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[glip22]

I sold my modded 2204 to BubbaStain a put it in the foam holders, wrapped it in bubble wrap,then loaded it with styrofoam peanuts, then I took it to UPS and had them place it in a second box. Somehow they were still able to crack the headshell. I spent basically $200 bucks for them to screw me out of my claim. They tried to say that it wasnt packed well enough. I literally used every technique in the book. I insured it for $1500 and was only asking for them to replace the Sourmash headshell which is about 225-250. Thank god he took that amp out of the headshell before they collected it.


I've been dealing with this for over 2 months and it still isn't resolved. Bubbastain has been really understanding and patient. They have now approved the claim and now I'm just waiting for them to cut me a check. I basically had to sell the amp to cover having to move with little notice and I really didnt have the extra money after moving to refund. Seriously UPS can fuck up a wet dream.

I'm glad its finally wrapping up and them taking responsibility for their fuck up but I will never ship another amp with UPS. They will use any excuse possible to weasel out of paying you.

I have used UPS with no damage issues when I ship amps for years. Peanuts are the worst thing you can use. They crush quickly with movement. That creates space in your box for the amp to move.

I stuff the headshell with bubble all around and in between the tubes. The best thing to use is poly laminated foam. I use about 2" all six sides and male sure the amp cannot move. You could drop it five feet and it will absorb the impact no problem.

 

[xzyryabx]

UPS will ALWAYS deny your first claim, you have to appeal it and get another music store/business to write a letter stating the packaging you used was exactly what the manufacturer uses or better. If the claim is denied by appeal you will have to file a small claims court case in your county then send UPS a letter for an offer to settle before the court date. I have had a 100% success rate in winning UPS claims and like I said they always deny on the first one, about 60% win on appeal and after that you have to file small claims.

When filing small claims you serve the agent who is registered by UPS in your state to notify them of your claim. Anyone dealing with a denied UPS claim feel free to PM me if you need help or specific info.

This is the gem in this thread.
Shipping accidents will happen, and believe it or not it's not the logos fault!
These shippers are staffed by folks that are over-worked and underpaid, and as a result just don't give a shit.
Add to that lazy sellers that can't tell a good packing job from a bucket of dildos...and bam. Claim.
PPl get biased by their personal experience (+ latest forum anecdotal thread), but I can almost guarantee that UPS/FedEX/DHL/whatever (not including USPS on purpose), all have similar claim rates.

Buyers, double-check that the seller knows how to pack, and cross your fingers.
Sellers, learn to pack, and push back on these crooks. They count on you not pushing back, don't cave.
America, re-learn to have pride in what you do, whatever it is.

 

[Markedman]

UPS loses and damages everything and they totally deny paying for the item even if it is insured. Criminal company IMO.

 

[RedB4Black]

The item I bought was a 4x12. Box is far too damaged to use again for shipping. Assuming they don't deny the claim, which it seems is unlikely, I would guess that they would just destroy the cab. Can't imagine they want to ship it back to the seller.

I'm assuming it's the Wizard cab?

How bad was the damage? I kind of wanted that cab even though the black piping didn't match my other Wizard cabs (and I have OCD about that kind of stuff. lol), but it would have been a 6 hour round trip drive to get. Would have saved him a loss to sell it cheaper locally too.

Personally, I think he should refund you immediately. It's not really your problem. It's between him and the shipper. He's likely going to lose in the end unfortunately.

I had an issue with my Fortin that I sold to FondledDuck here on RT. Sent him his money back and a shipping label to return it, then I sent it to Fortin to be fixed. That's the way it's supposed to work. It wasn't shipping damage. Just a failure on the fuse retainer. Ended up costing me $400 in shipping when all was said in done, but that's life if your gonna sell expensive stuff on-line.

 

[fearhk213]

Yup, the Wizard cab. Get this, UPS just showed up at my door looking for a Damage pickup. I assume it's for the cab, as I'm not involved in any other claims. The seller didn't let me know this was happening, nor have I received any formal communication from UPS, other than the driver showing up. I haven't received a refund. I don't even have it packed up. Tag says they'll return tomorrow.

The box is beat, there's no way this thing makes it to wherever it's going (seller or UPS Hub) in its current condition. I'm also not just going to let it go without anything in writing. This deal is starting to go sideways.

UPS did the same thing to me. In my case they told the seller, but they told him they'd call me about picking it up a date to pick it up. No call. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the seller in your deal didn't know, but who knows. Anyway, the driver just showed up at my place ready to pick it up, which of course I wasn't ready with it packed back up. I talked to someone at a corporate office, someone at the local facility where they were supposedly going to inspect it, and the driver since I was there - each told me a slighty different thing for how things would play out. Once they picked it up, the driver gave me a tag regarding the item and the claim. Also, if you plug in the tracking number again on their site, it will likely be active again showing the status of the package.

 

[RedB4Black]

Yup, the Wizard cab. Get this, UPS just showed up at my door looking for a Damage pickup. I assume it's for the cab, as I'm not involved in any other claims. The seller didn't let me know this was happening, nor have I received any formal communication from UPS, other than the driver showing up. I haven't received a refund. I don't even have it packed up. Tag says they'll return tomorrow.

The box is beat, there's no way this thing makes it to wherever it's going (seller or UPS Hub) in its current condition. I'm also not just going to let it go without anything in writing.

The seller should refund you immediately. Shouldn’t have to wait on UPS. It’s between him an UPS... not your problem anymore.

 

[EXPcustom]

It is up to the seller to be vigilant and keep in mind that they ALWAYS deny the first claim, request and appeal with pics and paperwork any local music store should help you out with a letter stating the item shipped is what the manufacturer uses or better. If that fails then the seller should file a small claims case, they will get paid every time as long as they keep the pressure on UPS.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Seller paid for the insurance, seller files the claim and waits, after seller refunds your money. That's how it's supposed to work if the seller is on the up and up. Of course, using UPS is a crap shoot. I had to take them to small claims and I won, but only after six months of appeals, and crap.

Long story short, never use UPS, only Fedex for this guy.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

The seller has indicated he'll make me whole if UPS denies the claim. If thats accurate he should just refund me the $$ now, as I don't see any difference.

exactly....you should not be waiting on this at all.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I just laid out how the contract/claim is between him and UPS and requested a refund. We'll see.

BTW, Jim, thanks for the very fast shipping on the DB limiter. Just bought the 16ohm from you

Hey, glad to hear you got refunded. Now let's hope you get some gear to use your DBL 16 with!

I would say a prayer for the seller, UPS was always a royal PITA to deal with, and after my small claims thing 14 years ago, I elected not to use them, or get anything from them again. The current ratio of damaged UPS shipments is 31 out of 39.

A couple of clients recently made the mistake of using them to ship me speakers to be reconed. That turned out badly. Now they are Fedex converts, too.

 

[RedB4Black]

I just laid out how the contract/claim is between him and UPS and requested a refund. We'll see.

BTW, Jim, thanks for the very fast shipping on the DB limiter. Just bought the 16ohm from you

Hey, glad to hear you got refunded. Now let's hope you get some gear to use your DBL 16 with!

I would say a prayer for the seller, UPS was always a royal PITA to deal with, and after my small claims thing 14 years ago, I elected not to use them, or get anything from them again. The current ratio of damaged UPS shipments is 31 out of 39.

A couple of clients recently made the mistake of using them to ship me speakers to be reconed. That turned out badly. Now they are Fedex converts, too.

I agree on UPS. I will never use them to ship anything. I've never had damage from FedEx - but I will say that I over-pack stuff. My last straw with UPS was when I had an over-night envelope with airline tickets (back before e-tickets) on a foreign airline. They delivered me half an envelope and actually asked me to sign for it. Of course the tickets were gone. The airline (ALM) made me buy new tickets for about $1,500 and I had to wait about 6 months before I finally got a refund on the original tickets.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I agree on UPS. I will never use them to ship anything. I've never had damage from FedEx - but I will say that I over-pack stuff. My last straw with UPS was when I had an over-night envelope with airline tickets (back before e-tickets) on a foreign airline. They delivered me half an envelope and actually asked me to sign for it. Of course the tickets were gone. The airline (ALM) made me buy new tickets for about $1,500 and I had to wait about 6 months before I finally got a refund on the original tickets.

How in the hell do they deliver a half an envelope? Did they tape it back up with the tickets missing and say "Gee, we don't what happened?" LOL

 

[RedB4Black]

I agree on UPS. I will never use them to ship anything. I've never had damage from FedEx - but I will say that I over-pack stuff. My last straw with UPS was when I had an over-night envelope with airline tickets (back before e-tickets) on a foreign airline. They delivered me half an envelope and actually asked me to sign for it. Of course the tickets were gone. The airline (ALM) made me buy new tickets for about $1,500 and I had to wait about 6 months before I finally got a refund on the original tickets.

How in the hell do they deliver a half an envelope? Did they tape it back up with the tickets missing and say "Gee, we don't what happened?" LOL

No. The envelope was completely ripped in half and only the half with the address label go delivered. The other half and the tickets were lost. Idiots.

 

[GregM]

I just had that same experience with USPS. I sold an active pickup set with pots, wiring, and preamp and shipped in a roughly 6x6" box. After about two months of the buyer waiting and USPS's snail speed lost mail search, I got an envelope one day that had my shipping label in it. Somebody cut the tape cleanly right around the label and took it off the box, the only thing that shipped to the buyer's local post office was the label. USPS shipped me the label back along with an apology letter.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Back in 2002 I had a Gibson 30 watt combo that went south. After multiple repair attempts Gibson finally replaced it, and had it shipped to my local luthier via UPS overnight.

There were two large forklift prong dents in the box, and yes...you guessed right...into the cab tolex and front speaker grill. Needless to say, that one went back.

After that they asked what I wanted and I said "Just get me a head only, I have cabs." So they sent out a fully tested head hand delivered by the So Cal Gibson rep (Peter Belov IIRC).

They told me to keep the combo, and I finally got a Gibson repair shop to find everything wrong with it, and get it fixed. I got it back, tested it, made sure it was good, then I covered it with a moving blanket and haven't touched it for 10 years.

But you have to wonder why UPS delivered a box with two 4 inch wide forklift stabs to a customer? I mean, WTF? No one decided to shine a flashlight in and see the splintered plywood and ripped tolex?

UPS - Unprofessional Package Smashers

 

[Scumback Speakers]

UPS picked up the cab yesterday. Didn't inspect it, no questions asked. Box was beat to hell. Not sure where it's going, or if the seller is getting a refund. Hopefully, now that they took ownership, he will.

Unrelated, Jim, I may need to buy the 8ohm attenuator now. lol

WTH you had to change cabinet ohm ratings? Shoot me an email to see about just swapping it, ok?

Hell, you just got it!