Why you shouldn't ship amps UPS...

[Satyr]

Hey all- bought a pair of Orion HCCA 225s and they were shipped UPS by the PO. The box was packed appropriately with peanuts and packing material and etc. and labelled it fragile all over it. But UPS must have spiked the box like a football... You can see where the box was crushed in and the amp was damaged inside.

I submitted it for a claim- but since the other amp & stuff wasn't in the box when UPS picked it up- they are saying it wasn't packaged to "UPS Standards." So even though it was "insured" they are denying that they damaged it.

What makes it even worse is that the "shipper" was a shipping store- so nobody called me or the store and after they denied the claim- they sent the box back to the shipping store- halfway across the country.

Now- the seller is involved and as a group- me (the buyer), the seller, and the shipping store are disputing their refusal to cover the damage. What a mess...

Here are some pics:

 

[Satyr]

 

[Satyr]

 

[Satyr]

 

[JonSnell Electronic]

Why was the parcel accepted?
I send anything damaged back. End of story.

 

[benb]

I've heard that any package shipped UPS must be able to take AT LEAST a 6-foot drop without being damaged, and that to get a damage claim paid ALWAYS requires suing UPS in small claims court.

Good luck.

 

[chromenuts]

The Sad Truth!

Sorry to read about your problem with UPS. I'm sure it doesn't make you feel any better, but you are not alone.

My local UPS has the habit of simply leaving boxes regardless if I am home...so denial of damaged boxes???...good luck.

I would come home to boxes literally broken open on the steps. It happened to me several times over when I was trying to purchase a new amp for my system. The sellers didn't have the same "I need to be able to throw it off a building" attitude as me...which UPS obviously applies in practice.

I see these guys every day now at my job...they are angry and take pride in assaulting packages in the most perverse manner they can dream up. I refuse to let anyone ship anything to me via UPS anymore no matter what the cost.

Good luck with your claim.

 

[seankane]

Never had an issue with UPS, but horrible luck with fedex!!!

I almost always use USPS now, they are the cheapest and safest.

Amps like the one you have pictured are very prone to damage because of their sharp and protuding edges. Amps like that, when I ship them, I will bolt them down to a piece of thin plywood, then wrap them in stiff cardboard, then bubble wrap, then surrounded by newspaper and peanuts.

You guys can thank all the scammers and thieves out there for claims being denied. It only affects the honest people.

Someone will start a class action against UPS then they will have to reimburse everyone for insurance paid and coverage not honered.

When shipping any item of value I always go to the extreme in packaging. You need to remember these packaged are loaded on trucks and planes being thrown by people and falling off conveyors and what not.

Never use peanuts as primary packaging, the amp will be damaged everytime and peanuts will be all inside of the amp.

 

[Satyr]

Thanks for the replies. We've had problems with USPS tearing xmas cards open that were sent to family members with gift cards inside, and a few banged-up packages but nothing damaged like this before. One package was delivered from UPS last year that looked like an accordion on one side- with broken glass rolling around in the box was left on our doorstep. We called the retailer we had ordered it from and were surprised when he said "this happens all the time" and sent us another item- saying "UPS might come to pick up the broken one" but they never did.

This has been awful- not only did UPS clearly damage the amp, but then denied the claim out of hand, and shipped it back to the quickie-ship store in California without notifying me (I still have the ******* claim ticket!), or the store, or the seller. I had even called UPS the day they came and picked it up to tell them I wanted it back so I could get it repaired. I'm actually beginning to think that the reason I didn't hear them ring the doorbell the day I found the slip on my door, was because they knew they had damaged something and didn't want to be held responsible, so they put the slip on the door and never rang the doorbell. We actually had to drive 2 towns over to pick up the box. I didn't see the hole in the box when I picked it up- because that side of the box was facing away from me and up against the register. I saw it when I picked it up off the back seat when we got home- too late to refuse delivery then.

So- the package was insured for $300, alot of good that does! We now have the seller, the shipping store and me denying UPS's refusal of responsibility- so it is my hope that on Monday the claim will be re-submitted, compelete with the pictures I've sent to the seller and processed. If I have to go thru small claims court to deal with this, I suppose I'll have to because I will not be out the cost of this amp plus shipping for nothing... Anyone know what a used Orion HCCA 225 should really retail for?

Anyway, I certainly won't be shipping anything UPS again. I'll post back the outcome when there is one...

 

[DUG]

Some carriers have a standing (unofficial) policy:

If it was damaged, it obviously was not packaged properly.


Fragile means: kick harder.

 

[1moreamp]

Some carriers have a standing (unofficial) policy:

If it was damaged, it obviously was not packaged properly.


Fragile means: kick harder.

US postal service has a denial statement like you stated above. UPS will pay out in less then 30 days USPS takes 90 days if they pay out at all, since they stand by the fact if it was damaged it was not packaged correctly. Fed_ex knock on wood has never done me wrong and they deliver fast as possibly unlike other carriers. I never had a claim so I can not lend a light on their insurance policies.

I go to the trouble to double box amps I ship so They literally have to run it over with a truck or drop it off the plane at higher then 100 feet off the ground to cause the double boxing to crumble. It costs more both in time, and money but double boxing has always worked for me. I shipped several MS-1000's and some FrankAmpnstiens to holland, I had to build wooden crates, and foam pack them after bolting the amps into the wooden crates. Heck they weighted in around 78 pounds per box and had to have handles put on them < more like coffins then crates > but they all arrived safely.
If you make it heavy enough they will assign two people to lift it the and odds of having two people drop it are way better then a one man operation.. Sorry to see you troubles though, Its happened to most all of us at one time or another. I can only suggest you pay for double boxing on heavy amps, and lots of foam filler from a pillow store so you can cut it costume to fit the amp into.

The giant routing warehouses and conveyor equipment that chew these packages up has no conscience so you have to take into consideration a 5 ton log jam of box's on a over head conveyor doing its best to ruin your day....

 

[Perry Babin]

I agree. If it was damaged and the damage wasn't caused by something like a forklift fork penetrating the box, it was improperly packed. When packing heavy items, you have to use packing material that can withstand the impact force that that item can produce when dropped.

I've also used 1/4" plywood to protect amps. I used wire ties through holes in the plywood to hold it in place.

The pink/blue insulating foam is very good at protecting amps. Cutout the foam to provide reliefs for the terminal blocks and the RCAs.

 

[evianamp2011]

Last month the UPS driver kept my package and labeled it as "shipped"...which made it impossible to file an Ebay or Paypal claim. Then i was getting two different stories from the UPS and the seller. Almost a month later (3 weeks to be exact) UPS claims responsibility and told me they where going to give the shipper a refund....well i call the seller and the seller told me that UPS told him that they are already delivering the package. WTF, somebody had to be lying. So i recorded all phone conversations and even took pictures of the paper work the UPS driver brought to me starting that i never received any package.

Heck even the driver tried to pull one on me by saying " I gave the package to your wife and the kids were outside when I gave it to her"... which was just a bunch of BS because that day it was raining and it was already dark.... not to mention cold 36 degrees.


At the end seller did be fun the whole purchase amount. but still very angry that he took almost a month to get a full refund then getting different stories from everyone.


now I just avoid UPS as much as possible.