Shipping from Canada to the U.S.

I recently purchased a Levinson #380 from a very nice fellow in British Columbia. Since the unit was USA product, there were no Duties to pay, only the expense of shipping which, in the thread above, you know can be very expensive. The fellow in B.C. lived close to the border so he used a private service, LetterLock and they shipped it to and from Wa. State to me. The only problem was customs who opened the double boxes and removed the unit, only to replace it in the cardboard cut-out without its protective plastic bag...the corners of the unit were rubbed raw, completely ruining the finish on the faceplate. Customs did not claim responsibility and the shipper who used FexEx once it got into the States(Letterlock), was told by FedEx that since it was in factory packing and showed no visible signs of shipping abuse, they were not responsible either. The outside shipping box looked as if it had just come from the manufacturer to me! FedEx also lost the secured funds payment via return overnight, causing concern and additional costs for a stop pmt. and re-issue of funds. The seller, John, was very gracious and paid for the faceplate out of his ouw pocket and had a devil of a time with both shippers. I met a fellow audiophile, got a great piece of gear and became very aware of the problems that shipping companies can cause, all right before Christmas...and John lost money. Lesson: be very careful and follow the good advice offered above!