Advice, Remington Damaged in Shipping

[Daymon LaPoint]

I purchased a Remington SD-12 last week and it arrived yesterday. Damaged. It was shipped in the case without any boxing, tape or protection, just the case. It arrived with clear packing tape somewhat holding the case closed. The latches were damaged and missing and the guitar had fallen out of the case. The shipping company placed it back in the case and stacked the legs and rods on top of the undercarriage then taped it shut. It was a great deal on a beautiful guitar that is now damaged. Wisdom, when you ship anything as precious as the wonderful instruments take a little time and box them up safely. I'm sick thinking about it. I'll post guitar pics later. Lyndle(seller) stated that he had a shipping place pack it and ship it. He's not at fault but don't trust these things to a shipping company unless you watch them pack it up.

[Jon Light]

I would hold any seller who allowed a guitar to be shipped this way 100% responsible for the outcome. That is beyond anything I've ever seen or heard of. "He's not at fault"....nonsense.
Shaking my head.

[Doug Beaumier]

Sorry to hear about this, Daymon. I experienced the same thing about 12 years ago. I bought a mint condition 1961 Fender pedal steel guitar on eBay, with a mint condition cream tolex Case. The seller shipped it in the Case only... no box. It arrived Smashed... a hole in the side of the case and wood splinters everywhere. The case was a total loss. The guitar's finish was also damaged. For the next five years, every time I bought an instrument on line I reminded the seller to BOX IT!

[Daymon LaPoint]

The cases are made for nothing more that carrying around and storage NOT shipping. Not much I can do with the seller, he did insure it but we all know how long a claim takes with all the major shipping companies. I'll call Herb or Bobby and see if they can help with the fixes on this Remington.

[Al Risbeck]

Daymon which carrier was the shipping co. ?

Al

[Daymon LaPoint]

Hey Al, It was shipped by UPS.

[Al Risbeck]

That who I have to ship your amp by, I've had good luck with them in the past, but always packed them myself, they are the only ones who pick up in this little town.

Al

[Daymon LaPoint]

Al, this was more of a not properly packed problem than a shippers problem. UPS is rough and thats why we need to pack it good.I'm sure the latches got knocked off on their conveyor system or something and from there it was just a train wreck. I've purchased multiple guitars and etc. and this is really the only time I've seen damage. Could have been prevented had a little cardboard, tape, foam or paper or bubble-wrap been used. 30 minutes spent packing would have saved this guitar. Literally turned a great buy on a good guitar into more trouble than I want to think about right now.

[Jon Light]

Daymon--in the topic title you ask for advice. In my opinion this is a failed transaction and the responsibility to make things right is on the seller. This should not be your headache. This guitar should be back in his possession and the money should be back in your account. It should be up to him to make an insurance claim against UPS (which will fail because this time they will actually not be lying when they say that it was not packed properly). Then he can try to get compensated from the packer.

It should be his problem, not yours.

[Carl Mesrobian]

I don't know about UPS, but Fedex will take the entire package, with packing, inspect it and send back to shipper (seller), and make a determination from that

Some music dealers have insurance that will cover damages not paid out by the carrier (UPS in your case), but I believe that the shipper gets the money. My understanding is that the shipper owns it until it's in your hands and signed off, so the damage claim would be made by the shipper - I could be wrong, though.

Sounds like I would go after the shipper for negligent packaging.. Contact UPS!

Without reading all the posts I am in agreement with John Light 100%. Been there done that...

Don't confuse carrier (UPS) with shipper (seller)

Did I tell you about the Emmons D-10 I got that was packed the string side up in the case? 4 of the tuning machines broke off. Luckily got some tuners from members on the Forum!!

[Scott Duckworth]

Shipper should contact the shipping service (or packing service) and expedite and claim.

[Dwight Lewis]

Damon, I am feeling your pain. I had this same thing happen to me and the shipping company was UPS. The company that packed and shipped it had no idea what a pedal steel guitar was or how it should be handled when packed and shipped. It was busted when I got it, then UPS came to get it and they took it unpacked and sent it back to the shipping company with extra damage. Needless to say when I got it back I felt like crying. And on top of that the seller almost accused me of the issue at hand and completely washed his hands of the situation, UPS didnt want to pay. But the shipping company made good and compensated me for the damage fairly quickly. I did some praying for sure. GOD is wonderful. I got everything repair even better than what the guitar was when it left the seller the first time. Hoping everything works out for you friend. But I didnt post anything about it because I didnt want to slander anyones character or go back and forth. But our community(steelguitar) should always take good care ourselve when packing and shipping these. Cause these are jewels and they should be shipped on flowery beds of ease, for sure.

My 2 cents.

[Daymon LaPoint]

Thanks guys. Jon, my use of "advice" was to advise those shipping to take the time to pack properly. Not to ask what to do. Sorry about the confusion. Stuff happens often and in this case could have been prevented with a little extra care. Seller used a shipping store to pack and ship, they failed miserably. I still can't believe UPS accepted it unpacked and with shipping label simply taped to the case. Sad deal, but it'll all work out.

[Gary Schlotterbeck]

I've seen damaged items of all sorts over the years. A claim needs to be filed ASAP. If the seller has a receipt for both packaging and shipping from a UPS Store; that is all that is needed as proof that the guitar was supposed to have been properly packaged for shipment. But that needs to be spelled out on the receipt. I've bought and sold steel guitars for over 40 years, One thing I've always done is take pictures of the guitar both before packaging, and during various stages of packaging; and ALWAYS insure it. One more option to get a quick resolution; call your local Television News Consumer Hot Line; for something like this they may come out and do a segment on your problem. It sounds to me that UPS seriously dropped the ball on this. But remember, only a very few UPS stores are company owned; most are Franchises. However, if a local TV consumer hotline goes on the air with this, UPS Corporate will move quickly to take care of you, or the shipper.

[Wesley Medlen]

DWIGHT HAS IT RIGHT I BOUGHT AN EXCELLENT BMI SD10 from Dwight about 4 yrs. ago it was packed extremely well I don't know if he or UPS did it but it would be hard to damage it. I also received another one from Ohio boxed with bubble wrap it was done well and shipped by Fed Ex

[John Brock]

Shipped without insurance??

[Bill Howard]

I have a Pedal Steel on the way by the GREAT UPS, It took them 3 full days AFTER the seller took it there for it to leave the facility,I think He also paid these JERKS to pack it,I will probably end up with some toothpicks out of the deal. I always enclose the steel in another box as well as bubble wrap parts on one I taped knee levers to pull rods to keep them from flopping around I wrapped leg bag up tight then put some nylon tie straps on it.
But the shipper should have insured it and if you paid via Pay Pal you have I think 21 Days to file a claim and get your dough back. This makes me sick and I totally understand the thrill of getting a new guitar then wa-lah it is trashed good old UPS I think they play catch the package with items, Wasn't that UPS that they had a video of delivery driver tossing the package over the fence here is one tossing someones STEEL ?
check it out
http://youtu.be/bd85gflChgM
http://youtu.be/bd85gflChgM

[Daymon LaPoint]

It was insured. Just takes a while for claims and considering it wasn't properly packed I'm betting it'll be a problem. I'll sort it out over the next few weeks. Just mentioning the fact of how important packing is.

[Mark van Allen]

I got a used steel just today shipped via UPS like that, just in the case with some clear tape around it. I was shocked, but absolutely no damage, somehow. Dodged a bullet for sure.

[Lyndle Gregory]

Hey This is the shipper. I insured the guitar and paid extra for the shipping agent to pack the guitar. I have shipped other items with them and never had a problem. I will be showing the pics and the email to them and find out why the lied to me. Im so sorry this happened. I was sick also when I heard about it. I will never patronize this shipping agent again. Again I am very sorry.Perhaps some of the critical remarks toward me should know the facts first. Daymon has been super nice is this transaction and I am not directing this post toward him.But to the others I dont consider myself stupid for using a agent I have used before without any problems. That said no hard feelings toward anyone I feel as bad as anyone this happened. Thanks Lyndle

[Daymon LaPoint]

Simply mentioning that we really need to take packing serious and do our part to prevent damaging fine works of art and passion we see in these guitars. Not blaming anyone. Seller and I are just fine and this guitar will be back to normal. No stress no worries, just pack them good, the shipping companies don't know or care what's in the box.

[Doug Beaumier]

It's amazing to me that a "shipping agent" would charge a customer extra for packing... and then just ship the instrument in it's case, no box. Shocking.

[Daymon LaPoint]

Thanks Lyndle. Mark you just helped make my point. Thank you. These shipping places don't care, the cases feel strong and sturdy and they probably think what good will cardboard do and they tape them shut. Sad deal for sure but all is well. Make certain when you drop your guitars off at the shipping store that you instruct them to pack it with protection, and maybe wait around while they do it. Lyndle got lied to and we ended up with a damaged steel. Lyndle shout when you can brother, I'll update you as things develop. We are good and please don't stress.

[Doug Beaumier]

Make certain when you drop your guitars off at the shipping store that you instruct them to pack it with protection, and maybe wait around while they do it.

I have a better idea. Box it yourself! I would never trust any of those shipping places to box a guitar. I've shipped a lot of guitars and steels over the years and boxed them all myself, and never had a problem.

[Lyndle Gregory]

I found my receipt and will be presenting the store with the pics and problems tomorrow. I will let you know what they said. Yeah it was a lesson on my part, but I just acted on past experience. I used this same store to ship a guitar to Daniel Cromier in Lousiana and there were no problems whatsoever. Dave I hope the damage was not too extensive. I really like the way the steel looked. Best of Luck Lyndle