We ship hundreds of packages a year and last year only had one "lost" but nothing ever damaged...so far lucky, I guess. BUT there's a little secret I've been told by my local UPS rep (and I'm assuming FedEx). If you insure the item for a minimum $2,500 they then place the package in a secure cage that must be signed off from employee to employee so it's handled a bit different. When we ship cables that are almost impossible to get damaged in shipping, we still place this dollar amt of insurance, even if the cable isn't worth the stated amount. This is a kind of insurance policy and piece of mind for us. Again, never have had to place a claim to verify and hope we never have to find out.
UPS. Friend Or Foe?
Recently shipped two speakers and the stands all in very good (8/10) condition to a buyer in another state. One speaker and the stands were in the factory boxes. The other speaker was boxed by UPS. The buyer sent pictures and stated they arrived damaged. One of the speakers had a rattle but no visible damage, the other speaker, (the one UPS boxed), had visible damage. Not surprisingly, the stands arrived unscathed.
All items were picked up by UPS in that city and taken for inspection.
And the results were...UPS is not at fault because they have a policy, buried in very fine print, that it is the shippers' (sellers') responsibility to ensure proper packaging.
My wife and I also found out the local UPS stores are legally not affiliated with UPS!!!
We are currently attempting to discuss this with the owner of the local store.
Sad but true...