how high is the drop test at ups?

I took an Oppo 870 to a UPS drop off for shipment. When the lady took it off of the counter she walked 4 steps and tossed it on the concrete floor without bending over at all. I went off on her stupid ass. Fortunatly the buyers loved it, but the point is, we live in a culture of really lazyass people that don't give a crap about anything.

It depends on on high they can throw it!
And if there is a ladder in the room.

Zman unfortunately you are correct!!!!!

UPS guidelines require a package to be able to sustain a 3 foot fall, but when you add a 'fragile' sticker, they push it to 6 or more feet!

Basically I figure if it can't bounce to the address it won't make it with UPS.

I like FedEx ground better and when shipping heavy items go with a freight company as big amps will tear through a double box easily with a small drop.

Always assume your package will be handled in the Jim Carrey "HDS Delivery Man" fashion, and pack accordingly.

Rule-of-thumb:

One set of high quality bookshelf speakers =
Amana double-wide refrigerator box + 500' roll bubble-wrap

Is there such a thing as, "Gorilla-Proofing?" I have only succeded in making packages, "Gorilla-Resistant", thus far. They do have a great tracking system though.

My experience with UPS are awful.

Fedex are much better. YMMV

Depends, if it is declared as a turntable, UPS will take it to the nearest twenty story building for dropping. Moral: is never ship a turntable, unless you can break it down to little pieces for assembly elsewhere. Pickup for demo and a cash payment is always best.

I've said before and I'll say it again. UPS is an acronym for Unbelieveably Poor Service and there is a reason their trucks are Sh*t Brown.

I hate to be the one to bring this up but there might be an issue collecting insurance (I'm assuming the package was insured) because the box has no damage to it. It is possible that the equipment got damaged without the box showing any damage. I had a couple of mono blocks where the same thing happened. Once the package reaches a certain weight, a drop of even 3' will damage the contents. This has been explained in other posts here. It's all a gamble and I don't believe one shipping company is better than the other, it all comes down to luck.

I thought they had drug tests for f**k ups, yeah right.

after closer inspection there are actually some capacitors and coils that have broke completely free of the xo's circuit board in addition to a crack running thru it. no damage to shipping box or cabinet at all. i could fix it if the company would send a new xover. but i,m sure everyone will duck and try to make the insurance company pay. by the time i make phone calls, drive to the city, make claims, wait, pay to ship, wait again etc i would rather just order a new xover and fix it myself and get to breaking them in the right way. ha. no big deal as i have plenty of cool sounds here. i'll report back......

The box most likely landed flat on one side, thus distributing broad impact which would limit typical external deformations. And moreso if the contents were double-boxed, and the type of internal packing foam used. Besides coils, some x-over capacitors are pretty sizeable, and if merely glued onto the PC boad, wouldn't take much "sheer" inertia to dislodge them. Seems odd that these heavier componts weren't secured with cable-ties as well.

You could always send it back the mfr for repair, and they would probably fix, or replace, it for free once they know what happened (I'm almost sure they would). Sometimes, the "turnaround" time can be more than you'd like, but I guess your options really boil down to a new board's replacement cost vs the hassle of sending yours back in.

If either of those options are an issue, can you solder, or have friends that know how? This is really quite a simple fix, and with some hot-glue, silicone, or epoxy to re-mount the components, could easily be repaired.

UPS never damaged a package of mine or anyone in our audio group, this company ships millions of packages daily and sometimes people make mistakes so insure it, double box it and hope for the best. Overall they do an excellent job.
None of you could run a company of this size and scale and promise any better service.

metro i agree. the components were strapped to the xover board with tie downs and one of them even snapped, unbelievable. i would fix this myself but the circuit board itself cracked clean thru and a dime size piece of it is dangling unattached now. and chadnilz ups is ok with me. there is a first time for everything and with that many people there are sure to be a few that act like the gorillas in the old samsonite commercial. but i try to be easy to get along with these days. haha john

As someone who needed to send and receive a lot of packages, I got to see the good and bad of each shipper.

Overall, this is my opinion on shipping in the USA:
FedEX - Best means to ship larger packages. Damage rate higher than USPS, and dealing with a claim is more involved/less certain

UPS - Avoid, if possible. Highest rates, most likelihood of damage, most difficult to make a claim for damage, and least likely to pay on that claim

USPS - Best means to ship smaller packages. Priority Mail will get a package anywhere in the country within 2 (at most, 3) days (up to 5 days for comparable UPS and FedEX service), often at the best rate. The USPS handles packages safely, with an inordinately low damage rate, and is by far the easiest to deal with in terms of paying out on a claim

NOTE: Do not, under ANY circumstances send or receive a package via UPS when dealing with a USA/Canada border crossing. To do so is to invite a shocking degree of holdup in delivery, cost/fees incurred, and even higher probability of damage due to poor repacking after inspection.

I ship a lot of high end goods (expensive large diaphragm tube microphones) every day. I've had lots of stuff dropped. UPS and FedX seem about the same to me, I think its just what happens to that particular box that time. The only universal I have found is shipping a single box internationally really beats stuff up-I have the most damage exporting.

The rule the inspectors have applied when they came to inspect a damaged box is "is there 2 inches of space around the item inside to the inside edge of the box?". Even if factory packaging, if its less than 2 inches the insurance you bought through them is null and void. SO if your carton has only 1 inches of space between the box and the unit, to ship it put it in another box that will offer another 1 inch of space around the smaller carton and you're good. I've had the most rejections over insurance claims over this issue.

Concealed damage inside, no box damage, that IS a tough one. I have lost a lot of these arguments with UPS and FedX. They rightly cannot be responsible if a manufacturer does not support a PC board in the right places. I actually had to redesign the mechanicals of a product once due to board flexing (large board with transformer in the middle supported only at the corners did not ship well). But I have won a few arguments with UPS and FedX on concealed damage. LOTS of pictures help. The best thing is to be nice, be patient, as it is a living breathing person (who may be having a bad day) making the determination. I think you have to sell them, make them WANT to help you because you deserve it. If you come at them like they are a bunch of jerks breaking everything I think you are gonna get a no!

When I did alot of product management we used 6 foot drop as our drop test. Sorting terminals use multiple belts that "drop" the box to a belt below, which drops the box off to another belt and so on to get to the right place. SO it could fall on a corner, fall flat on side, the top, etc.

I still double box everything with anti-stat peanuts (the pink ones) in between inner and outer box and that seems to work the best. NEVER use white peanuts with electronics-the static generated when they rub together can damage electronics! Anti stat peanuts are pink, but ask to be sure. If the shipping office you use has no anti stat peanuts, use wadded up moving paper.
Brad

update, contacted the company [Phase Technology] and asked them if they would send me a crossover so i could fix the speaker. i even volunteered to pay for it. they told me they would rather just send me a new speaker and for me to send mine back. i guess the mix of great service and my willingness to offer a compromise worked out great. the speakers are not warmed up yet but this is awesome service and is an example of about 90 % of my interactions with audio companies. thank you Phase Technology, john batten

Wow, success story. Good for you. And Bravo to Phase Technolgy.

What Markpao said! Felt pretty sure they'd help in some fashion, but a complete replacement?

Were the words "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday" embedded anywhere within their phone conversation with you? If not, ...uhhh, consider it a gift from ME! :D

200feet

Are you talking about ground or air shipments? For air shipments the drop test is 20,000 feet.

yes, the lady at Phase Tech was 100% customer service. it is ironic that i bought these speakers after reading about their phase crossover and that is what got broken. after letting the speakers play all weekend i can attest that this crossover design is pretty nice. the company claims it helps with dispersion so you can hear both speakers anywhere in the room and i can. with my magnepans in the other room the sweet spot is about 1 foot wide. i still prefer the mmgs but the phase techs are nice. i also thought this might be a good company since i had read that the owner of the company has, or had, the patent on the dome tweeter so he must know what he's doing. overall a good experience with an American company.