Lessons Learned (recent bad buying experience)

[Dick Chapple Sr]

These discussions come up periodically generally because there has been a bad experience.
In a nutshell, for me after shipping over 30 guitars in the last 4 years I have had no problems with UPS or FEDEX.
I'm 100% with Roger.
My biggest problems have been with some of the ones I have bought guitars from, and that is poor shipping preparation.
One guitar came only in its guitar case, it did arrive safely. 2 others were as Roger mentioned, the guitars broke through the compartments because wood blocks were not put in place to keep the guitar from shifting.
Guitar handles exposed...no thanks!! At least not with pedal steels. Rope is very cheap. I box the guitar case inside the first box, then make a rope handle around the box and expose the rope handle through the second box. The rope will not break whereas the guitar handle could be broken or jerked completely off the guitar case.
The poorest packing jobs have come from UPS stores as well as good packing jobs. I prefer to shoot for 100% and pack them myself and take pictures.
All in all I have been happy with both UPS and FEDEX as well as the Post Office.
I have an account with all 3, to save a few pennies From here in Hardin Mt my best prices are with UPS as I have a local drop off. FEDEX is even lower for me but, I have to drive a 110 mile round trip to deliver it to their office or pay for pickup which makes fedex price equal UPS. When I ship overseas I go Post Office.

The only insurance experience I have seen(not had thank goodness) is with a model railroader friend of mine who ordered a valuable rare G Scale locomotive from Disney for $650. I saw the evidence first hand, this package was as good as it gets for shipping prep. It arrived broken, someone involved with the shipping must have thrown the box across a room or something to cause the damage. UPS insurance wanted to settle for $100 and keep the loco!!! How wonderful is that?

Again like Roger I worry until the buyer has the guitar in his hot hands and all is well, because of insurance claim issues.

How many here have had to make an insurance claim with any of these shippers and had a decent outcome??

Not possible of course, but it would be a whole lot more fun to hand deliver these guitars to hob nob with our steel playing buddies.
Dick

[Bobby Hearn]

Now.....get a rope!

[Mark Helm]

Seriously...

Would ANY of you ship a guitar in its case ONLY?

I'm just asking because, after all, I am relatively new to this, having only done it for 10 years or so (which on this site is a lunchtime).

[Myles Cochran]

I'll throw in a second or third (and counting) on the importance of how guitars are packed. I've shipped a lot of instruments over the past 20 years, including many between the US and Europe.

The most important thing you can do is to pack the guitar (or whatever - I ship a lot of electronics - amps and stuff - as well) so it will withstand "The Drop". Nothing moves inside the case, the case doesn't move inside the box, the box doesn't move inside the second box. All this goes double for a pedal steel, with legs, the pedal bar and whatever else rattling around. Movement is your enemy - once something starts moving, it has energy, and it transfers that energy to whatever stops it moving - the case, the guitar, the box.

Also, it's a great idea to get some communication going if you're the buyer - most people we're dealing with are musicians and are pretty nice folks who care about what they're doing, particularly with regard to a guitar. Others... well, not so much. If you can't get someone to read any of the online guides for how to pack a guitar, and at least get a verbal commitment to following those guidelines, think carefully, even if it's a great deal on something you really want.

And on the UPS/Fedex packing thing - some of the worst jobs of packing I've seen have come from their services. The people doing the work almost never have any idea of how to do it right. Yes, it might make it easier if you have a claim, but it's better to avoid the claim in the first place by packing it right. It's probably a just-barely-reasonable compromise if your shipper insists. But, again, think carefully.

I'm going to try to talk someone through how to pack a pedal steel by phone today - we'll see how it works!

[Larry Jamieson]

I bought a steel guitar from a Forum member once and he took about 3 weeks before shipping. When I threatened to post his name for ripping me off he finally shipped. He put my address on a shipping label, tied it on the handle of the steel case and put it in the mail, NO BOX... I was lucky, it arrived in good shape. I haven't seen him on the Forum for years.

[Dale Foreman]

How about everyone go to there representative's and complain about the roads in our states and encourage Employers to hire reputable people? That could be a start!

[Larry Bressington]

Great write up by Myles Cochran, and Dick Chappel! 👍🏻

[Gary Rue]

I had a well packed vintage dual pro that the owner forgot to strap the legs together and the became loose inside the case marking, scratching, and denting. I always take tape and turn it sticky side out to strap the legs together. Just a thought.
For the record, to date I have had no bad experience on the forum. I always read the post of the person I'm dealing with. Very telling.

[Steve Huddleston]

My two cents on ups vs Fedex: I used to work for a delivery contractor and we dealt with both companies. Of course, either one can screw up but in my experience Fedex was WAY more organized and professional. Ups, not so much. Generally ups is cheaper, understandably. I use ups a lot, but if it’s important it’s going Fedex.

Now, not to hijack the thread, but does anyone ever take a steel on the airlines? How do you get to a distant gig?

[Mark Helm]

Doing my taxes and just discovered I shipped 23 guitars last year via UPS without one single incident. I'm juz sayin'...

[Douglas Schuch]

Shipping in case only - this is acceptable if you have a very strong road case that does not have a fancy tolex cover. Road cases are made specifically for this. I use to work for one of the largest film equipment rental companies in the US. We had offices in Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas, and regularly shipped equipment between offices. If you think pedal steels are expensive, price a high-end film or video camera! But the cases are made for this and work. Thomas cases, tweed cases, etc - NO WAY! But a true, proper road case made to fit the instrument and packed properly? Sure.

Packing it properly - tape or wire tie the latches closed. Or both. wrap pedal bar, etc with enough bubble wrap so it can't rattle around in it's section. Check all the extrusions on the outside to make sure all are still properly attached with no corners that might catch and rip it off.

Having said that, the case may get grubby and banged a bit. If you want to keep the case pretty, wrap it in cardboard. But, unless you leave the handle out, you risk it being dropped.