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"white glove" delivery, coast to coast...

Pavioni

Pavioni

Active Member
After reading through the horror stories in this section, thought I'd pass along a little tip I've learned from dealing with UPS for 30+ years.

Would you pay an extra $26.95 above the base shipping fee to ensure your precious doesn't travel in the back of the big brown truck? To ensure that when the truck reached the package depot that the dock apes never got near your precious, but that the driver personally handed it to a center manager, who would then place it under lock & key until he personally saw it loaded in to the outbound cargo pod? And, when that pod reaches its destination, another center manager will take charge of your precious, place it under lock and key, until he hands it off to the actual delivery driver who will give your precious a special spot on his truck and treat it with kid gloves.

Sound like a good deal for those special shipments?

Any package insured for $5000.00 (or more) with UPS receives the special treatment outlined above. Doesn't matter what the actual value of the item you are shipping is, you can still declare and pay for $5000 of insurance.

I've used this High Value service on several incoming turntables when I wasn't over confident in the shippers packing ability - the cartons have arrived without any of the all too familiar distress we've seen on cartons that went thru "the system".
I also do this on critical shipments to my customers when I need to ensure that their carton doesn't get "misrouted" (this happens more than you'd think) and thus arrive late.

Personal attention, white glove service - an option for when you need it

49 x DV100 units x .55 = 26.95.
 
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Pavioni said:
Sound like a good deal for those special shipments?
49 x DV100 units x .55 = 26.95.
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Great tip :thmbsp: ! As long as they actually treat the parcel the way you describe it, rather than just as a any other insured parcel, this would be a good deal for that irreplaceable and hard to ship units (e.g., G-33000, CR-3020, 2600, etc. - or anything else, for that matter).

Out of curiosity, what are the components of that formula?
 
The only problem I can see is the seller actually buying the extra insurance even if you tell them you will pay for it.

I've asked sellers to pack things a certain way and most of the time it never happens. Even if I offer to pay extra for them to do so. I believe the sellers think it's too much work to go above and beyond just throwing it in a box, usually too small for the item, and then smashing up some news paper for the packing material. I have paid extra for good packing and that is not what I got.

You could ask the seller if they are willing to purchase the extra insurance before hand, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't buy it even if they told you they would.

That's just my take on it. Don't ever expect a seller to do something for you even if you ask them and they say they will follow through.
 
Njord Noatun said:
Great tip :thmbsp: ! As long as they actually treat the parcel the way you describe it, rather than just as a any other insured parcel, this would be a good deal for that irreplaceable and hard to ship units (e.g., G-33000, CR-3020, 2600, etc. - of anything else, for that matter).

Out of curiosity, what are the components of that formula?
Click to expand...

The formula is $5000 insurance, which is issued in blocks of $100 = 50 DV units -1 DV unit included with the base shipping rate = 49 DV units. The .55 per $100 rate is as of 1/02/08.

And yes, the drivers pay strict attention to high value packages, because if they lose one they pay for it. A good UPS driver has my utmost respect - they are paid well but earn every penny.
 
Pavioni, thanks for pointing this out to us. I ought to have as I have used exactly this level of service for shipping & receiving goods through UPS. Nice post, Pavioni.
 
very good tip . the extra 30 bucks or so is well worth it . there have been plenty of times i wish i would have used this service when dealing with some auction sellers.
 
And BTW, I confirmed this information with my UPS contact yesterday; it is accurate and still correct.
tal
 
This is really great info! Couple of comments... Do you know if FedEx has a comparable "service"? I once sent guitar insured for $2,000 (I don't remember if it was FedEx or UPS) and I remember they made a really big deal about the fact that I wanted insurance for that amount and they flat out didn't want to do it. First thing they did was demand I completely dismantle the packaging right then and there to "inspect" that it was packed properly. After they were happy with that, the clerk spent nearly an hour on the phone calling back and forth to so-and-so who knows where. Eventually they OK'ed it, provided no help in re-packaging the item (acting "inconvenienced" when I asked for packing tape etc...), and sent it out. The whole ordeal took nearly 2 hours; on top of the hour and change I spent packaging it safely in the first place. At least the package arrived OK. But I could understand a seller's hesitance to deal with this inconvenience. I was shipping this guitar to a friend so I was more than happy to do it. Now, I'm having a friend ship me a Thorens TD-124 (not quite worth $5K) so this "white glove" option seems pretty attractive to me, but I don't want him to have to deal with that BS when he goes to ship it to me. Also take pics of EVERY aspect of the packaging and shipping; the packaging on the shipper's end all the way up to when the recipient opens it. And if you don't have some sort of "receipt" for that $5K you're going to have a very hard time collecting from them in an event of a claim; even for a lesser amount. Just my input. That said, I'd really like to try this. If I do decide to with the Thorens I'll keep you posted.
 
coniglius said:
This is really great info! Couple of comments... Do you know if FedEx has a comparable "service"? I once sent guitar insured for $2,000 (I don't remember if it was FedEx or UPS) and I remember they made a really big deal about the fact that I wanted insurance for that amount and they flat out didn't want to do it. First thing they did was demand I completely dismantle the packaging right then and there to "inspect" that it was packed properly. After they were happy with that, the clerk spent nearly an hour on the phone calling back and forth to so-and-so who knows where. Eventually they OK'ed it, provided no help in re-packaging the item (acting "inconvenienced" when I asked for packing tape etc...), and sent it out. The whole ordeal took nearly 2 hours; on top of the hour and change I spent packaging it safely in the first place. At least the package arrived OK. But I could understand a seller's hesitance to deal with this inconvenience. I was shipping this guitar to a friend so I was more than happy to do it. Now, I'm having a friend ship me a Thorens TD-124 (not quite worth $5K) so this "white glove" option seems pretty attractive to me, but I don't want him to have to deal with that BS when he goes to ship it to me. Also take pics of EVERY aspect of the packaging and shipping; the packaging on the shipper's end all the way up to when the recipient opens it. And if you don't have some sort of "receipt" for that $5K you're going to have a very hard time collecting from them in an event of a claim; even for a lesser amount. Just my input. That said, I'd really like to try this. If I do decide to with the Thorens I'll keep you posted.
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It wasn't UPS, ups won't fight the amount of insurance up front because it means more $$ in their pocket.
My understanding from speaking with my ups rep is that say I ship a $3,000 item insured for $5,000, If it is damaged, they will ask you to provide proof of valuation.
This DOES NOT change the level of service your package receives, it is treated as if it is valued at $5,000 UNTIL you try to collect $5,000 IF it is damaged.
If you can only prove $500, you will only get $500. But, your package will be treated like $5,000 by ups until that time.

Since this all comes into play after the package is delivered, no worries!
tal
 
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