Shipping Audio Equipment....Keeping Them Honest

Adrian Low

Adrian Low

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
205
Location
Toronto Canada
Just checked on the shipment. FedEx tried to deliver at 6:30am!!! WTF? Will have to call and see if I can arrange to pick up from the driver, or wait for the delivery tomorrow, assuming he doesn't try to deliver at 6:30am again!
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Adrian Low said:
Just checked on the shipment. FedEx tried to deliver at 6:30am!!! WTF? Will have to call and see if I can arrange to pick up from the driver, or wait for the delivery tomorrow, assuming he doesn't try to deliver at 6:30am again!
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Did FedEx leave a sticky on your door telling you they attempted delivery or did you see that notice posted on their website when you entered the tracking number? I'm asking because some of my FedEx packages are delivered from their Terre Haute office. If they don't feel like making the trek to my house, the driver games the system by inputting that delivery was attempted but no one was home. They have done this to me numerous times and it really pisses me off. When I bought a Jadis Defy 7 MKII amp, I stayed home from work on the day it was supposed to be delivered because a signature was going to be required. I sat home all day waiting for the delivery. I would keep checking the tracking number and it said it was on the truck and out for delivery. Finally at the end of the day I checked again only to see the bogus "attempted delivery but no one was home" entry. Think I was mad?
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Adrian Low said:
Just checked on the shipment. FedEx tried to deliver at 6:30am!!! WTF? Will have to call and see if I can arrange to pick up from the driver, or wait for the delivery tomorrow, assuming he doesn't try to deliver at 6:30am again!
Click to expand...

Welcome to our world. The other day I caught the FedEx guy carrying my Luxman amp on his head and then it slipped and he proceeded to drop it.....all while I was standing on the front porch watching him. Thankfully it was triple boxed and packed extremely well. But still....
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Mike said:
Welcome to our world. The other day I caught the FedEx guy carrying my Luxman amp on his head and then it slipped and he proceeded to drop it.....all while I was standing on the front porch watching him. Thankfully it was triple boxed and packed extremely well. But still....
Click to expand...

I've never seen the delivery guy drop my packages, but I've certainly been involved in damaged goods that were shipped. We are in dispute with UPS right now for 2 badly damaged shipments to clients. A pair of Magnepans were so badly damaged that they have to be written off. We paid to insure the shipment but UPS is dragging their feet on this. It's been about 2 months, possibly more. The immediate reply from UPS was that the packaging was inadequate. Magnepan supplied documents that show the packaging is certified by UPS!
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

mep said:
Did FedEx leave a sticky on your door telling you they attempted delivery or did you see that notice posted on their website when you entered the tracking number? I'm asking because some of my FedEx packages are delivered from their Terre Haute office. If they don't feel like making the trek to my house, the driver games the system by inputting that delivery was attempted but no one was home. They have done this to me numerous times and it really pisses me off. When I bought a Jadis Defy 7 MKII amp, I stayed home from work on the day it was supposed to be delivered because a signature was going to be required. I sat home all day waiting for the delivery. I would keep checking the tracking number and it said it was on the truck and out for delivery. Finally at the end of the day I checked again only to see the bogus "attempted delivery but no one was home" entry. Think I was mad?
Click to expand...

Good catch. The driver knows we are closed Mondays and did not attempt the delivery. I just called and will go pick the shipment up shortly. I'm too excited to wait 'til tomorrow!
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Adrian Low said:
I've never seen the delivery guy drop my packages, but I've certainly been involved in damaged goods that were shipped. We are in dispute with UPS right now for 2 badly damaged shipments to clients. A pair of Magnepans were so badly damaged that they have to be written off. We paid to insure the shipment but UPS is dragging their feet on this. It's been about 2 months, possibly more. The immediate reply from UPS was that the packaging was inadequate. Magnepan supplied documents that show the packaging is certified by UPS!
Click to expand...

This is standard practice for both UPS and FedEx. The first line of defense is always that the packaging was inadequate. I shipped a pair of amps to Canada that were packed by a UPS store and shipped UPS. The amps were badly damaged during shipping because of a poor packing job by UPS and they still put me through months of constant phone calls before they finally paid off even though they were clearly at fault since I paid them to pack the amps and ship them. UPS just tries to wear you down so you will give up. If you pay FedEx to pack your shipment and it is damaged during shipment, unlike UPS they will quickly pay off. If you don't pay UPS or FedEx to pack your shipment, they will try and get out of paying the claim 100% of the time. You will need to have some video evidence which shows their driver dropping your package or running it over.
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

I had UPS absolutely demolish a MC207. I filed a claim, they took it away to be "inspected" and came back and said "no damage". The amp was in pieces. I fought them and won. But, what a farce.

Here's what I have learned - use freight! I use insured UPS Freight for anything over 60-70 pounds. The way it was explained to me is that UPS Ground/FEDEX hire people to lift "up to 60 pounds or 70 pounds" or whatever it is. If they come across a box that weighs more, they kick it off the back of the truck...because they weren't hired to "lift" anything more.

Now the freight guys are used to moving heavy ass boxes.
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

UPS always whisks away a package that is being turned in as a shipping damage claim. They take it to some secret location to be inspected by blind people who only have two responses:

1. There is no damage
2. The packaging was inadequate
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

mep said:
UPS always whisks away a package that is being turned in as a shipping damage claim. They take it to some secret location to be inspected by blind people who only have two responses:

1. There is no damage
2. The packaging was inadequate
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Exactly.

I've only shipped with DHL once or twice and it was quite good. South Eastern freight lines is another one I've had good luck with.
 
Let's start a thread about shipping audio equipment. Who do you use? Who has been good to work with? Who have you had challenges with?

I primarily use UPS Freight and have had good luck. I was fortunate to find someone at my local UPS Store who didn't mind doing the leg work to find out how to go about shipping with freight. Now when I have something to ship freight, I bring it to her or she has the big 18 wheeler truck come to me (if it's too heavy).

I've had good luck with South Eastern Freight Lines as well.

I've had horror stories with regular UPS.

FedEX ground believe it or not, has been ok.

What about you?
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

A friend just bought a pair of his "to die for" speakers and had them shipped from Col. One of the speakers distorted badly at normal to high volume and you could see where the drivers were pushed in slightly. He filed a Fed Ex claim and a guy came to the house asking to take the damaged speaker. My friend's daughter sent the guy away. Can you imagine the headache if the speaker had been taken? How do you replace one speaker?

He's patiently awaiting the return of his speaker after repair and waiting for Fed Ex to pay the damage claim.

His daughter is an audio hero in my mind!
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Asamel said:
A friend just bought a pair of his "to die for" speakers and had them shipped from Col. One of the speakers distorted badly at normal to high volume and you could see where the drivers were pushed in slightly. He filed a Fed Ex claim and a guy came to the house asking to take the damaged speaker. My friend's daughter sent the guy away. Can you imagine the headache if the speaker had been taken? How do you replace one speaker?

He's patiently awaiting the return of his speaker after repair and waiting for Fed Ex to pay the damage claim.

His daughter is an audio hero in my mind!
Click to expand...

Definitely! What a pain.
 
Over the years, I have had pretty good luck with Fedex ground.

I've had a couple of things that were damaged but no damage to the box - so who knows.

I've had many boxes beat up by UPS, so I don't use them anymore.
 
I would think with all the gear in and out of your place Mike that all the shipping companies would have their own truck designated just for you.

You do know all the drivers by name right?!!!



Sent from my HTC One.
 
dlb2 said:
I would think with all the gear in and out of your place Mike that all the shipping companies would have their own truck designated just for you.

You do know all the drivers by name right?!!!


Sent from my HTC One.
Click to expand...


Sadly I do. But we're about to see each other a lot less. I'm awaiting the arrival of my R2R. I'm then going to add a center speaker, the XS phono (and sell the REF2SE), maybe add new cartridge next year (I have a thing for Dynavector and the MC Anna), some new cables and then I'm dddddddddone.
 
Mike said:
Sadly I do. But we're about to see each other a lot less. I'm awaiting the arrival of my R2R. I'm then going to add a center speaker, the XS phono (and sell the REF2SE), maybe add new cartridge next year (I have a thing for Dynavector and the MC Anna), some new cables and then I'm dddddddddone.
Click to expand...

As my kids say when I ask them to do something ...HAH!
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

Mike said:
Welcome to our world. The other day I caught the FedEx guy carrying my Luxman amp on his head and then it slipped and he proceeded to drop it.....all while I was standing on the front porch watching him. Thankfully it was triple boxed and packed extremely well. But still....
Click to expand...

I once sent an amp back to the manufacturer for repair due to damage that my son had caused. Since it was caused by us it was not covered by the warranty and it looked like it was going to cost me $1500 dollars for the repair. The manufacturer had me send it to him using his FedEx account. When it got to him the casing was irreparably damaged. Since the shipment had been ordered by the manufacturer, he opened a claim with FedEx who naturally intimated that perhaps the packaging had been inadequate. But that didn't fly because I sent it in the manufacturers original packaging and since he always used FedEx it was packaging that had been approved by them.
As it turned out, since the time I had bought that amp, the manufacturer had updated it making several important changes to the way it functions. But the casing of the new version was different from that of my version and it would not fit my amp. So I ended up getting a whole new amp... the new version... at FedEx's expense.
I am assuming that it was at FedEx's expense but I don't know for sure if FedEx ever actually paid the claim. Some time after receiving the new amp, I wrote the manufacturer an email asking him about it and he replied that the case had not been settled yet. After that I never heard anything else about it.

The interesting is this: The photos that the manufacturer sent to FedEx showed that the box was undamaged but despite this, the casing was really bent. I was worried that FedEx might claim that the package was damaged prior to my having boxed it, but apparently that did not happen.

Since that time when unpacking an item. Without interrupting the filming sequence, I film the whole process from beginning to end. I film every surface, edge and corner of the unopened box; I film the whole process of opening the box and removing the item; and I finish by thoroughly filming the product from every possible angle once I have taken it out of the box.

I have not had to send anything off since then, but believe me, if and when I do, I intend to film the whole packing sequence just as thoroughly.
 
Re: My Spatial Statements have shipped!

lallygagger said:
I once sent an amp back to the manufacturer for repair due to damage that my son had caused. Since it was caused by us it was not covered by the warranty and it looked like it was going to cost me $1500 dollars for the repair. The manufacturer had me send it to him using his FedEx account. When it got to him the casing was irreparably damaged. Since the shipment had been ordered by the manufacturer, he opened a claim with FedEx who naturally intimated that perhaps the packaging had been inadequate. But that didn't fly because I sent it in the manufacturers original packaging and since he always used FedEx it was packaging that had been approved by them.
As it turned out, since the time I had bought that amp, the manufacturer had updated it making several important changes to the way it functions. But the casing of the new version was different from that of my version and it would not fit my amp. So I ended up getting a whole new amp... the new version... at FedEx's expense.
I am assuming that it was at FedEx's expense but I don't know for sure if FedEx ever actually paid the claim. Some time after receiving the new amp, I wrote the manufacturer an email asking him about it and he replied that the case had not been settled yet. After that I never heard anything else about it.

The interesting is this: The photos that the manufacturer sent to FedEx showed that the box was undamaged but despite this, the casing was really bent. I was worried that FedEx might claim that the package was damaged prior to my having boxed it, but apparently that did not happen.

Since that time when unpacking an item. Without interrupting the filming sequence, I film the whole process from beginning to end. I film every surface, edge and corner of the unopened box; I film the whole process of opening the box and removing the item; and I finish by thoroughly filming the product from every possible angle once I have taken it out of the box.

I have not had to send anything off since then, but believe me, if and when I do, I intend to film the whole packing sequence just as thoroughly.
Click to expand...

Never thought of that but great idea! FexEx and UPS are weasels and will use any excuse to get out of paying for shipping damage.
 
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