UPS & Small Claims Court?

I recently had a problem with fedex; they booted around a '74 gibson les paul guitar pretty good, and the finish on the top cracked. As a matter of course, they denied the initial claim due to "inadequate packaging" (there's little doubt that this initial denial is SOP).

Fortuneately, I had a lot of electronic photo evidence (before and after shipping), which was dated. Once I got the guitar back in my possession, I took several photos of the mounds and mounds of packing materials that I had used in the shipping. Basically, they didn't have a leg to stand on.

After several emails to the woman who initially denied the claim, I received a check for half the original $1000 claim, which turned out better than a full settlement because I ended up resaling the guitar on eBay for 1,100! I came out about $600 ahead on the deal!

Sometimes, the little guy wins!

Lucky for us we take pictures of each unit prior to shipping. In this case we have internal pictures of the unit after it was put together. After we received it back we took several pictures of the damages.

Regards
Alan Maher

It is clearly beneficial to photograph the packaging job before shipping it, both before and after closing the box. If the box appears damaged on arrival then it should be photographed before opening it. The more evidence you have, the more carefully you document the process and any damage, the faster any shipper is likely to "pay you to go away". I know that problems do occur, but I've been surprised sometimes how well electronic components survive shipment, even from Canada. I've had boxes arrive from Blue Circle that looked brand-spanking new after spending a week traveling 3000 miles.