My company ships over 100,000 packages every year with UPS and while there is an occasional mishap, overall, they are a superb shipper. They almost always deliver on time, and when they don't, you don't have to pay - even on ground shipments! You can also track your package on the web at UPS.com. Giving your buyer the tracking number of your shipment and letting them know they can track it on the web gives them that extra bit of security in a mail order transaction. The only other shipper that I trust is FedEx, but they are more expensive. |
Yes, but try shipping fragile items with UPS and watch what happens if they aren't packaged for war. I am sure companies such as Amazon.com ships truck loads of non fragile items with UPS, such as books, with out damage problems. There are probably many companies who ship many things with UPS with out problems, unfortunately, none of them are high end audio dealers that we know of who do any kind of real volume. We have seen first hand how dozens of ship companies handle their packages once they arrive to their hubs, and UPS doesn't score high based on what we have seen and on our experiences with them. FED EX scores high, and so do Emmery and Air Borne, but know one has done a better job for us than DHL. Experience has brought us to DHL. Only when we have bent our policies to accomodate a customers request have we had a shipping problem this year (via UPS). Bottom line: I am sure we shipped more hifi last month than you will ship in your life time, and shipping hifi is the issue, and shipping it with UPS is the problem. PLEASE, do not try to tell us about the UPS (ground) tracking service. We know all about it. Really a great service when you call about a delayed or lost package and all the operator has been able tell us was: "yes, we show that, that package was picked up for delivery"! It's like a bad joke. BTW: No, FED EX is NOT "more expensive" than UPS, but if you are comparing 1, 2 or 3 day air to UPS ground, you are comparing an air service to a ground service. Compare oranges with oranges. If your going to compare costs, compare UPS 1, 2, & 3 day to FED EX 1, 2, & 3 day. They are about the same, and in many cases FED EX is actually LESS. You can't compare a ground service to an air service. Get it there on time and in the same condition it left it. www.dhl-usa.com . You get what you pay for. |
I didn't notice at first that Hello HiFi was actually the poster of this message/request. Here's what I don't understand - it is evident from all your various posts on this site that not only does your company not ship via UPS, but you also have great disdain for them ("NO UPS, NO UPS, NO UPS"). That is fine. That is your opinion and your experience. Why then, put a post out soliciting feedback ("feedback needed") for a company you have already COMPLETELY formed your opinion about? If anyone says anything positive about UPS you are going to vehemently disagree, and if anyone says anything negative about UPS, you are going to say "Amen." What then, is the purpose of this post? Just to alert AudioGon users not to use UPS because you have had numerous bad experiences with them? If that's what your goal is, that's fine too. Just don't do it under the portent of "feedback needed." To clarify two other things, no, I was not comparing UPS ground pricing to FedEx air pricing and I never stated such. If you don't believe me, go to UPS.com and Fedex.com and pick the same level of service and the same origination and destination zip codes and see which company charges more. More often than not, FedEx will be higher. Secondly, I used to work at a high end hi fi dealer in Florida and would say 80-90% of the shipments we received from the manufacturers were shipped via UPS. Sure, there was an occasional mishap (as I stated in my first post), but about 98% of the time, everything arrived in fine shape. If, as you state, "shipping hifi is the issue," then why do most all hifi manufacturers continue to use UPS to transport their product if they are so bad about handling packages? To bottom line this whole thing, why don't you just put out a post that says "UPS sucks, DHL rules" and leave it at that. If you ask for feedback, be aware that not everyone will have the same opinion as you. My experience with over 100,000 packages shipped with UPS in the last 12 months is that they are a reliable shipper. Your experience is the opposite. So what. You're not right, and I'm not wrong. It's just two different opinions. |
FED EX is NOT more expensive than UPS. In many cases, they are less. If your comparing 1, 2, & 3 day FED EX to UPS ground, then wake up and start comparing apples with apples. Compare the FED EX 1, 2, & 3 day rates with UPS 1, 2, & 3 day rates. They will vary by +-5%. |
Gee, someome is saying UPS is OK becuase they ship 100,000 packages a year with them? So what! Amazon probably ships well over a million books a year, but books aren't hifi, and that's what we have had a problem with when UPS is involved. UPS = regular damage problems with shipments. FED EX = almost no damage problems. DHL (for 1999) = no damage problems on anything we shipped with them. Hmm... Our shipping volume is increasing, but our problems our decreasing. When your in the hifi business, and have used ups a 1000s of times, you will have some actual experience to base your comments on, but until then.... |
I shipped a pair of Thiel 3.6 back to the manufacturere and they arrives DEMOLISHED! UPS did pay up for the damages but it took a while and lots of calls. I have received other large heavy pkgs without mishap. |
havent had much problem, here in sylmar is a ups office, never have to wait in line long like in van nuys. its safe here to leave pkgs on the porch and they will. every time fedex comes to his door, they tap so lightly on his door and so briefly, that he usually has to go after the pkg at their ofc. aon the other hand, once ups misses you with a pkg that they don t leave, you cant retrieve it at the end of the day...mixt baG ID say. hey, ever follow a a fedes truck down the street? u could get a speeding tkt that way! |
No UPS has been great, shipped and recieved over 100 items never a single problem. At my UPS station they ask to open box to review packing. Very good experiences. cant understand the problem, matbe its they way other people package items? |
Does Hello-HiFi control Audiogon? |
Most mfr's use UPS (ground) because it is cheap. The cost replacing damaged items/dealing with claims vs paying more for an air service , in an accountants eye, is better, because it is less. Getting our orders 99.9% of the time to our customers in the same condition they left in (!) for a few dollars more is, for us. the better option. We ship hifi, not insurance claims! As far as the comment from in that other post about "shipping 100,000 packages with UPS" and finishing them a "reliable service", frankly, so what. Amazon Books ships millions of "books" with UPS and probably finds them to be a "reliable (cheap) service". Do this with hifi and we can tell you the results in advance. UPS (ground) is cheap. They are rough on the packages. You get what you pay for. We mention this because we like people to know there are other ship options. Just because you hear about UPS all the time does not mean they are a good service. We check back up on UPS every so often and find the same results: problems with claims, lost/mis routed COD checks, and damage, damage, damage. FED EX now has a ground service which we will try soon. We hope they will do as well as the FED EX air service, but only time, and shipping HIFI with them, will tell. |
