HELP FedEx Mangles Speakers - Refuses Claim

I have been shipping mid to high end stereo equipment for 25 years. I have been constantly lied to by both UPS and Fedex  regarding claims. I now refuse to let my labor go to waste and have discovered the answer. I now refuse to ship items I sell online by either of these two methods. I now ship ONLY by USHIP.com. The rates are in the same ballpark as UPS. But the benefits USHIP offer are significant. I get to speak to or text the driver that has my package. I get to choose how much I would like to pay for the shipment. I get to choose my driver. I know what is going on every step of the trip. I do not have to package my item as if it needed to be protected from mistreatment by UPS or Fedex. I have never had any problem whatsoever with any shipment I have ever made. What's not to love about that? Any member shipping their valuable item might want to check out what USHIP has to offer. Len (Nikkos on ebay)

@megabassguy - thanks for that info; that was worth reviving a 13-year old thread for. 

What better way to promote yourself. 1st post. Picking your own driver to deliver your amp from let’s say from New York to Washington state for about the same price as UPS? 

This is a troubling situation that many of us have dealt with at some point.  I can think of no sector of the economy where a merchant accepts a risk of performance for an insurance premium and then steadfastly refuses to make good on their responsibility, no matter what.  It is clearly their business model, all of them.  We all know how abused packages are by all shippers.  

When I ship with Fedex/USP, always in original packaging or at in least double-boxed well-protected cartons, I always which I make a point of showing to the shipper, in an open box, that I have properly packaged content.  I video the whole exchage to hear them say that it is properly protected for shipping and they then ought to accept any damage that might occur with the insurance premium, clearly cause by their handling of the package.   This evidence is vital in pursuing your claim which might take a lot of time and effort, but it might compel them to settle with you.  

The fact of the matter is that it is David against Goliath in these situations, but my experience is that you if you are vigorous in your pursuit of the claim, you will likely prevail.  There ought to be a law against this routine refusal of shippers to take responsibility for the risk they took on with the insurance premium.  Otherwise, why purchase the insurance, right?   

Hopefully, if the OP was diligent enough, he's just now getting paid a partial refund after 13 years.