The Steel Guitar Forum

I sold a guitar and shipped it to Denmark beginning of May. The buyer wanted to save on the duty and insured it for 1/4 of it's value. It went USPS and they told me it can't be tracked after it leaves America. The guy checked on his end but there was no paperwork. Is it too soon to file an insurance claim? Does this happen often? With no of following up, it seems you are at their mercy.

Ron

The longest I've had to wait for a guitar from the US to Norway is 6 weeks, so I wouldn't give up hope completely yet.

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www.gregertsen.com

The post office said to wait 2 months before filing but that seemed a bit long to me. Hopefully it will get there.

Ron

A guitar neck I bought a while ago seemed to have disappeared in the mail, and the seller said he had to wait 45 days to file a claim.
Perhaps there's different routines depending on which USPS shipping option you choose (?).

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www.gregertsen.com

Last year I bought a guitar from a guy in Aurora. It was shipped by USPS April 19th and it didn’t turn up at my address until June 9th. The paperwork showed that it had been held up in Danish costums for almost 4 weeks. This could be a similar situation. I wouldn’t give up hope.

Many times when I ship merchandise, I'm asked to invoice it at a low price so that the buyer can save on duty. Since the merchandise can only be insured for it's declared value, it's a crapshoot.

Also, since my merchandise is paid mostly by credit card, the buyer can dispute the sale.

Bottom line....I don't do it. No how, no way.


I also received a package from a Swiss supplier who shipped via the postal system...5 weeks.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by HowardR on 11 June 2005 at 01:14 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ron

Depends if it went USPO surface or air. 8 to 10 weeks is quite normal for surface. The worst I ever heard of was an unbelievable 14 months for a book. Air is normally delivered in the UK in about 15/20 days. Customs can of course screw these schedules up in a totally random manner. The longest air shipping time I know of was 7 weeks for a heavy guitar. On the bright side, me and my friends have brought over about 200 parcels via USPO in the last few years, ranging from strings to very valuable guitars. Nothing has been lost so far.

As for low insurance valuations. It seems fine to me to declare a guitar is worth less than it actually cost. When the deal is done the buyer becomes the owner. If he then decides that a guitar he just paid $1000 for is only worth $250 he is taking all the risk and the seller, following the new owner's instructions, (save your emails) bears no resposibility whatsoever. The form asks for the value, not the price paid. My experience of the UK insurance industry leads me to assume that its practically impossible to get any sensible insurance payout anyway, so the whole matter seems somewhat hypothetical. (I'm not totally laid back. The 2 weeks it took my B6 to arrive were 2 of the longest of my life, and I took several stiff drinks before I dared to open the case, but I did have a stupid grin for the rest of the day).

Anway, don't worry yet! It will almost certainly turn up eventually.

Cheers, Colin Brooks

<SMALL>its practically impossible to get any sensible insurance payout anyway,</SMALL>

If the item is damaged you may have a problem collecting the full insured amount based on how it was packed...etc.


If the shipment is lost, there's no dispute on the full insured value.


True, the buyer can agree to be responsible and take all the risk. I, however, do not give the buyer that option. If there is a loss, the buyer will be grateful that the purchase was fully insured, and I feel better about that.

i helped a french steel player get a stringmaster D8
sent by USPS, it took 6 months to get to it's destination
all goods over a certain weight are subcontracted & go to germany first.
the mess up was caused by the delivery boy (subcontracted of course) who claimed that their was no home at the adress !
big mistake ! the adress was correct
it was the only house on that street !
he did'nt even bother callin' since the fone # was w: the adress !
the D8 went back to the US & the sender or seller sent it over again after his post master accepted shipping it back for free since we had filesd a claim

i won't say if insuring for the correct amount or a lessenned one because of custom fees is better than the other
it's the buyer's choice for me since he's the one that puttin out the $$$/€€€
the sender tho' is responsible for all claims since he filed out the documents & paid

i know it's hard not to get brought down Ron, from this type of experience.
one way or another, i'm sure it'll turn up
acompanied by the reason for it's delay

i hope that, thank to this thread, some will appreciate the service of havin' a tracking number.
it can be had w: USPS at a cost of course
better than none <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 12 June 2005 at 08:47 AM.]</p></FONT>

<SMALL>the sender tho' is responsible</SMALL>

There's your bottom line. Not all people stick to their word, especially when something goes wrong and somebody is going to be out of pocket.

Ship an item, insure it for much less, it gets lost, the buyer disputes the sale on his credit card. Since he never received it, you get charged back, and you can only claim what you insured it for.


The terms of the sale are usually set by the seller. When you sell a house, it's the seller who draws up the contract and sets the closing date.


I'm not telling anybody what to do. Everyone has to make their own decisions. I'm just being the devil's advocate on the business end of things. Some of these things I've learned the hard way, and it only takes one time (hopefully).

I hope all works out well with Ron's shipment.

He sent me a MO so I'm not out anything. I will file the claim after waiting 2 months. It went air mail which should have been 2 weeks. From what you are saying, there's still hope.

Ron

BAX Global (Took 3 days for a Carter psg from Dallas to Brussels)

I have never shipped out of US, but I'm shipping to Hawaii all the time. I use priority mail for every thing, and so far, so good. Takes about 3 to 4 days.

The guitar was sitting on my porch when I got home.

I didn't fill out the customs form except for sender and addressee. Maybe that's why they kicked it back. I wonder who paid for the return?

Ron<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Ron Victoria on 20 June 2005 at 02:51 PM.]</p></FONT>

Glad it showed up, albeit on the wrong continent. Maybe this translation site will help you figure out where it has been!
http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Danish&to=English

Long after the low cost of a cheap shipper wears off...
lingers the curse of waiting for the likely cockup between multiple nations and languages.

Pack it well and ship FedX.

I think the european postal frtieght system has been improved since Crowbear's anecdote, but I still don't trust it implicitly.
Just my two cents.