Any UPS horror stories?

I bought the insurance and they still refuse to pay. I shipped a pair of Klipsch Speakers (One of a kind specially built at the factory). They only sold for $900, but even though I bought the extra insurance they still refuse to pay for damage. The exteremely well reinforced cabinets were cracked and their excuse was that they were insuficiently packed. I can't really see how though since I used the factory shipping cartons and even lined them with extra styrofoam board (the kind they insulate houses with). Funny thing is Klispch ships these all around the world in the exact same packaging and for some reason, mine are insuficently packed whereas the ones from the factory are suficently packed. I'm working on getting a certified letter from Klipsch (awesome customer service) on the packing SOP, but I have a hunch I'll end up getting nowhere in the end.

So, we sold the speakers in perfect condition and shipped them by UPS insured (or so we thought). We double boxed them; double bubble wrapped them, added peanuts and insured each for the price of the pair. So about a week later the purchaser wrote and asked where the second speaker was. This was a site clue that it was about to hit the fan. Then my son figured out that the notice from the campus post office might be the speaker he shipped and there it was in all its magnificence. Unfortunately it looked as though the box had been dropped ten feet and then dragged behind a truck for a couple of miles. Now, we're reasonable people so he started yelling!!! The UPS people decided that if he opened the box to inspect that would be one charge and if he then shipped the speaker (broken or otherwise) he needed to pay for the shipping (again of course) because it had already been delivered (unfortunately to the shipper not the recipient) We are awaiting the outcome. But I no longer ship anything by UPS that is not double boxed and overstuffed so that the bastards can't destroy it when they play stereo ping-pong with it!

You get what you pay for. You want to pay for cheap ground service? Well, cheap service is what you paid for, and that is exactly what you will get. Do you also go to McDonalds and ponder why your $2.99 meal didn't quite get your 5 star rating? Cheap is cheap. ==================================================================== Fed Ex is more expensive than UPS? Absolutely NOT true. Are you trying to compare UPS ground to Fed Ex air? Will you also compare a new Chevy 'Vette to a Ford Festiva? "Hey, Chevy's cost too much, my econo box Ford only costs....." Compare the SAME type of service between UPS and Fed Ex and you will find the prices to be virtually the same (and often Fed Ex is LESS). ====================================================================OEM (factory) boxes? Most are a joke, and VERY few meet UPS (or our ground) ship requirements. "Yeah, but that's the (recycled tissue) box it came in". Save that sad story for someone else. Ground shipments (except for cables) need to be double boxed and quadruple packed (which is on the back of every UPS AWB/invoice). Why don't all mfr's do this? Labor, materials, space, and added ship cost (greater DIMS and more weight). In the long run it is cheaper to deal with a few claims (even if they are denied), than it is to pay extra (labor, materials, space, and added ship cost/greater DIMS and more weight), on hundreds, or even thousands of packages. When we shipped UPS ground, we spent approximately 20 minute to TWO HOURS per package (and this is with a dedicated ship area, which is more than roll of tape!, and $ thousands in ship tools and supplies and 17 years of shipping experience to make it faster than the average audiophile could ever do it in: http://www.hellohifi.com/packaging.html ). Are you willing to do something to achieve these results? No? THEN SEND YOUR PACKAGES BY AIR, and leave the guess work to the penny pinchers who have the time to deal with claims and faulty tracking systems. ====================================================================We send almost all items by DHL air. Average ship time?16 hours verses up to 7 business days by (+ a weekend sometimes) on ground shipments. Yes, DHL is more expensive than Fed Ex or UPS air, but they are so careful it's almost funny. Our customers like this service because we usually charge about HALF the regular rate, which in most cases means you're getting next day air for less than UPS or Fed Ex 3 day. We eat a lot of freight costs, but we don't have do extra packaging (in most cases) and we don't waste days of time on freight claims and dealing with pissed off customers. No one orders and insurance claim, they order working hifi! This is a worthwhile investment that no other dealer seems to have caught onto (yet). ====================================================================Mark the box with: "FRAGILE". LOL!!! We have over 20 rolls various types of fragile stickers (that's about $600 in damn stickers). Except for: "do not open with blade", which is for the customers benefit, these fragile stickers are for the insurance adjusters. If you do this, and have a claim, they will often tell you: "It doesn't matter that you marked it fragile". Don't mark it fragile and have a claim? Well, now they will ask you: "why didn't you mark it as fragile?" It's all a game to discourage you from pursuing your current claim and future claims. Ever have a claim with Fed Ex or DHL? We've had one with Fed Ex (very small) and one with DHL ($4400). Both were VERY easy (Fed Ex about 4 days and DHL about 10 days). UPS? We sued them in 1993 or 1994 after a claim dragged on for SEVEN MONTHS. They paid before the court date. We did have one claim paid "quickly" by UPS: they damaged a unit that was insured for $700. After two weeks they collected the unit for "inspection". After 5+ weeks I asked them the status on this claim. They asked me when they could collect the unit (which they had already picked up 5+ weeks ago!). Come to find out, they LOST IT after they picked it up for inspection (it's a good thing their heads are screwed on.....). They paid that claim quickly (UPS quick was about 8 weeks). We NO longer use UPS. Shipped ZERO UPS packages in 2000. Zero UPS problems! ONE UPS in 1999, ONE problem. 3 UPS in 1998, two problems. Before that? Don't ask, we used them daily, but we package ground shipments better than any dealer you will ever come across. You get what you pay for................ (geez, you actually read this entire post?!). "The Tightest Ship in the Shipping Business". Hmm. What ship are they (UPS) referring to? The Titanic? ====================================================================http://www.hellohifi.com/packaging.html

Brian, I appreciate you trying to show the reasons by giveing examples. We have shipped UPS, so far, with no problems, but we do exactly as you stated - double box the hell out of them - getting that package ready for battle. We have received stuff that has been falling out of the box, boxes punched by forklifts, and once- the tuner came in pieces, we could hear it rattling around before opening the box. This has brought up something for us to think about, currently, we don't have any conversations with the buyer about how they ship. We trust that they will package appropriately. I think that it's a good idea to state the clear expectations of "the refund and return" of damaged goods. If we have this conversation that we expect to get our $ back if the item arrives damaged in shipping - maybe that will trigger the seller to think more about how they package. Good things to think about. - thanks

correction "we don't have any conversations with the *seller* about how they ship - (it's early yet)