Fedex minimum insurance for special handling

FWIW - Just received a heavy tube amp that was palletized by Pilot Air. No problems and I picked it up at their terminal in Denver to cut down costs. Expense was same as Fed Ex ground quote.

I've also found out the hard way that the best way to ship anything of weight and value, is to make sure its palletized and use a freight company. No matter what they say or what you pay, FEdEx, UPS and USPS seem to bounce things, if they can. In addition, their claims process is a nightmare - I've had to threaten lawsuits before they would pay anything for the damage they've caused. I have had good luck with both Yellow Freight and Pilot Air using pallets.

I fought with Fedex ground for 6 months before they finally reimbursed me for what I had to pay in order to have their damage fixed. I was transferred among and between 3 different regions with the hope that I would eventually give up. I did not give up, as I just got more upset and determined, as it became a "principal of the thing" issue, and finally got reimbursed($1600.) The items were large and heavy and they were bounced. I had a similarly poor experience from an Insured High Value UPS tube amplifier delivery that they also obviously dropped but refused to pay for repairs. One of the managers from one of the services confessed to me that they were actually graded on how few claims they paid, and encouraged to deny claims routinely, regardless of merit. I am disgusted with the whole lot of them. Freight and pallets remains my choice going forward. Life is too short for this brain damage.....

SW: They did. They picked the amp and tubes up at VAC in FLA and I picked them up here. No dropping, no abuse, no problems. I saved about $85 by picking up from them, which was no problem for me from a logistical standpoint. Took about 4 days.

I have found the freight carriers to be much more professional and responsible than the "kids" that mostly populate Fedex/UPS. I think that at least for Pilot, this is because you are dealing with the people that actually OWN the business/franchise. So to them, it DOES matter that you have a good experience so that you use them again. They also can't afford to have any complaints as franchise owners. That has most definitely NOT been my experience with Fedex and UPS, who really don't seem to care what happens.