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UPS splinters headstock and ruins hardcase - need help with claim
- Thread starter Mr. Pickles
- Start date
I hate seeing a thread like this while I'm sitting at work wait for UPS to deliver my Lakland Glaub today.
MN, US 09/10/2010 7:00 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
Cross your fingers for me!!
MN, US 09/10/2010 7:00 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
Cross your fingers for me!!
I hate seeing a thread like this while I'm sitting at work wait for UPS to deliver my Lakland Glaub today.
MN, US 09/10/2010 7:00 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
Cross your fingers for me!!
Did I ever tell you about the time I waited 4 months to have Tacoma repair my Thunderchief (it split due to extreme humidity) only to finally receive it and discover a fist sized hole smashed through the box, case, and bass... Good ol' UPS!
Fingerz and toaz crossed for you
After taking a shot like that, your neck could very well be ruined. Fedex did this to me...the neck was totally screwed, rod jammed, and hairline cracks around the nut area. They reimbursed the entire $450 that it was insured for.
Is that a Dean Bromberg Sig 5 string with inline tuners? Did you get it from someone in Texas? I may have owned that at one point.
- Jun 3, 2009
- 3,330
- 399
- Disclosures
- Bassgearu, Music Industry Consulting and Sales. Tech 21, NBE Corp, Sonosphere.
+1 on having UPS do the packing. That gets rid of the excuse. The other thing I've done is ask the UPS people for instructions on how to properly pack basses and guitars. I never got anything specific back. I had to file a claim a year ago and when they tried the inadequate packing excuse I showed them the trail of me asking what defines adequate packing for a bass and getting no real response. They paid me. Yes I had to stay on them.
I also have started asking the drivers to not leave until I have opened the box in front of them. Most want to just move on. I have prepared a letter for them to sign in my presence that says they were asked to remain while I inspected my package and opened it to ensure it was not damaged in shipping and that the driver refused to stay. Doesn't matter if they want to claim it was good in shipping, if they don't stay and watch you, they can only send the inspector and in court the responsibility of proving it was you shifts to them.
You'd be amazed at how many UPS guys lately have refused to stay. I got most of them to sign the letter. The one who wouldn't I immediately called UPS and told them that the driver did not stay for me to do the inspection in front of him and if I find any damage then UPS is responsible. Makes them cringe but they have been warned.
My UPS guy and FEDEX guys are really good, so I don't have too many problems. My new/used EX-Factor arrived on Wednesday via FEDEX and it was good and the driver was great.
tom
I also have started asking the drivers to not leave until I have opened the box in front of them. Most want to just move on. I have prepared a letter for them to sign in my presence that says they were asked to remain while I inspected my package and opened it to ensure it was not damaged in shipping and that the driver refused to stay. Doesn't matter if they want to claim it was good in shipping, if they don't stay and watch you, they can only send the inspector and in court the responsibility of proving it was you shifts to them.
You'd be amazed at how many UPS guys lately have refused to stay. I got most of them to sign the letter. The one who wouldn't I immediately called UPS and told them that the driver did not stay for me to do the inspection in front of him and if I find any damage then UPS is responsible. Makes them cringe but they have been warned.
My UPS guy and FEDEX guys are really good, so I don't have too many problems. My new/used EX-Factor arrived on Wednesday via FEDEX and it was good and the driver was great.
tom
Our local UPS guy is a friend from the neighborhood.
The one guitar I had shipped was bubble wrapped inside a guitar shaped box, which was then wrapped in bigger bubble wrap and put in a rectangular box.
Sam Ash up in Virginia somewhere. They weren't messing around.
The one guitar I had shipped was bubble wrapped inside a guitar shaped box, which was then wrapped in bigger bubble wrap and put in a rectangular box.
Sam Ash up in Virginia somewhere. They weren't messing around.
Pickles, one more thing...
Be sure to tell the inspector that the bass strings were completely loosened when you recieved the package.
(trust me on this)
Be sure to tell the inspector that the bass strings were completely loosened when you recieved the package.
(trust me on this)
Fat chance of having an easy time dealing with UPS. I find it no coincidence that UPS and Poo are the same color.
One great example,I shipped a computer tower back to the shop I got it from for them to do repairs. It was in it's original packaging that UPS delivered to me, plus another box, with foam corners and bubble wrap. On it's way back to me, packed by the shop in the same packaging the tower was damaged.
UPS managed to drop the box so hard it dented the corner of the tower, cracked the plastic faceplate and knocked all the cards halfway out of their slots! There was a big gash in the outer box and a nice boot print right in the middle of the side like someone stood on it!
The shop said to ship it back and they would correct everything for me and my only expense would be shipping it to them. I complained to UPS and when I went back they tried to tell me it was my packing job and not their fault. They then wanted to rip open the repack I did and "inspect it" to make sure I packed it properly. I have 7 years experience packaging cabinetry and parts specifically for the gowrillers at UPS. I know what I am doing. (The shop even commented that I packed the tower like I was expecting it to be dragged or blown up.)
When I would not let UPS tear apart my packaging they told me they were classifying the package as improperly packed unless I PAID THEM to repack it "Properly".
I never did ship the tower back. I spent the better part of a day packing the tower, fighting with the testicle bearing woman at the UPS counter and then unpacking an repairing my own computer.
On top of all of this, when UPS found out that I fixed the tower myself and there was no "damage" they would do nothing about it. I am not sure what I would have wanted them to do at that point, but that's what it ended up as.
Ask me why I pack stuff ridiculously strong or in its original shipping materials! Fortunately I have not had an issue with any basses I have had shipped to me or I have shipped out using the fools at "brown".
I know the poo boys handle a bazillion packages a day, and for every well packed box there are a dozen packed by fools. Damage happens. But when the package was obviously dropped from a considerable height, stepped on and rammed with something you'd think they would at least say, "Oops?"
Or in the case of the fellow TB'er who's bass was run over by one of their trucks, and destroyed you think they would fess up?
I ship Fed Ex whenever possible as I can count on two fingers of one hand the number of damaged Fed Ex shipments that were damaged, that I know about. I need about 7 extra hands to count the UPS stuff....
Good luck dealing with the "people" at UPS getting your bass bass issues solved....I won't be holding my breath....
Don't bet on it. A friend of mine shipped some die cast NASCAR stuff and had UPS pack it for him. It was literally destroyed in transit. Until he showed them the receipt for the shipping and THEIR packaging, UPS claimed it was packed wrong.....
Well, I hope the idiots don't destroy my alembic epic. They didn't break my katana bass, so that's good.
DON'T have your tech do ANYTHING other than an inspection and appraisal of damages (if he/she's qualified to do that). Don't give UPS any space to say that someone else did something to the instrument or case. Don't have the tech string it yet.
Don't differentiate between cosmetic damage and functional damage...it's ALL damage! UPS is a big corp and protected by the Teamsters Union so you shouldn't feel the need to play nice. They have plenty of money and they aren't going to play nice with you.
File a claim and ask for the full value of the damages or the insured amount which ever is GREATER. They won't pay more than they HAVE TO so ask for as much as you reasonably can and let UPS worry about setting a limit on your claim.
Don't delay. File the claim right away and take plenty of photos. Don't rely on the seller to file the claim--YOU file one.
P.S. I had UPS deliver a crushed Ampeg B-100R amp once so I know the feeling.
.............UPS actually pays out on insurance claims? What is this strange thing you speak of?
Seriously, I hope you can sort it out, I feel for you (having been there). There are 2 class action law suits against UPS in Canada (Ontario and British Columbia). I wouldn't ship a box of air with them.
Seriously, I hope you can sort it out, I feel for you (having been there). There are 2 class action law suits against UPS in Canada (Ontario and British Columbia). I wouldn't ship a box of air with them.
I had a personal experience with FedEx and it took much photos, much communication, to get them to agree on reimbursing but they did.
Buyer got a free bass.
Buyer got a free bass.
I agree 100%. But, that's not what's happening. The seller is holding up the refund. eBay tells me that they'll get back to me by Wednesday.
I am not sure how many hundreds of packages I have shipped/received by UPS or FedEx but only had one damage. It was a Jazz bass, the neck snapped off of it
I know it is easy to blow things out of proportion but trying to right a damage wrong that is possibly caused by shipping is a total PITA.
I hope it goes well with you guys, the UPS people didn't hassle me too much but it did almost take me 45 days to get the money so I could make things straight with the buyer.
Pickles, I am surprised all that happened IN a HSC. I wonder what the heck they did to that box...
I know it is easy to blow things out of proportion but trying to right a damage wrong that is possibly caused by shipping is a total PITA.
I hope it goes well with you guys, the UPS people didn't hassle me too much but it did almost take me 45 days to get the money so I could make things straight with the buyer.
Pickles, I am surprised all that happened IN a HSC. I wonder what the heck they did to that box...
i feel your pain on the tacoma..mine showed up like this:
fedex for me though...got my money back..hence my quote at the bottom.
Wow.
You all have Gangsters for UPS drivers.
That or I have been extremely fortunate for over 30 years.
You all have Gangsters for UPS drivers.
That or I have been extremely fortunate for over 30 years.
Nah, my driver is great. It's the package handlers that manhandle the boxes.
The shipping box is undamaged except for a dent on the end, FWIW. I'm sure they're going to hassle me about that...
