UPS crushes my day once again...

i hate UPS, you can box it with 12 ply boxes and they will find a way to break it. don't dare put "fragile" on the box, that is an open invitation to drop and man handle it.

I wonder if the size of the operation is relevant as to how much can the corporation control. You know what happens when things get too big...almost impossible to manage. Too many things happen in isolation that are out of control and out of sight.

BillyBatts said:

As someone whom has seen the inside of a busy UPS Hub, it is scary to see how some Package Handlers deal with UPS boxes. In their defense, they are paid close to minimum wage to handle thousands of boxes a night stacking them into tractor trailers or throwing them from the trailers onto belts. It's tedious and ball-busting work for very little money and their turnover is horrific in the Hubs. They handle millions of packages a day nationwide, and there are damages due to handling during shipment.

To guard against this, items such as our stereo rigs have to be VERY well packaged. If not, damage is bound to happen.

OP;
So sorry you had this damage. I know it's heart breaking.

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I don't accept that poor performance is acceptable because a worker is under paid. The company is still responsible. Are you sure they are so poorly paid. I know a lot of eyes were opened when the UPS drivers went on strike and many were a bit surprised at what they made at the time.

FWIW, I've had stuff broke by FedEx as well as UPS.

I am trying to use angled edge protectors where possible these days. I would also say that as a lighting rep, I have access to some really nice boxes used to ship 2x2 light fixtures that are pretty fragile, and I've found they are great for shipping an amp.

Sucks about your pretty amp.

I do think, with some patience and nice, heavy duty pliers wrapped in soft foam or something, that the damage could be mitigated, and everything brought close to normal.

Wish you luck.

- I have only been on this board for a few weeks... but after reading about various damage due to poor packers, ups etc... I have limited most of my searches on ebay to local sellers ( I am in Los Angeles, so I realize I have a much great pool to choose from ) - but from the sounds of it... it really is a crap shoot on most gear ( turntables especially )
- I bought a little zenith receiver for my wife at work ( to pull in good radio stations ) and the shipper just threw a few pieces of newspaper around it and stuck it in a box.... luckily it arrived ok, but of course the seller failed to mention there was less power on one channel - some folks... thank god I did not pay much for it.... - but it definitely made me realize I should only go for the local stuff.... if not... you had better really inform the seller that you need your item packaged correctly. ec

onwardjames said:

Sucks about your pretty amp.

I do think, with some patience and nice, heavy duty pliers wrapped in soft foam or something, that the damage could be mitigated, and everything brought close to normal.

Wish you luck.

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Well, UPS has the box and amp for review of the claim. The ironic part is that it is going back to ups in the same box it got damaged in the first place. Can you see the irony in that.

After a close inspection of the box with the padding removed. It appears that something (long and skinny) poked through the two boxes and cause the bending of the back panel.

I was thinking the samething, I am sure I could get the majority of the shape back to normal. It is just the shock of it that has to wear off.

It is like getting a dent in the brand new car...

I refused to let FedEx take my amps for review of my claim. They wanted to ship them 1000 miles back to the seller to check them out from where they were sent from. Then ship them another 1000 miles back to me. Not going to happen. So I took my amps to a local repair shop, sent FedEx all the paper work and photos of the amp, crates and packing and I am now waiting for the bill. FedEx emailed me that they were also just waiting for my repair bill so I will see what happens.

Good luck with your claim and hang in there.

I don't know if it's on UPS and Fedex's websites officially, but around here we always say to pack things so they can withstand a 6-ft drop onto concrete. That's the reality. If you really pack for that and your item still gets damaged, most likely they did something really egregious and it's going to be obvious they ran over it with a truck, etc. if it's not packed for those conditions, I don't blame the shipping co.

I wish it wasn't this way, but there it is.

I am sending an Ten Tec Omni IV amateur radio transceiver back to Ten Tec in Sevierville, Tennessee for service and I was wondering about boxing it up to send it. OfficeMax has everything I need but the cost. UPS is my shipping company of choice so I checked their website and they mentioned that at their UPS stores they professionally box up stuff to be shipped. I called the local store and for 30 dollars they will do it and do it to UPS spec's for fragile electronics, padded box, within a padded box, of course they are making their money in the shipping cost but I really don't care if it costs anything less the a $100 dollars to get this rig there in the condition I shipped it I am happy, this is a total no brainer. The way I see it, if it is damaged there isn't much argument as to what happened as UPS themselves boxed the radio up, and then shipped it. This is going to be SOP from now on when I am doing this sort of thing.

It sounds like they are at least doing it right. I've seen some scary packing by shippers before, so you have to be sure you know what they're doing. I don't know what your radio looks like (or weighs). For sure a 60-lb stereo receiver with a glass face is not easy to pack correctly.

Because this radio does not have an internal power supply the rig is fairly light in weight. It's matching external power supply weights in at about 25 pounds. This rig is not mine. It represents a straight forward packing job.

Ten Tec Omni IV plus
Weight: l6 lbs.
HWD 5.75" x 14.75" x 17"

Nice transceiver. I only listen so I have a Lowe HF-150 receiver with PR-150 pre-selector and rack and a Grundig S350 in the kitchen. They all came through USPS with no problems (maybe I got lucky).

transmaster said:

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ooo pretty buttons and knobs.

Nice! 80's vintage?

Damage versus efficiency, that 's a trade off each shipper has to make at the corporate level. From what I have seen, UPS is all about efficiency. They will accept a larger amount of damage than other shippers to achieve a certain level of throughput at a certain cost. It's their corporate policy. If they wanted to eliminate damage, they certainly could cut it to virtually zero. That's not their goal, profitability is.

Corporate attitudes always come from the top. The examples we here see are "collateral damage" that these corporations see as acceptable, to achieve goals that they deem more important.

That said, let me again mention the usefulness of pool noodles in shipping items like these! I remove a 90 degree section of the noodle and then use the remainder to encase the edges of the unit. I then wrap tape around the whole thing to keep the noodles in place. Voila! Protection! Then line the box with noodles cut in half length-wise. The resiliency of these remarkable things are perfect for shipping! They have allowed me the pack difficult items much more quickly. Of course I still double box. I just shipped Marantz 1250 (40+ lbs.) to Utah with no issues. Try it!

Plus they are easy to spot in the trash on trash day!

Good call aldread, now that pool season is over here in the northeast, I was going to recycle some of my older "noodles", now I think I'll keep them for future packing jobs. The last amp I shipped made it safely but I had double boxed with styrofoam sheets and had carved up multiple cardboard boxes to add additional cushioning.

I have a KA-7100 being shipped here from NJ. Shipping was cheap. like 15 bucks. I messaged the seller and asked the seller, politely, to make sure to package it very well even if it cost more i would pay. He assured me it would arrive safe and sound.... After reading this thread im a little concerned. What if anything can i do if its damaged? I dont have a lot of experience with this. I do with Newegg and i make sure to record opening and inspecting everything but thats a big company. Does ebay make these damaged item claims difficult?

Raru said:

I have a KA-7100 being shipped here from NJ. Shipping was cheap. like 15 bucks. I messaged the seller and asked the seller, politely, to make sure to package it very well even if it cost more i would pay. He assured me it would arrive safe and sound.... After reading this thread im a little concerned. What if anything can i do if its damaged? I dont have a lot of experience with this. I do with Newegg and i make sure to record opening and inspecting everything but thats a big company. Does ebay make these damaged item claims difficult?

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As a buyer Ebay makes it very easy to be refunded if your item is damaged during shipping :yes:


REGARDS SNOW

rytr said:

I can agree that the padding seems light. But that is the stock double box padding from the manufacture. It made it from China in that box.

You would assume that it could make 400 miles.

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This statement cracks me up. If it's good enough for the manufacturer it must be good enough. Dead wrong! I would never assume anything but the worst when it comes to packing companies. One has to pack audio to withstand routine 3-4 ft falls. Period.

There are two pieces of advice that I can give that I feel are vital for a decent chance for safe delivery.

1. First and foremost never ship anything UPS doing so is only asking for your item to be destroyed. I flat out refuse to ship with them period.

2. If you want it packed correctly pack it yourself this is the only way you can be sure that is packed as it should be.

There is always the risk that no matter how well you pack and no matter what service you use that your item will be damaged but if you follow the above 2 steps your chances are greatly improved.



REGARDS SNOW