2008 11:47 am

UPS uses styrofoam peanuts for a buffer....useless for protecting a heavy psg.

Carl Vilar · Post by **Carl Vilar** » 14 Sep 2008 12:35 pm

Actually peanuts is an automatic denial of claim it is no considered good packing material. Also remember it's not UPS using the peanuts it's the UPS Store which is not UPS they are independently owned. UPS just bought the rights to change the name they are still owned by the original owners that owned them when UPS put their name on the sign. Also insurance is sold by them not UPS if your using a UPS store. I know Going Postal's will sell you the insurance but they are only insured for packages in the store not during shipping so if UPS or Fedex deny a claim you have to go after the store owner I don't know if it's the same at a UPS store.

FRANK MARIANO · Post by **FRANK MARIANO** » 15 Sep 2008 5:40 am

Carl, Tell me about thease red bubble things that turn red from miss handled packages. Do you know where I can get them?

Raymond White · Post by **Raymond White** » 15 Sep 2008 6:15 am

What i do when i ship an instrument,i usually use Fedx Ground,I always pack it well first off ,when i put the case (the packed instrument)in a box ,i ALWAYS leave the Handle of the guitar case exposed ,and mark it with a black magic marker,saying,please use the handle when carring this shipment,i also mark it ,fragile Do Not Lay flat,so far it has worked very well for me.Thanks Ray White.........Byron Ga..........

Carl Vilar · Post by **Carl Vilar** » 15 Sep 2008 6:19 am

Frank they are called shockwatch, shock indicators, impact indicators depending where you buy them most go from clear to red when handled roughly. drypak.com sales them but you should be able to buy them in most shipping supply stores. Alot of Lab equipment is shipped with them on the box they are big octagon red labels with the indicator bubble in the middle. When a shipping employee see them they treat the box with care and slow down.

Ray that's probably the best way to ship unfortunately some will use the handle to swing the box on to a conveyor belt like it's an olympic sport. Also mark the box do not pallet stack this way it doesn't get used as the base of a pallet and have a whole bunch of heavey boxes on top. Bottom line it's a gamble.

Dave O'Brien · Post by **Dave O'Brien** » 15 Sep 2008 8:12 am

I've been doing OK with DHL.

FRANK MARIANO · Post by **FRANK MARIANO** » 15 Sep 2008 8:32 am

Thanks, CARL

Loren Bayles · Post by **Loren Bayles** » 15 Sep 2008 10:31 am

Guys I have shipped everything I've SOLD by UPS and all the heavier items I've RECEIVED via UPS have been ok.

I received one SD12 steel shipped by Fed-x that arrived with the two tuning pegs on the left end ( 6 & 7) completely broken off of the tuning gear and had to be replaced with complete after market assemblies.

It was pretty well packaged but looked like it had landed tuner end first from a pretty good height off what I assumed must have been a fork truck.

Although it took some time to find them I just replaced the tuners. Probably much quicker than filing a claim and without any hassles.

I agree it is always a concern no matter how well you package your merchandise especially the heavy stuff.

LB

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 15 Sep 2008 2:26 pm

I have shipped and received over 150 amps in the last year. The only damaged ones were shipped in UPS.

I hear they drop then 5 to 6 feet off of conveyor belts into large containers.

Most anything I get from UPS shows rough handling, period. I received 100's of packages every year.

FedEx, not a problem yet.

Bob Bartoli · Post by **Bob Bartoli** » 15 Sep 2008 11:26 pm

Fed Ex and UPS and DHL,,,so far so good I've shipped and reciecved about 12 Steels in the last two to three years , leave the CASE HANDLE EXPOSED and clearly marked, so far so good, but I'm sure the odds are against me.. as for AMPS forget it, both UPS and Fed Ex have destroyed them,one out of five amps get creamed in some shape or form.. for some reason the steels are handled better. Pack and Prey!!!! Bob

Darryl Hattenhauer · Post by **Darryl Hattenhauer** » 16 Sep 2008 11:11 am

Carl,

Thanks for the tip on drypak.com.

Why doesn't UPS load, unload, or start interstate runs on weekends? I dropped off two guitars at an UPS substation here in Phoenix on Saturday, one addressed to Michigan, the other to Tennessee. Each one sat in Phoenix for over 48 hours before leaving town. So they not only sat until Monday, but sat until late Monday.

So why doesn't UPS load and leave 24/7? And do the other US shippers also have this policy? What about countries other than the US?

David Bolin · Post by **David Bolin** » 16 Sep 2008 12:58 pm

Concerning UPS, I have also had problems collecting insurance from UPS. When I filed a claim on a damaged package they denied the claim saying that after inspection of the package it was'nt packed properly, which was not the case. They told me to refile the claim, I did, and they never responded. Even the UPS shipping station person that sent the package even called the main office with this problem and they gave him the run around. They like to take your insurance fee but they like to avoid paying. Thats my experience with UPS insurance.

Carl Vilar · Post by **Carl Vilar** » 16 Sep 2008 1:09 pm

Darryl the only thing that moves on a satuday is express for monday delivery or saturday delivery which you pay a premium for. That is the case with all companies let me say I do not work for UPS I work for a major competitor.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 16 Sep 2008 11:27 pm

One job I had, I was in charge of the shipping/recieving. I had a visit from a UPS rep. He told me that for your package to be considered properly packed, it has to be able to survive a fall from the back of a semi trailer or the belly of an airplne. Sounds kind of extreme.

I have had very few problems with any of the carriers (but prefer FedEx). I once had to file a claim with UPS for a CNC Control board that was obviously run over with a fork lift (tire marks on the box). They paid the claim and fairly quickly. But this is a case of clear fault on the part of UPS and not the norm.

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 17 Sep 2008 3:54 am

UPS is a high risk to ship with in my experience but the postal service takes the cake.Guaranteed to be destroyed by them folks.And their claim system,forget it.

[/u]

Chris Tarrow · Post by **Chris Tarrow** » 17 Sep 2008 3:59 am

Sorry if this has been covered, but what about shipping in two boxes, one with the body of the guitar floating in a cocoon of bubble wrap and the other with the case and legs? Would divide fragile and heavy, which I think is the deadly combination.

You drop the box with the guitar in it, it has a chance, since the packing is cushioning the guitar. Drop a box containing a steel in it's case, and all the packing in the world is not going to help, the cushioning is protecting the case, but nothing's protecting the guitar from the case, if that makes sense. There's a reason instrument flight cases are airtight, it's the space inside the case that affords the damage.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 17 Sep 2008 7:57 pm

I have found that when shipping a steel. I pack the guitar , legs and pedal bar in the case , very tight, Brace the part from the divider and the handle end with a little wood. Carter does that and seems to work pretty well, so nothing will move and damage itself in the case., use a lot of styrofoam, then line the box with styrofoam sheets on all sides. Use a lot of Strapping tape so the box will stay together.
That may help with the damage control, if you are lucky...al.

:)

Dustin Rigsby · Post by **Dustin Rigsby** » 18 Sep 2008 7:46 am

Darryl Hattenhauer wrote:Carl,

Thanks for the tip on drypak.com.

Why doesn't UPS load, unload, or start interstate runs on weekends? I dropped off two guitars at an UPS substation here in Phoenix on Saturday, one addressed to Michigan, the other to Tennessee. Each one sat in Phoenix for over 48 hours before leaving town. So they not only sat until Monday, but sat until late Monday.

So why doesn't UPS load and leave 24/7? And do the other US shippers also have this policy? What about countries other than the US?

I guess Darryl is the only person in America that does not want other folks to have the weekends off ! Most trucking and cartage companies close on the weekends. Also most carriers deliver in the morning and pick up in the afternoon. Their are special arangements with certain accounts to pick up or deliver on saturday....for a FEE ! We are in the shipping business to make money,and UPS has more money than all of them....go figure .

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 18 Sep 2008 8:00 am

I received a used electric guitar from UPS last Thurs... No Problems.
Whew!
I was worried.

fwiw, back in 1991 I worked at UPS unloading trucks.
I lasted 3 shifts (1am-7am as I recall).
The 18 wheelers are packed so tight the only way to unpack them is to grab a box from way up high and let the rest go tumbling down.
I remember one box that had a picture of floresent tube lights... it sounded like every tube had shattered. I just sent it down the conveyor line with all the rest!?!?
I remember on one day a manager jumped in the truck I was unloading, and used some kind of hand held counter to determine I wasn't unloading enough packages per minute... I just started tossing them as fast as i could just to get him out of there.
I went to get a drink from a nearby water fountain and another manager told me I didn't deserve a drink.
WTF??!!
This guy was kinda chubby, so I said F.U. SPANK-EEEE!!!
Thanks... That was a good memory!!!

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