# Shipping your products



## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

I shipped out a guitar to a fellow in Minnesota. I sent it UPS Ground, insured, double boxed, packed in foam and bubble wrap. When it arrived, the neck had been pushed away from the body, a huge feat in itself. The box was bent. Somewhere along the line, someone pitched it and it probably hit a table edge or something.
I put in a claim, only to find out that I was not the shipper. I went through a "UPS Store", instead of using an actual UPS terminal since the terminal's hours were so lousy. Tried for three weeks to get my claim, and also was told if I sent the owner the money to ship it back so I could do repairs, all claims were void. Huh? How do you explain to your customer you are waiting for some faceless UPS battle between UPS main, and The UPS Store, which it turns out is not owned by UPS at all, it's MBE corporation, (Mail Boxes, Etc.) who licensed the name from UPS and have an agreement to accept packages for them. In essence, UPS people compete with MBE for the exact same service. But under the claim rules, they are two seperate companies completely. Not good…
Finally, after me just verbally beating up the manager of the store for weeks, he agreed to pay it out of his own pocket. My customer has been waiting three weeks for any kind of action, something I cannot believe. They finally picked up the guitar on 9/15, after him receiving it on 8/25. How's that for great service??
If you must ship, you might consider straight terminals, actual UPS or Fed Ex pickup. These stores are NOT UPS.


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## BilltheDiver (Jul 2, 2010)

Good information to know. Sorry it cost you so much to learn it.


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## doyoulikegumwood (Jun 21, 2007)

I have to say that I stopped using UPS for this very reason. I have never had any issues like this with fed ex.So i use fed ex even thought they are a bit more pricey.


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

Even Fedex has its problems. I use Fedex to ship hazardous chemicals at work. I used to be able to make up the paperwork by hand. That way it was done according to regulations and done right. But at the beginning of this year Fedex decided we had to use their software. If there's a glitch in their software it's too bad and not their fault. We get the product back again and have to start the process alll over again. Meanwhile the customer is asking us where their product is.


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## DLCW (Feb 18, 2011)

I would ship by anyone OTHER then UPS.

In 4.5 years living where I live I have yet to receive an undamaged package by UPS. I use Fedex or USPS for smaller items. I use a Fedex Freight or a local shipping company for larger items.

I will not ship by UPS, ever. They have no customer service and always lay the blame for damaged packages at the feet of the shipper or receiver, never their own gorilla package handlers. They keep claims tied up so long you finally have no choice but to give up or file a lawsuit. And with the rates they charge they have some pretty shifty lawyers on staff to defend their incompetence.


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## grosa (Aug 27, 2010)

UPS is the worst shipper out there. They could care less. The US Post office is better than them.


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## Puzzleman (May 4, 2010)

Concerning FedEx, if you had shipped the the FedEx Office stores, you would have had the same situation as their stores are licensees as well.

I do agree that the claims process is not very friendly at all.

I switched all of my shipping from UPS (for over 10 years) to Fedex. My salesperson did not notice that I had not shipped a single package until 3 months later. When my rep did show up to find out what was up, she was not the person that I had last saw as my rep. After talking to her, I found out that the last one I saw was 2 reps ago. None of them came by to introduce themselves.

With FedEx, my rep is based in Memphis (I am in St Louis) and I have seen her twice and she calls every 3 months to see whats going on. when I had a problem with a pickup person, I called her the next morning and I had a phone from call from the local supervisor within 2 hours. Not to mention that FedEx is 10% cheaper. I spend a lot of money on shipping and it is nice to know that someone appreciates my business.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Well, I think I am convinced. I'm going to try FedEx direct.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

I used FEDEX Ground once, and got overcharged by one container (11 instead of 12), got my money back for that. Then, they beat the living snot out of my stuff moving it. One item was a bike. it made it from chinee to Florida, where I was working. Sent it home in the original container, it arrived with the axles poking out of the box, and deep scratches on the frame. The tool box that I bought new for my wood carving tools (saved that shipping container, also) got set on the porch upside down (TWO arrows pointing up on each side) and I had to do body-and-fender work to get it open. I shipped it empty, on purpose, it's a good thing. The delivery guy just said, "If something's bad, just file a claim!". I did better. I sent 60+ people to a different mover. ;^p PODS. You pack it. Then a moving truck took the stuff back across the nation with no damage.


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## nate22 (Jul 12, 2010)

That is why I won't use UPS. I have heard of to many stories of peoples things getting damage before they get it.


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## Stosh (May 27, 2010)

As a former employee of UPS i can say that the amount of packages and the low wages that UPS puts on its "part time" box movers, its a wonder everything isnt broken. Of course when its time to get "10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag" and it should have been finished 5 minutes ago and some ass is standing there yelling at you, well something has to give and packages are not handled well. I worked there for two years "part time". It sucked. The benifits and health insurance were great but the pay sucked and the workload was just too much to physically handle sometimes. One day before christmas i loaded 1400 boxes on to 4 different brown trucks in under 4 hours. Do the math. Several of the packages were over 100 pounds and there were more time than i can remember of us teaming up to push stuff in the truck just to get the doors closed. I never broke anything intentionally but im sure things got busted up. So dont blame the poor bastards working like ants to load this crap, you might want to point the finger at management and their corperate greed. The guys driving the trucks get twice the pay (and they earn it) but they dont load the trucks so if something is broke, take it easy on the driver, chances are he didnt maul it. Chances are (from what i saw) your stuff was broken by some underpaid guy who had too much to do and your package was just a casualty of corperate greed. The best way to ship anything UPS is in a 3/4" plywood box put together with woodscrews and 2X4 reinforcement. Packed well inside a plywood box is the only way to go if you want a fragile item to stand a chance! I know many people at UPS who love their jobs. I know many people who make good money at UPS, none of these people load the trucks


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