Shipping: A lesson learned

WRONG: "DHL (this is FedX ground)".

DHL is DHL. Fed EX Ground is (was) RPS.

RPS is (was) one of the most unreliable services we have ever used (and we used them daily for several months until we had to give up on them). DHL is the MOST reliable service we have ever used (thousands of times). RPS (Fed EX Ground) is not even comparable, let alone the same thing.

DHL is an air shipment company, and has nothing to do with any ground
service, and is not "FedX ground"!

DHL does handle some of USPS's shipments
(and UPS & Fed Ex air for many non U.S countries, especially Africa).

Sean, tell me about it!! I would have picked up the speakers myself, however it was a 3.0 hr drive one way (it must have been a 175 mile trip, 1 way) plus I didnt have a car large enough to fit 2 large wooden crates.

Try asking a Fedex telephone person about why upgraded service takes longer than "ground" service. If it isnt on their computer screen, they cant tell you, the best that I got was that a ground shipment would have never left a truck, while the Express service went from a truck to a plane, to a dock, to a truck. Go figure......I just hope it doesn't come damaged like an amp did last week.

FEDEX and audiophile gear do not mix. I bought a pair of used tube monoblocks through Audiogon and had them shipped to me via FEDEX. The amps were in the original factory cartons with dense foam interior packaging. the boxes arrived and loked as if they had been though hell. The metal cage on both amps were bent from the boxes having been dropped. I filed a claim with FEDEX. They took thrre weeks to send someone to examine the damage. They tnen declared that they could not be responsible for the damage becasue the packaging was not new. They also said that FEDEX shipments had to be able to sustain a 36 inch drop as this was standard in the conveyor belt delivery system despite the fact that the packages were clearly maked fragile. It cost me several hundred dollars to fixed the damage they caused. FEDEX was arrogant and rude in denying any responsibility for the damage they caused.

Making the trip can yield extra benefits. I live in a remote area of Wyoming, where there are only a few audiophiles (one fantastic hi-fi shop though). I drove 500 miles roundtrip for my Mirage MRM-1's and met another junkie in the process. I demo'd his rig and we have become friends since. He turned me on to other used deals from guys in his audio club. Now I'm getting a killer analog setup at entry-level prices. It pays to drive.

How about this one? The other day I sent something to a guy UPS-COD for $418 several hundred miles away. UPS delivered the package but forgot about the COD. Customer service was clueless about what to do next. I had to call several times to get any action on this. Fortunately, the guy was honest enough to overnight me a moneyorder so problem solved but I will never go UPS-COD again.