Shipping Speakers, watch out


Some time back I read a thread concerning shipping companies for speakers good/bad. Just recieved my GMA Europas from Bax Global. This company was the subject of many complaints but also some praise in that earlier thread.
Yes they called me at home several times and kept in touch with me and yes they delivered on time as promised (by sub-
contractor Conway Freight) and yes-------my speakers were damaged on arrival. Thank you Mo Larry or Curly I'm not sure
which.
I inspected the boxes on arrival and the carton damage looked incidental but actually turned out to be a lift or
something jammed into the box through the foam and then breaking off the rear top corner of one speaker.
So here's my point. Open the boxes,( I did) and unpack the speakers or at the very least sign out any, and I mean any
carton damage before you sign off for delivery. Don't assume it's just shipping rash or you may be sorry. I am.
I will report later on these fine speakers. Once I have cooled down and they have broken in (20 hours so far).
abbeydog
I agree you can not be careful enough when shipping speakers, last time I sold a pair of full range speakers I paid mail boxes a LOT to ship them. I dropped them off they had to build the crates and guaranty the condition upon delivery, to me it was worth the $1400 to get them where they were going safely! Unless you do something like that and spend a lot to ship them you are taking a big risk- often you get what you pay for in situations like this.

I wish you the best of luck getting this taken care of in a timely fashion.
Wow 1400 bucks! Must have been some speaker interchange.
But I totally agree with you. If I were to resell these speakers I would go to the expense of double boxing and tell the buyer about it. Even if I had to eat the expense it would be worth it to me to Know I had done my best.
I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a shipper to deliver with a professional attitude to getting the job done. That would mean without damage. Why should we have to hand over a check in full payment to someone and count ourselves as lucky if we get off unscathed? I work in hospital pharmacy myself and I know I have a personal responsibility to others. Where is theirs? So anyway I meant to open a thread to hear about other peoples experiences in this area, not just a warning. I want to learn for next time.
Thanks
About half of the spks. which I've received has had some minor shipping damage, usually to the corners. Last time out, FedEx was very prompt @ making amends. I hope things work out well for you.
We were not made aware of this, Abbeydog.
So please let me know what we can do, including replacing/repairing speakers, ok?
Best,
Roy
Green Mountain Audio
WOW, direct response from the manufacturer. That should help restore some faith in humanity, or at least in the audio world (if not shipping companies).

Over the past month, I have been having some fun upgrading my system and doing business with some smaller manufacturers of audio gear, namely Blue Circle, Parts Connexion (in relation to an Anthem cd-player) and Zu Cable. They have all been very accommodating and will do their utmost in providing great service.

Now, I'm just waiting for delivery of some of the gear that I've ordered and hoping that shipping/delivery will be smooth and without damage. Just have to wait and see, and I'll report back on the experience.

Abbeydog, do not give up hope. Have you tried claiming at all with Bax?
Another Canuck here, who just wants to mention that a pair of Shearwaters, 65 pounds each, made it to him just fine via Canada Post. The gentleman carried them in on his shoulder from his truck, one at a time.

I've never shipped speakers internationally. Custom crates seem like a good idea. Thanks for this post!
I had the UPS Store pack and ship a pair of ADS towers from AZ to Ca. I paid $252.50 total and they were destroyed in route. The UPS driver sets the two boxes on the porch of the buyer with gaping holes in both boxes and packing peanuts literally blowing down the street (no double boxing, the fiends broke their own rule) and gets back in the truck. No knock, no nothing. Luckily this party was home and caught the driver as he was pulling out. After a two month battle they finally paid for everything. I will only use UPS if the buyer acknowledges responsibility now.
I guess this is my lucky day: UPS delivered a Blue Circle BC22 and MR1200. The box for the BC22 had one slight indentation and the MR1200 box was fine. So far, no problems.

Modded Anthem CD-1 to arrive next week by Canada Post/Xpresspost. Keeping fingers crossed.
No I have not bothered with Bax because I did not sign the damaged box on the reciept with the driver. Chalk it up to experience there. Jothompson, that is some horror story there!
Yes that manufacturer's response is just one more example of a true gentleman, Roy Johnson. His fine speakers are just one part of the pleasure of dealing with a company like Green Mountain. The care and time he expends on his customers is really very refreshing. I may have GMA repair the damage. Right now the idea of shipping again is not to sweet!
Thanks for the posts guys.
This is a preamp, but still, I need to vent - I just shipped an ARC PH3 in the original double box with foam panels between the boxes...via UPS. There was no visible damage to the box but UPS had managed to knock loose a tube and shake loose a wire, they must have dropped it pretty hard.

UPS also misrouted the box, maybe that contributed. I will never use UPS again.
I just got a set of Kef Referance speakers shipped accross the country via UPS. All went well. No problems.
About 60% of my equipment has had something wrong with due to shipping. Knobs broken, tubes cracked,speakers extremely dented. I had a pair Piega C-10ltd's delivered to my door. The driver pulled the speakers out of the van and let the one box drop 3 feet to the ground after I asked to help him. I watched a fedex employee drop a Convergent audio preamp from the counter. In both cases major damage. I am more surprised when things aren't broken from these morons
I just took delivery of 2 Talon Ravens from Texas to NC. Emery (Menlo) WorldWide Forwarding delivered them in 2 days and handled things just fine - no damage at all. The dealer that shipped them has had good luck with Emery, and recommends them for heavy & fragile deliveries like our audio stuff.

BTW - Delivery Weight for these speaks: 310 pounds!!

They were strapped down within oversized cartons to small pallets, wrapped completely with packing film & cardboard and many chunks of various foam were added around the base. It took a long time to unpack, but I think it is well worth the effort to really overpack the Hell out of audio gear like this.