$1000 amp shot! UPS catastrophy

It occurs to me they are playing the numbers. Doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of money on super packing everything if the amount of stuff that is actually damaged to the point of return/refund is a tiny fraction of the total.
I think the most disappointing to me was ordering the Pat Metheny Orchestrion 2-LP set from Amazon.CA, as they were the only Amazon that stocked it. The cover wasn't destroyed, but it did get a little chewed up on the sides due to their poor packaging. It was, literally, wedged sideways into a long box. It's a shame since it was a limited release, and the LP cover had a different photo than the CD. Amazon could not offer a replacement since they had no more, and they had none on order to replace their own stock since it was a limited run. I think they refunded me a percentage of the price, which was a nice gesture. The records themselves are flawless--flat, dead quiet pressing, very nice. It's just a shame I couldn't have the complete product the same way.

That was earlier in their stocking and selling of LPs, and back then it was blindingly obvious they had no clue as to how they should pack records. Their current system seems to be the best--it seem as though they automatically box the LPs into LP shippers when they arrive in their stock, then they can either ship individuals out without needing any further packing, or there are two or more on an order, they just toss those prepackaged LPs into a larger box. It is rare I receive records these days from Amazon (US) that are damaged. I quit ordering from the EU since as long as DHL gets their hands on it, the package will suffer either through physical mishandling or take literally weeks to get here.
 
What'chu talking about? Pop an air pillow the right way and the neighbours will report shots fired....
Gotta lay it on the ground, and jump on it with both feet flat, together. This has been tested at Casa Wyldcat. :D
 
am i wrong to say, that this problem did not seem to happen as much 10-15 years ago. Possibly i just got lucky with all the heavy amps, or receivers that I shipped, or received at that time.
 
am i wrong to say, that this problem did not seem to happen as much 10-15 years ago. Possibly i just got lucky with all the heavy amps, or receivers that I shipped, or received at that time.

Dunno.

Even our collective experiences are not really statistically significant relative to the 30+ million packages shipped every day by UPS+FedEx; not even counting the millions more by USPS.
 
hm, I actually did save some pics. This is a Metz console amp I bought a while ago. I saved the pics because it was such a good packing job.

This what I saw inside the outer box. The bubble wrap had me a little worried. View attachment 1031545

More bubble wrap inside the inner box. More initial worry.
View attachment 1031547

Inside the bubble wrap.
View attachment 1031548

Under the pink foam, at which point I went from concerned to impressed.

View attachment 1031551

under the front hunk of foam
View attachment 1031556

Under all that was just the amp, exactly as it was pictured in the ad. Tube amps are always a little dicey just because of the heavy transformers but this one came through fine.

Hey. that is a cool amp...is that going to be a stand alone amp?
 
I've had a couple of recent deliveries, involving quite heavy or very heavy audio items. The most recent (a pair of JBL PT800 speakers) was the best packaging job I've every seen, period. The speakers were in separate boxes, wrapped in that thin foam wrap. Each box was then surrounded by thick foam insulation, and then inside another, larger box. All boxes were brand new, and thick. It took me nearly five minutes to unpack each speaker, they were so bundled up. I gave the eBay seller top marks, and sent him an email, thanking him for his care and time. The previous arrival was a JBL PS1400 sub, which weighs 85lbs. The box was old, not original packaging,and was on its last legs. The speaker was pretty well surrounded by styrofoam, but the box was too big, there was inadequate padding on the bottom, and the speakers "feet" were almost exposed, as they had almost worn through. I was amazed the PS1400 survived its journey. From one extreme to another.
 
The immunity to common sense in the consumer packing/shipping world never ceases to amaze or entertain me.

In addition to delicate electronics and musical instruments, we ship a fair number of antique clocks, clock movements, and antique light fixtures and parts.

From my experience the 3 big carriers all suck about equally, and performance does seem to vary somewhat by region. If i had to pick individual nits, i'd say fed ex gets the prize for stolen/missing parcels in my region, ups gets the prize for parcels stuck in a shipping loop where the package bounces back n forth between sorting facilities that would seemingly not be involved in a normal transit route, and usps has the worst, most ineffective tracking as well as mystery conditions of the parcel when it arrives(mangled, wet, dirty, muddy, smelly).
 
FedEx is my go-to.
100s of shipments. very few issues.
(although the NE US seems to be dangerous, I had some weird shit happen out there)

I've seen UPS handling facilities. Cruel!
Never, never, never, ever!

You should go to the Willington, CT FedEx distribution facility... makes UPS look like they handle stuff with kid gloves, Never had a problem with USPS for anything, FedEx and UPS have destroyed guitars and audio equipment numerous times but they always paid the claim

Only way I will ever ship FedEx is if it fits in my Anvil amp case
 
You should go to the Willington, CT FedEx distribution facility... makes UPS look like they handle stuff with kid gloves, Never had a problem with USPS for anything, FedEx and UPS have destroyed guitars and audio equipment numerous times but they always paid the claim

Only way I will ever ship FedEx is if it fits in my Anvil amp case

That may explain why I have trouble shipping out there. NE US seems to be a tricky ship.

I’ve had woofers crushed out there.
But USPS did the same thing.
2-3 NLA woofers died on route out there.
The photos were amazing.
I finally managed to get one through.
I did collect on all the rest too.
 
A fellow I work with daily works for United Parcel Service evenings. Never ship anything valuable during the last 3 weeks of December. This means audio gear. Conveyor belts jamming, stuff falling 2 stories, all this is possible. Boxes piled on top of one another, temporary employees with no reason to care because they won't be there come January. Many dimensional weight boxes ARE heavy, too and woe to the receiver that winds up on the bottom. Horror stories abound.
Amazon , soon, will be using more different size boxes in their mailings.
I had 3 nice working Pioneer 600 series receivers I gave away in return for a favor in order to avoid shipping horrors. And I work in a shipping department.

And this.. On my block this season there were multiple delivery drivers using Penske trucks and unmarked vehicles. I pulled into my driveway one day ( it slopes down towards my home) and ran over a package delivered for my wife. I never saw it. Came FedEx.
 
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Man, that's a damn shame.
Wife and I just had a discussion about packing something safely yesterday as an item sold. Now, mind you not audio related but a toy. Being careful about getting something there to the customer I pack carefully. Once I did I patted myself on the back and drove to USPS. The box only measured 18x18x24 inches weighing 8Lbs. Cost for this careful packing? $89 to ship to Pennsylvania. I said "Excuse me could you double check that"? I know it's been awhile since I shipped something but $89 for 8Lbs package? That cost almost double the product I was shipping.
Something has to give. Shrinking the package down to almost no protection which will result in what happened to Bergstrom or go without a lot. Sorry kiddo no stuffed animal for you for Christmas. Can't even mail kids toys across the country anymore. It'll have to go in brown paper bag and call it a day.
What happened to postal rates?
 
Man, that's a damn shame.
Wife and I just had a discussion about packing something safely yesterday as an item sold. Now, mind you not audio related but a toy. Being careful about getting something there to the customer I pack carefully. Once I did I patted myself on the back and drove to USPS. The box only measured 18x18x24 inches weighing 8Lbs. Cost for this careful packing? $89 to ship to Pennsylvania. I said "Excuse me could you double check that"? I know it's been awhile since I shipped something but $89 for 8Lbs package? That cost almost double the product I was shipping.
Something has to give. Shrinking the package down to almost no protection which will result in what happened to Bergstrom or go without a lot. Sorry kiddo no stuffed animal for you for Christmas. Can't even mail kids toys across the country anymore. It'll have to go in brown paper bag and call it a day.
What happened to postal rates?

You have to quote all three carriers all the time. Depending on the phase of the moon, one will be head and shoulders above (below?) the other two. Next package, they all switch seats again. Keeps us on our toes.

Funny how folks in New England seem married to UPS; I have a helluva time getting folks up there to agree to drop off at FedEx which is usually just a bit more than half the price of UPS shipping to/from the northeast.
 
That's sad. But before (?) you trash it, I would pull all the output transistors, a bunch of genuine SK transistors might help save another amp in the future.

Lee.
 
Man, that's a damn shame.
Wife and I just had a discussion about packing something safely yesterday as an item sold. Now, mind you not audio related but a toy. Being careful about getting something there to the customer I pack carefully. Once I did I patted myself on the back and drove to USPS. The box only measured 18x18x24 inches weighing 8Lbs. Cost for this careful packing? $89 to ship to Pennsylvania. I said "Excuse me could you double check that"? I know it's been awhile since I shipped something but $89 for 8Lbs package? That cost almost double the product I was shipping.
Something has to give. Shrinking the package down to almost no protection which will result in what happened to Bergstrom or go without a lot. Sorry kiddo no stuffed animal for you for Christmas. Can't even mail kids toys across the country anymore. It'll have to go in brown paper bag and call it a day.
What happened to postal rates?
You can't mail larger boxes through the Post Office. That size box, through UPS would go out as around a25 pounder, via dimensional weight. A stuffed animal would have made it through UPS. Probably half, at least, what you were billed.
 
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I agree with the comments about all companies have bad employees and that each would have issues, but also think UPS may be teh worst.
I have to say that sadly seems to me that UPS may be worse than others. I always hipped FedEx (and I pack for world war) and had zero issues.
During the holidays I needed to use UPS ( two minutes from my house). I packed the Pioneer TT in the original box and then added a UPS sturdy box with a lot of padding paid $119 for shipping and another close to $60-70 in materials (just to add context). The dustcover broke of course...not sure if they will even respond to my claim but lets see. I also know several others who ship a lot of audio and use FedEx only with at least better results than UPS.

Sorry for your loss and bad luck.
 
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