possible UPS shipping damage

[DeLorean]

Hey, Chico! Are you still holding out for the 24th to look, or did you open it and can't put it down to let us know how this turned out?

[FrankV]

Ouch! In October I bought a 535 from a man on E-Bay. He shipped it UPS from Georgia to New York. The box arrived, with no sign of damage. The guitar was in it's hard shell case, and the box had some styrofoam boards, and some bubble wrap, not an expert packing job, but not bad either. The guitar was damaged though. It had pretty bad cracks in the rims, on either side of the neck, as if the neck and body had flexed. The wood split between the bindings. What a bummer. The guy was a real gentleman about it, and he was upset mostly because a beautiful instrument had been damaged. He actually overnighted a check to me for the full amount, and I sent the guitar to a UPS inspection facility, and they sent it back to him, for him to pursue a claim. Because he was such a stand up guy about it, I don't for a minute believe he shipped a guitar already damaged. The thing was, there was no visible damage to the box or the hard shell case.

 

BTW, I sent photos of the damage to a luthier I know, and described the damage. He said it could be repaired, in his words, "good as new", by removing the pups, drilling a bunch of holes inside, and gluing it all up.

 

I hope the guitar that kicked off this topic is safe and sound. It probably is OK, and the damage to the carton is well documented, to say the least, so you'll be OK in any event. Good Luck.

[chico]

OK, Day #2 update. Here's an email from my friend Mark along with some photo he sent me of the UNopened case.. (that happens later, as he explains..)

 

Here's his email to me:

 

RAY:

 

As you see with pics I opened the box and pulled the case out, the only damage to the case are two small impressions about a half inch apart about 3 or 4 inches from the second latch from the top. This is in line with the tear/impact on the box. The dings are not deep so I am wondering if a fork lift stabbed the box and stopped just in time? Hopefully it did not shake the s**t out of the guitar.

 

Still have not opened the case and will not do so until I return from 6PM Xmas Eve Mass tomorrow night. I'm tickled that the Heritage Club folk are concerned, I cannot wait to join!

 

I will give you the verdict on condition tomorrow night before I go to bed, maybe even with some pics!

 

Take Care....Mark

 

Maybe the grand Heritage boys in Kalamazoo would be amused as well?

 

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Stay tuned, the rest of the story The Night Before Christmas!

[DeLorean]

Thanks for the update...

 

Who else thinks he has already checked it out, and doesn't want to admit to it?

[hiro]

Wow that sucks. It would have to take an act of God to prevent me from opening up that case and checkin' it out. He has strong willpower. Good thing the timer starts on Christmas Eve, though. Hopefully, it will turn out the guitar is fine.

 

One of my surfing buddies used to work for a surfshop and they stocked surfboards from shapers in FL and East Coast and often sent boards back and forth. Nearly 50% of the packages had some type of combat damage to the package (deep cuts, corners busted off, first few layers packaging torn through, etc), and about 25% had some damage to the case and/or surf board inside.

They ended up using these super tough plastic cases .

 

It's strange, I used to work in a warehouse shipping and receiving (my first job long time ago) I noticed smaller packages are usually delivered no problem, no damage. The bigger the package, the chances of damage go up exponentially.

 

Yes forklifts of all types usually do a number.

And holiday busy times force them to work faster and they aren't as mindful . . .

 

Well at least the mail delivery ninjas are much nicer than airline baggage handlers.

[Callaway]

Personally I've had terrible luck with UPS and go with Fed Ex who are possibly only marginally better I recently sold a 54 Goldie and used Fed Ex. I used almost two full rolls of bubble wrap both inside the old lifton case and out, detuned the guitar to take any string whiplash out of possibility I then put the old case inside a new Gibson box and again used bubble and newspapers to take up any pockets, I then put that box inside another larger heavier NEW BOX repeated everything again inside the larger box, marked top and bottom on the box and to use no hooks. The guitar and everything weighed 32 lbs. I insured the thing for $30k over what I sold it for, sent it Fed Ex overnight 24hr air the whole package cost me $275.00 to ship but got to it's destination within 5 minutes of what they indicated came through like a champ. Assume you are dealing with folks who don't give a damn about the contents and allow for that in your packaging. The next one I got in was a Gibby reissue 59 burst that came through in only it's original Gibby cardboard box and brown lifton and got to me in 5 days same distance traveled as the one I sent, the guy must have been a trusting SOB the guitar was fine but only by the grace of god I would most likely have packed the guitar differently had I been shipping it. Conclusion hope they are packed idiot proof.

[golferwave]

The pictures of the case look promising. I hope we hear some very good news tonight!

[brentrocks]

i hate to see this kind of stuff....not just for the people involved in this inncodent, but especially since i'm shipping out 2 very rare Heritages monday

[blueox]

The outer box sickened me to see it, but seeing the Heritage case makes me feel better. Here's hoping . . .

[brentrocks]

The outer box sickened me to see it, but seeing the Heritage case makes me feel better. Here's hoping . . .

 

if the strings were loosened and the headstock compartment wasnt packed FULL of crap, the guitar should be just fine

[skydog]

I was watching this show on TV the other night where these guys fastened a camera to a wild boar and released it to follow him for 24 hrs to see where it went. Probably impossible, but it would be interesting to do this with a box marked Fragile, Handle With Care, etc. just to see how it gets treated and follow it from it's origin to destination.

[Tim]

OK, Day #2 update. Here's an email from my friend Mark along with some photo he sent me of the UNopened case.. (that happens later, as he explains..)

 

Here's his email to me:

 

RAY:

 

As you see with pics I opened the box and pulled the case out, the only damage to the case are two small impressions about a half inch apart about 3 or 4 inches from the second latch from the top. This is in line with the tear/impact on the box. The dings are not deep so I am wondering if a fork lift stabbed the box and stopped just in time? Hopefully it did not shake the s**t out of the guitar.

 

Still have not opened the case and will not do so until I return from 6PM Xmas Eve Mass tomorrow night. I'm tickled that the Heritage Club folk are concerned, I cannot wait to join!

 

I will give you the verdict on condition tomorrow night before I go to bed, maybe even with some pics!

 

Take Care....Mark

 

Maybe the grand Heritage boys in Kalamazoo would be amused as well?

 

Well, the CASE looks nice...I'm looking forward to seeing the guitar

 

-----------

 

Stay tuned, the rest of the story The Night Before Christmas!

[chico]

FWIW: More on the shipping $64,000 question...UPS or FedEx...

 

I'm sure Mark and Dave Rogers won't mind if I share Dave's response to Mark's notification of damaged box..

remember, Dave ships hundreds, if not thousands, of guitars over the course of his business career..

 

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Mark,

 

We can use Fed Ex or the postal service, but I have to warn you about Fed Ex. We cannot be responsible for anything shipped by them, so that would have to be shipped at your risk. They have told me point blank that they never pay a claim unless they are taken to court. They delivered a guitar once that a fork lift had punched a hole through it and they denied the claim. A friend of mine shipped me an old Martin by Fed Ex and they broke the neck on it. They again denied the claim and he did take them to court. It was a lengthy procedure and Fed Ex settled the day before they had to go to court. We can ship to you by Fed Ex, but I think you should take out a special insurance on your own before you use them. Just wanted to make you aware of that. UPS is WAY better than Fed Ex for any claims.

 

Sincerely,

Dave Rogers

Dave's Guitar Shop

 

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So there's one shipper's experience. It'd be interesting to read any other posts from experienced retail shippers. This is more about who will own up to the shipping mistake and make it good if necessary, rather than which company handles the stuff with kid gloves the best..

 

More tonight when Mark opens the case..and to you doubters who think he's already peeked inside...you don't know Mark...

 

Merry Christmas all,

Chico

[rjsanders]

a quick poll of a couple luthiers, a couple dealers, a couple of friends: FedEx is their preference. one friend uses USPS, cuz FedEx won't insure to full value, i'm told, and the postal service will - then has contracted w/FedEx to do the actual work. i'll have to double check on that...

[kath]

Had a golden eagle sent back to me from Heritage. When it arrived it had a one inch crack on the top. Took two years to get this settled with Bill at Heritage. No fun. When you buy a guitar the last thing you want is this kind of problem. The box was in perfect condition!!! No dents of any sort. Finally get a brand new golden eagle but the time factor sure decreased the fun of buying the guitar.

 

Allan

[Thundersteel]

I use USPS only now. Never had a problem yet (knock on Formica).

[Jim W]

It's probably fine! Dave is an A-1 guy, and will stand behind it.

 

Alicia and I were in San Diego a few years back to pick up her L4 from Centre City Music. There was a super custom shop righty Les Paulin a display case there and Saul, the owner of the shop, relayed the story of it.

 

It had been custom ordered by a musician and had all kinds of custom bling inlay (think along the lines of a PRS Dragon).

 

He shipped it to the musician, who promptly begged to return it. Saul asked why, and the musician sent him photos of how it arrived. UPS had run a fork from a forklift completely thru the package. It was a miracle, but the fork went in between the neck and the cutaway and not a scratch on the guitar. The musician was to freaked out about it he couldn't play it.

[tbonesullivan]

well? are you back yet? OPEN IT UP!!! I'm dying over here.

[tbonesullivan]

I use USPS only now. Never had a problem yet (knock on Formica).

USPS does work well with parcel post. Sure it may take a while, but it gets there, and in one piece. UPS not so much. Of course, stuff does get lost in the mail, but it usually eventually turns up. Where I work we mail out a lot of catalogs, and some parcels, and sometimes we get them back over a year later, especially international ones.

 

When I bought my Hamer Special from Dave's guitar, they packed it to survive nuclear attack. The case was inside a box that was exactly the right size for it. This was then inside a BIGGER box, and packed tight with foam peanuts. Me, knowing how much they charged me for shipping (like $25?) was aghast because I knew how much it must have cost to ship that, and also how long it took to pack it. Dave's guitar rocks.

[chico]

Great news, the guitar wasn't damaged in shipment. Here's what Mark wrote me:

 

Well Ray: Good news, the H575 is in great condition, no sign of damage, not even a scratch. Thank-ya-Jesus! Already I have placed gold barrel knobs on it. It feels very good in my left hand, it certainly does need a set-up and I will have my guitar Doc put a better nut on it. However, I am very surprised to find rough sharp edges to all of the frets on both sides of the finger board. I really do not like that and those fret edges will have to be crowned. That is a trait I find on low end guitars, at the store, and something I never thought I would discover on a new Heritage! That is something I will get in their face about next July in Kalamazoo.

 

I very much like how it sounds unplugged and how much the head stock vibrates when I strum it, but it did not sound so good plugged into my mini Marshall stack, tomorrow I will try it thru a couple of my lovely Fender tube amps and I know the tone will be better.

 

So how do I join the HOC now?

 

Mark

 

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so, stay tuned.. look to welcome Mark "Zapman" and his new H575! He'll upload more pics.

[DeLorean]

I"m glad the guitar was OK, thanks for the update.

 

Tell him not to sweat the fret sprout too much. It won't take recrowning, if his luthier is good that will take a few minutes to fix.

[brentrocks]

good news!!!!

 

ITS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!!!!

[golferwave]

Thanks for the good news! Tell Mark we're looking forward to having him join in on the HOC threads. A little fine tuning on the nut and frets and he'll have a guitar that he'll have trouble putting down.

[tulk1]

Thanks for the good news! Tell Mark we're looking forward to having him join in on the HOC threads. A little fine tuning on the nut and frets and he'll have a guitar that he'll have trouble putting down.

Low humidity? Had a Tele like that. Some moisture helped loads. Good to hear the gtr was fine otherwise.

[Kuz]

Low humidity? Had a Tele like that. Some moisture helped loads. Good to hear the gtr was fine otherwise.

 

Exactly my thoughts as well!