Stupid UPS. - Videokarma.org TV - Video

***Eric H*** · #1 08-26-2010, 04:39 PM

I bought this 14" Motorola on eBay, the seller Triple boxed it with tons of peanuts, I paid extra for an oversize package and UPS still managed to damage it.

It arrived with the safety lens cracked 3/4 of the way across.

Now where in the hxxl am I going to find another safety lens for a Motorola?

A claim seems almost pointless except to cause UPS some aggravation.

The "Before" picture from eBay proving it wasn't damaged prior to shipping.

ChuckA · #2 08-26-2010, 04:52 PM

Eric,

First mistake - shipping by UPS

Second mistake - using peanuts, peanuts are only good for shipping peanuts.

Chuck

holmesuser01 · #3 08-26-2010, 05:10 PM

I get stuff via UPS everyday at work. You should see the conditions the boxes are in... wow!

I think they have gorillas that throw the stuff off the conveyer belts there.

batterymaker · #4 08-26-2010, 06:01 PM

One lady from the Mail Boxes Etc. days told me the first rule in packaging: Do not write Fragile on the package. Shippers will consider it a challenge.

AUdubon5425 · #5 08-26-2010, 06:13 PM

The only time I've ever used peanuts was between the inner and outer box. I've had good luck shipping all kinds of things (from crystal to typewriters) packed in crumpled newspaper and double boxed. Very time consuming and your hands get full of ink, but the survival rate is 100% so far.

miniman82 · #6 08-26-2010, 07:21 PM

I already learned my lesson, remember where I got my avatar from?

***Eric H*** · #7 08-26-2010, 08:57 PM

I had no say as to the shipper or the method.

eBay's calculator had the shipping at $22 to ship it from N.J. to Calif, I knew that was wrong and rather than risk a pissed off seller tossing it in a box and trying to ship it for the least amount possible I wrote them and told them to pack it well and charge me the difference
It cost me another $30 but i Felt it would be worth it.

I can't fault the seller, this set was triple boxed, first box had peanuts, that was placed into another box that was a snug fit, that was placed inside a really big oversize box with several inches of peanuts all around, I was confident when I saw it that it was going to be OK but I was wrong.

I think it was handled face down, the bottom of the long end of the box had some damage like it had been dropped but it really wasn't anything that threw up a red flag to me.

The plastic screen on this set seems to be made of really thin plastic so maybe it didn't take much to crack it, nothing else was damaged in the slightest, the set still works even.

Tom Albrecht · #8 08-27-2010, 02:37 AM

You have to be a bit of a mechanical engineer to really pack things well. The problem here was most likely that the packing method did not prevent pressure from being applied against the fragile safety lens. Probably should have been covered with something very stiff.

By the way, how can a "safety" lens be so fragile?

I think peanuts between an inner and outer box are good. As far as the packing inside the inner box goes -- that's where you have to pay attention to how to keep pressure off fragile things like speaker grills, speaker cones, soft back covers, etc.

VA561 · #9 08-27-2010, 04:19 PM

I'm not knocking UPS but I had a '50 philco shipped from Missouri to Virginia. It had a 4" crack in the side of the cabinet when it arrived and the container was roughed up pretty bad. Amazingly the set still worked. I just bought a 1959 philco radio phonograph. I am paying a professional furniture mover to add it to his truck that is coming to Virginia. While it may not be as cheap as UPS or fedex ground, I feel it is more likely not to be mishandled. uSHIP.com is another option. Moving/trucking companies bid on your shipment. They have feedback ratings like ebay so it may be another option to consider.

Dave A · #10 08-28-2010, 01:13 AM

I used uShip last winter for a Sony 34" CRT HD set. It was a struggle to get the guy to work on my time schedule, but it did work fine in the end.

And for your consideration on boxing. I have used lengths of 1x3" secured in place across faceplates, dials, protruding knobs, etc. inside the box spaced out as needed. Just enough to take some of the hit through the peanuts and cardboard.

pugs5061 · #11 08-28-2010, 06:18 PM

Having worked at UPS years ago, the problem is the length of their conveyors and their workers. If the conveyor gets backed up (which as a worker was a nightmare) the pressures against the end of the line were incredible. The weight of all the packages behind the end would push against those closer to the end and as a loader if you couldn't keep up everything was pushed to the end and everything ended up getting smashed. I was paid $9.50 (decent for the time)an hour in 1983 during college to do this and prided myself on NOT letting this happen and it rarely did, I worked hard. Today, 27 years later those same workers start at $9.00 an hour without a college education in site and I highly doubt anything about their job gives them a decent reason to do anything to even remotely care about any of the packages.

Tom_Ryan · #12 08-28-2010, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pugs5061

Having worked at UPS years ago, the problem is the length of their conveyors and their workers. If the conveyor gets backed up (which as a worker was a nightmare) the pressures against the end of the line were incredible. The weight of all the packages behind the end would push against those closer to the end and as a loader if you couldn't keep up everything was pushed to the end and everything ended up getting smashed. I was paid $9.50 (decent for the time)an hour in 1983 during college to do this and prided myself on NOT letting this happen and it rarely did, I worked hard. Today, 27 years later those same workers start at $9.00 an hour without a college education in site and I highly doubt anything about their job gives them a decent reason to do anything to even remotely care about any of the packages.

While that may be true, there are other issues. Society as a whole has changed. Long gone are the days of the steamer trunks and wooden crates. Yesteryears ago when shipping cardboard boxes was more of a novelty. Most items shipped in wooden crates - all sizes, big and small. Today, we are a cardboard box world and cardboard is what it is - even when triple boxed - remains flexible to some degree. I agree, the box was probably squeezed to death. Would have been a different story if wood with reinforced plywood sides were used.

Whenever I have something really valuable to ship I place it on a palette and send air freight. Yes, it does cost more but somethings can't be replaced easy - at least not even for the cost of the freight.

***Eric H*** · #13 08-28-2010, 07:32 PM

I suppose I was being a little harsh saying "Stupid" UPS, "Darn" UPS might have been better.

UPS Ground is bulk shipping, no White Glove treatment and things get bounced around, still as well as it was packed it was surprising to find the damage.

I've used Craters and Freighters on two occasions and another custom shipper the last time (half of C&F's price) you can probably ship ten sets with UPS for the price of one C&F shipment, but in some cases it's worth it, not in this case however.