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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...

tomcarr
retrocrownfan's avatar
retrocrownfan
128 posts
 

FWIW my best HiFi shipper award goes to Upscale Audio :)

mattw73
54 posts
 

 

Just last week the brown truck guy comes to my door and he's carrying an old tube amp I purchased. The box has Fragile written on it, arrows pointing this way up. He's not carrying it the way the arrows would like him to, as I open the door he drops the box on its side from about knee height so he can pull the electronic signing box off his waist. I could literally hear the damage being done. I just look at him and say That's kinda fragile. He says My Bad..it's kinda heavy...sign here. Damage wasn't too bad, all the bolts holding the base plate and top of the amp together had snapped though. 

I truly feel bad for the OP. It is such a headache to deal with, plus the loss of any money as well as the damaging of good speakers. Hope everything works out for you in a positive way. I will say that even with the few bad instances I've had with shipping companies I couldn't live a happy life without them lol. I depend on them for many things...I just wish they would be a little more careful. 

captelee's avatar
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captelee
41 posts
 

Sorry to hear this story and claims etc. are always a pain in the ass.

I pack all my gear myself. Recently sent a pair of B&W 802D3 to Washington from Florida, using the larger B&W 801D4 boxes.

It is completely possible to ship anything if you take the time to properly package it. Speakers should wrapped in multiple layers of protection and then I ratchet strap them to a wood pallet. I have five cross country shipping scenarios with heavy speakers and never had a single problem. I only Reg Bennett of Blue Sky Traders in Noble OK to manage the shipment. He calls the drivers and ever so kindly asks them to be careful. And yes, always insure to the max value.

For a big set of speakers I'm spending around $100 for packing and straps and it takes me about 2 hours. Huge pain in the ass, but no where close to dealing with damaged gear.

Never had a problem.  

jafant
18,844 posts
 

maholl50

 

Best practice- drive to pick up gear rather than have a Parcel service molest it.

 

Happy Listening!

helomech
1,521 posts
 

I had to mention the likelihood of litigation in order for UPS to finally pay out my recent claim. IME with carrier insurance, their default policy is to deny each and every claim and make the process a nightmare in hopes of discouraging the claimant. If the items shipped were insured for a high value, it’s worthwhile to just bypass their runaround after the first denial and pay to have an attorney send them a letter.

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