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Basses Broken during Shipment

#21
jonnymac101881 said:
So basically the UPS insurance is a sham? It seems like even if you do get insurance its ultimately your fault for packaging it wrong in the end. Does anyone have any bad experiences with FedEX? That's how I've been shipping the basses I've sold. I haven't had any problems yet.
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Insurance companies are number one on my list of loathing. Is the insurance a sham? No, but it sure feels that way. Are the adjusters put in place to look out for the bottom line... Absolutely. If they can find a way to deny a claim they will do it.
Many years ago, i shipped a mixing console to be repaired. I packed it myself with what I thought was adequate packaging. The guy at the counter never bothered to inform me about UPS guidelines for proper pack and how they affect insurance guidelines (you're just supposed to know that :eyebrow:).
I got a call form the repair shop. My console had been damaged on the way there to the point that they could not work on it. UPS adjuster came out and determined it had been damaged due to improper pack. So, they shipped it back to me. On the return home, it is damaged again... :bawl:
Total loss. Glenlake Agency is not my friend. :scowl:
 
#23
MaddAnthony_59 said:
A) Shipped By: USPS to France

B) Shipped in: Gig-Bag

C) Damage: Neck Snapped

D) Insurance Ammount: $1000 ($65.00 for Insurance!)

E) Result of Claim: Carrier Rejected Claim. France said to ship it back to US (At my expense) and file a claim with USPS.

F) Pictures!!!
This is a '78 Gibson RD that I Hot-Rodded!
Before:
DSC00597.jpg


After:
DCFN0002.gif
Click to expand...

Man,I would seriously cry a river of tears....Then go postal on somebody.
 
#26
I ALWAYS pack instruments as if I expect them to be mis-handled. In 30 years I've never had a problem. Spending money on good boxes, strapping tape, good bubble wrap and double boxing helped too. You can drop my packed basses end over end down a flight of concrete stairs and they will be unscathed as that's the treatment I expect at all the carriers.
 
#27
Bassflute said:
go postal on himself...

"Shipped in: gig bag"....

:rollno:

Cheers,
Cameron
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Well, as you can see it was Boxed as well. In fact it was DOUBLE-Boxed. You could CLEARLY see a Foot Print where someone had Stepped on the box where the fracture was...

I gave the buyer 1/2 his cash back, which he used to repair the neck with.
 
#28
No one has mentioned it so far but the strings need to be seriously loosened before a guitar is shipped - regardless of how well it's packed. Then some type of cloth like flannel needs to be placed between the strings and the fretboard.

I learned this the hard way way when a moving company dropped one of my Gibsons right in front of me. It was in a hard shell case and they had stood it upright leaning against a very smooth wall. It slid sideways and ended up turning as it fell and smacked the concrete floor face down causing the head of the guitar to snap off inside the case. I watched from twenty feet away feeling totally helpless then totally ticked off at their carelessness. At least I was there and wrote some words about the incident on the paperwork before signing off on the moving job. The insurance company paid to have Gibson replace the neck.

Graeme
 
#29
I used to ship guitars UPS every day for the store where I worked as a lad. We had the benefit of re-using the same boxes/foam inserts/etc. that the makers used.

That said, how can an adjuster cite "improper packaging" after the item's been unpacked? :eyebrow:

Condolences to all who've suffered.
 
#30
It'd be interesting to hear from someone like Roger Sadowsky or Dan Lakin who ship ship tons of stuff all over in their own packaging as to the amount of damage and recovery hassle they go through...

My Sadowsky came in the ultralite case with an exact fit cardboard box. Nice case but, at the end of the day, it's only a couple inches of styrofoam. Hardly gorilla proof.
 
#31
Skunk11 said:
My brother worked unloading trucks for UPS one summer. He said it is properly pronounced "OOPS!".
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I worked there over last winter before i got this job..and it was just horrible how alot of the people there would treat the packages there (they had some games they would play if there were a couple of us in the truck which were horrible too :atoz: )....anyway I remember my supervisor told me and another supervisor (she was new as well) "I dont give a **** if the package breaks, your flow of getting them out of the trucks needs to stay up!" (sent me home after i unloaded the rest of that truck)..definitly saw that as the last straw of me wanting to work there..... i did unpack trucks filled to the roof with fenders, deans, schecters, etc and i made extra sure to take my sweet time in those :bassist:

p.s. im glad i was laid off
 
#33
MaddAnthony_59... do you really mail so many basses to have what seems to me a high frequency of failures? Or... how do you pack them exactly?

I'm not saying it's your fault, ok? But almost everytime I've come across one of these horror stories, the guitar wasn't packed very well. I've bought and sold a few online over the years, and I received a couple that I thought I was incredibly lucky... some people would just send a gigbag wrapped in something, or stick cardboard to teh bass (literally!)...

I'd say at the very least, you pack the bass in bubblewrap, inside a gigbag if you have, otherwise more wrapping material. And that goes inside a proper guitar box, with lots of padding. Ideally you get one of those box-within-a-box, but they're not always available.

Those parcels are going to be dropped... so you need to ensure they will absorb the shock, and not the instrument inside.
An instrument can still be damaged if something heavy is dropped hard on the box, maybe... but the parcel itself will be so clearly damaged beyond what's reasonable, that a claim would not be denied.
 
#34
Squier stratocaster


A) Shipped By: UPS

B) Shipped in: Gig-Bag

C) Damage: Body cracked on lower bout and the piant had hair line cracks all over

D) Insurance Ammount:0

E) Result of Claim: Shipper paid to ship it back took a hit and reposted it on ebay, poor dude got screwed

F) Pictures!!! None
 
#36
GML said:
No one has mentioned it so far but the strings need to be seriously loosened before a guitar is shipped - regardless of how well it's packed. Then some type of cloth like flannel needs to be placed between the strings and the fretboard.

I learned this the hard way way when a moving company dropped one of my Gibsons right in front of me. It was in a hard shell case and they had stood it upright leaning against a very smooth wall. It slid sideways and ended up turning as it fell and smacked the concrete floor face down causing the head of the guitar to snap off inside the case. I watched from twenty feet away feeling totally helpless then totally ticked off at their carelessness. At least I was there and wrote some words about the incident on the paperwork before signing off on the moving job. The insurance company paid to have Gibson replace the neck.

Graeme
Click to expand...


That's because many hardcases would protect the finish of the guitar... as in the case will get scratched, not the guitar... but there's little in term of shock absorbance in many hard cases... drop the case, and the guitar feels the same exact impact, just without the external scuff where it hits the floor. The only way to protect against shocks is to have some material that absorbs the impact before the energy gets transmitted to the guitar.

Most people overlook that and think because the guitar is in a hard case it's safe.

I prefer to mail using cardboard boxes, because upon impact the box itself deforms and absorbs a LOT of the shock. Couple it with enough bubblewrap and padding, and the guitar can take a lot of hits. If you double box, as one should if you care about the guitar a lot... then you really have to try before the guitar is damaged. Not that those levels of mishandling are beyond UPS and others (say, ParcelFArce... I mean ParcelForce in the UK)... so that's why you have to make it harder for the b***ards.
 
#37
Steve said:
It'd be interesting to hear from someone like Roger Sadowsky or Dan Lakin who ship ship tons of stuff all over in their own packaging as to the amount of damage and recovery hassle they go through...

My Sadowsky came in the ultralite case with an exact fit cardboard box. Nice case but, at the end of the day, it's only a couple inches of styrofoam. Hardly gorilla proof.
Click to expand...

Those cases protect a lot more than one may think at first.
Every little hit, eevry little knock... just dents slightly teh case. If the knock is light you won't notice it. Because the case absorbs all that, whatever is inside barely feels anything.

I have tested this with the ultimate test: airport baggage handlers ;)
I carried a set-neck guitar (SX Les Paul style guitar, cheap enough that I wasn't too worried, but nice enough to carry it with me) from Edinburgh to London, to Toronto, to Vancouver... and back via similar multi-stop route.
I still have the guitar.
The case had a few marks, but actually did better than I expected, considering how many of my suitcases they've damaged in my years of flying.
 
#38
dalkowski said:
That said, how can an adjuster cite "improper packaging" after the item's been unpacked? :eyebrow:
Click to expand...
They analyze the materials used and based on UPS packing guidelines determine if it was packed properly. Reusing exterior materials (box/cardboard/kraft) is generally considered a no-no. If you do reuse boxes, the box needs to be in good shape and any writing, labels, etc. should be concealed with brown stapping tape.
 
#39
MaddAnthony_59 said:
Well, as you can see it was Boxed as well. In fact it was DOUBLE-Boxed. You could CLEARLY see a Foot Print where someone had Stepped on the box where the fracture was...

I gave the buyer 1/2 his cash back, which he used to repair the neck with.
Click to expand...
Man, that's a bummer. It sounds like you packed it well, however given the damage, a hard case in addition to your packaging may have made the difference. I know, moot point, but something to consider with future shipments.
 
#40
mcnach said:
MaddAnthony_59... do you really mail so many basses to have what seems to me a high frequency of failures? Or... how do you pack them exactly?

I'm not saying it's your fault, ok? But almost everytime I've come across one of these horror stories, the guitar wasn't packed very well. I've bought and sold a few online over the years, and I received a couple that I thought I was incredibly lucky... some people would just send a gigbag wrapped in something, or stick cardboard to teh bass (literally!)...

I'd say at the very least, you pack the bass in bubblewrap, inside a gigbag if you have, otherwise more wrapping material. And that goes inside a proper guitar box, with lots of padding. Ideally you get one of those box-within-a-box, but they're not always available.

Those parcels are going to be dropped... so you need to ensure they will absorb the shock, and not the instrument inside.
An instrument can still be damaged if something heavy is dropped hard on the box, maybe... but the parcel itself will be so clearly damaged beyond what's reasonable, that a claim would not be denied.
Click to expand...


I go in Spurts. But it's a RARE Day that I bring the same bass to practice twice...:bassist:

And considering I've had 2 basses with issues in the last 5 years out of >100 shipped, I think I'm doing Pretty Good! (Especially since both are Under Suspicion!)

I pack Very Well! The French bass was Stepped on, and the WishBass doesn't fit any case or gigbag that I'm aware of. I thought was packed Very Well! Wraped Multiple Times with Bubble-wrap, stood Straight up in a LARGE (2' x 2' x 4') Box that was STUFFED with Foam P-Nuts. It was Labled as FRAGILE, and This Side Up!
It had to have been dropped HARD to get that kind of damage.

But as a rule I Bubble-Wrap the bass inside the case/gigbag so that it can not move. Then I pack the gigbag/case inside a cardboard box so that it can not move.

And BTW, the G&L neck that I posted with the Fracture was packed in an OHSC. It cracked on the 1" neck Support when it was dropped...I actually feel SAFER shipping/recieving in a well packed paded gigbag.
 

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