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

qboneus said:
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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Thanks qboneus. That makes sense, and as you say, it's really just the "service" I'm looking for and not necessarily the insurance for that full amount... So as a matter of practice, UPS won't ask to dismantle and inspect the packaging beforehand when you insure for this amount?
 
After reading this thread,I spoke with my shipping technician today and he says insure the UPS package for
$3,500 ($34) and its considered a High value item,
Which gets the special treatment/consideration.
Thanks on the heads up on this ...
 
coniglius said:
Thanks qboneus. That makes sense, and as you say, it's really just the "service" I'm looking for and not necessarily the insurance for that full amount... So as a matter of practice, UPS won't ask to dismantle and inspect the packaging beforehand when you insure for this amount?
Click to expand...

Nope, as long as you indicate that it is well packed, and how it is packed you are golden.
I have NEVER yet had ups open/inspect a package in literally hundreds of shipments i have sent and thousands of items received; I have had weight adjusted twice over the years though, Canada post/ customs is an entirely different story but not one for here..

glad the word is finally getting out!!
cheers,
tal
 
I think the decision to inspect the packing of a package is very dependent on the place from which you are shipping and the associate handling your transaction. One employee at the local UPS Store is very picky and always asks to see inside. The other ones only ask once in a while. The store owner knows I've been coming there for 10+ years and when I get him at the counter, he looks me in the eye and asks me to confirm that I've "packed the item with lots of proper padding, no open spaces and double boxed it." When I say Yes, that's good enough for him and he starts the processing.
 
FedExtra grief!

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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I've never experienced the grief that you did!

Prior to 9/11 when I used to fly commercial to a start-up, I would check my shipping crate as additional baggage. But post 9/11 they won't allow me to lock it. So I started shipping it FedEX. I always insured it for $10,000.00. The few times they ever questioned me as to what was in the crate, I would start listing the test equipment that was in there and before I finished, they would say "OK, that's good enough for me"!

Part of the reason they might not have questioned it was that it was always going to a business address, I was paying for overnight service and my crate was designed for the purpose.
 
Cant believe this hasn't been made a Sticky yet.
Hey Mod what's up?
When it comes to useful information this thread is in the top 1%.
 
Sticky this thread!!!

I sure wish I had seen it before I shipped four vintage pioneer components to their buyers on Monday! I packed them to "survive UPS" but I am still sweating bullets on whether they will arrive safe and sound or looking like they've been flung around a warehouse by a trebuchet.

Martin
 
mhconley said:
...I packed them to "survive UPS" but I am still sweating bullets on whether they will arrive safe and sound or looking like they've been flung around a warehouse by a trebuchet.
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I just love how that sounds.

Both your clever writing and the imagery of a trebuchet... in a warehouse... flinging things.

:D
 
Last edited:
80sKid said:
I just love how that sounds.

Both your clever writing and the imagery of a trebuchet... in a warehouse... flinging things.

:D
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Thanks.

Last year I received this UPS shipment of some Christmas ornaments from Walt Disney World that I swear was given that very treatment.
UPSbox.jpg


It suprised the heck out of me that the ornaments inside were in fact undamaged.

Martin
 
I never ever use UPS anymore. Fedex has never delivered a package to me or from me destroyed or mangled or even in bad condition so I only use them. The last huge package (90+ lbs.) I sent through them arrived flawlessly.

I hate UPS. They never bother to even send me notices that my packages have arrived. Terrible. And I know it's not just my area. I've had crap treatment from UPS all across the country (literally, Alabama, California, Nevada...) I had one package explode into pieces the moment I took the box from the guy. Another package was packed like a retard but the way the amplifier got so incredibly smashed shows some serious incompetence from either the systems or people at UPS. They never honored their insurance or claim that I filed either. Where I'm currently living they almost never get past the gate because of harmless dogs. Somehow though, DHL, Fedex and the women working my postal route manage to get in the gate and ignore the dogs. Explain that one to me. There have been numerous miscommunication issues with packages being notated wrongly on their website concerning the fact that "receiver was not available". Bullcrap, I was sitting on my chair waiting for it to arrive.

Has it ever happened with Fedex? Never. Weird huh? I honestly only have ever had problems with UPS. I don't know why that's the case. I just can't remember being pissed at any other carrier for anything like what UPS has put me through. I've been thoroughly burned by them where I will never consider using them anymore.
 
My buddy just sent a pair or $3000 speakers through UPS (insured for $5000), they were speared by a forklift while being shipped. It took the buyer (who used his UPS account to ship) a week and a half to get UPS to pay up. They also had to get a statement from the speaker manufacturer saying the boxes used to ship the speakers were factory-made, not missing parts and made for shipping.

I'm not sure how any box would protect the contents from being speared by a forklift.
 
They were Paradigm-something. I stopped listening after he told me how much he paid for them (in the thousands).
 
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