Always Require a Signature Update

[glip22]

This post is just a reminder why we should require signature on expensive gear. Many times I have been asked to not require a sig and I am also guilty of the same request. You, nor myself, should do it again on something of value.

Recently I was asked to ship an amp with no signature to a safe location in a quiet neighborhood. The amp was supposedly delivered at 12.46. Later that day around 8:30 my buyer emails me that he just got to the house and nothing is there.

My buyer is a good guy and knew without us saying it, it was on him. I would not give up though fighting for anyone that buys from me.
I opened an investigation which lasted about 2 weeks. It was then turned over to claims which went on for another long period of time. I submitted all the required documents
and made many calls to the shipper following up. I was just told today that the claim was finalized and I should be getting the refund. If this is actually true I consider this very lucky.
What I think happened was the amp was delivered to a wrong address or was stolen, which seems less likely.. From now on I am requiring a signature, no exception. The buyer can have me ship to a store directly or they can redirect it to a store rather than go through this nonsense again. I hope the check comes so I can pay my buyer his cash back and make him whole, regardless who was responsible for the money.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Yep...Sound advice indeed! I've never shipped without doing direct signature.

 

[RedB4Black]

FedEx requires a signature if the declared value exceeds $500. I typically require a signature even if it's over $200 or so. I'm not gonna be on the hook for a mis-delivered package or stolen from the porch. With FedEx, it is very easy for the recipient to reroute a package to a FedEx office for pick-up. I do it all the time when I'm receiving something where a signature will be required. When I ship, I usually let my buyer know that this can be done.

 

[Detroit1973]

This is why i ship everything to my work. My Hours are 7:30am-4:00pm M-F. Just seems easier to ship to ones place of employment than run the risk of shit being wrong.

 

[Racerxrated]

Since I work from home now, it's not a big deal...but in the past I'd usually call the shipper and have it held at location..both UPS and Fedex are nearby and easy to access.

 

[romanianreaper]

I started having items sent to my local Fedex store too. Just not worth it.

I don't want to sound too overdramatic or negative here but think about how often you hear about this happening. Those types of lowlifes are the people we are dealing with on a day to day basis in our country. I saw somewhere that one out of 10 people have dealt with this crap.

You can steal my car and burn my house to the ground. But don't touch my f'ing guitars!!! LOL!

 

[skoora]

Unfortunately, porch theft is very real and not uncommon. I’m a little lucky that mine is not easily seen for receiving things but if I was shipping anything with some value I would send it signature required. A little inconvenience could avoid a big one.

 

[errrrrl]

That's probably the only benefit I have of living in a secure condo. Besides cameras and what not there is like 7 units per floor and most of the fuckers in my building are old retired Asians couples mainly. I pretty much always opt for no signature if possible.

 

[ClintN667]

This is why i ship everything to my work. My Hours are 7:30am-4:00pm M-F. Just seems easier to ship to ones place of employment than run the risk of shit being wrong.

I ship to my work as well. It has two advantages 1. someone is there to sign for it. 2. My wife doesnt see it.

 

[romanianreaper]

That's probably the only benefit I have of living in a secure condo. Besides cameras and what not there is like 7 units per floor and most of the fuckers in my building are old retired Asians couples mainly. I pretty much always opt for no signature if possible.

I ordered a Gibson Gothic Explorer back around 2001 when I was living on Hickam AFB. I came home after a full day at work and the guitar box was out in the sun leaning against my carport!!! I kept thinking how surprised I was that the guitar was still there and more surprised that Hawaiian sun didn't torch the box and the guitar inside. LOL

 

[Mailman1971]

I live off the beating path.
No neighbors. I have a sun porch breezeway before entering my main door.
I always tell anyone that I buy to waive the signature.
My delivery guys know me well.
They know to just place the parcel inside.
But I totally respect the shipper wanting the security of the sign.
So I’m just forced to call in sick that day.

 

[harddriver]

The last guitar I shipped was shipped to the buyers local FedEX store and held there to be picked up by the buyer at his request. It worked out very well, he was able to unpack and check for damage at the store in case there was any claim, everything worked out great. Seems like an option to direct shipping to the house. I also think it was a bit cheaper too since it did not go back out on a truck for final delivery.

My issues lately is people using the PP return policy to try out used gear as they have 90 days to make a false claim about the item and have PP force the buyer to take it back. I can understand if there was shipping damage immediately reported upon receipt but these unscrupulous types are abusing it. In the days of old of gear acquisition if you bought an amp or guitar that you just didn't bond with you just re-flipped it no bitching, no whining.

I hope the claim goes through and reimburses in full Gary.

 

[glip22]

I started having items sent to my local Fedex store too. Just not worth it.

I don't want to sound too overdramatic or negative here but think about how often you hear about this happening. Those types of lowlifes are the people we are dealing with on a day to day basis in our country. I saw somewhere that one out of 10 people have dealt with this crap.

You can steal my car and burn my house to the ground. But don't touch my f'ing guitars!!! LOL!

I hear you!

 

[glip22]

This is why i ship everything to my work. My Hours are 7:30am-4:00pm M-F. Just seems easier to ship to ones place of employment than run the risk of shit being wrong.

I ship to my work as well. It has two advantages 1. someone is there to sign for it. 2. My wife doesnt see it.

I do the same although I stopped hiding from the Wife. She deems my gear, "My Mistresses" saying I spend more time with them over her.
Awhile back I asked her to hold the door for me while I walked in a new Carol Anne Triptik. It was the first one Allen made. The name badge was facing outward as I walked in. Her reply" Jesus Christ, they have fuckin names now" I almost dropped the amp.

 

[glip22]

The last guitar I shipped was shipped to the buyers local FedEX store and held there to be picked up by the buyer at his request. It worked out very well, he was able to unpack and check for damage at the store in case there was any claim, everything worked out great. Seems like an option to direct shipping to the house. I also think it was a bit cheaper too since it did not go back out on a truck for final delivery.

My issues lately is people using the PP return policy to try out used gear as they have 90 days to make a false claim about the item and have PP force the buyer to take it back. I can understand if there was shipping damage immediately reported upon receipt but these unscrupulous types are abusing it. In the days of old of gear acquisition if you bought an amp or guitar that you just didn't bond with you just re-flipped it no bitching, no whining.

I hope the claim goes through and reimburses in full Gary.

I do also. It shows it was not approved and voided. When I called they said it was finalized and approved but there was a Police Investigation UPS initiated so we will see. My buyer is a good guy and I feel bad so I hope it works out. Definitely not a good idea to leave a big box on a porch for so many hours on Christmas Eve, if that is even what occurred. According to UPS the GPS showed the driver at the correct location. What I found odd was that the town it showed the box out of had an exact street number and same road name as my ship to in the next town over.

 

[Detroit1973]

I live off the beating path.
No neighbors. I have a sun porch breezeway before entering my main door.
I always tell anyone that I buy to waive the signature.
My delivery guys know me well.
They know to just place the parcel inside.
But I totally respect the shipper wanting the security of the sign.
So I’m just forced to call in sick that day.

I HAVE called in sick so many times to play guitar or to go pickup a guitar from FEDEX or UPS or from a store where i had a guitar on Layaway. I Remember calling in sick from a music store parking lot pay phone in Ft. Lauderdale back in 2001 so that i could pickup my 2001 Black Les Paul Standard which the store promptly put my pickup choice in for me while i waited cause there was no one in the store on that Friday at 10:00am.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

The last guitar I shipped was shipped to the buyers local FedEX store and held there to be picked up by the buyer at his request. It worked out very well, he was able to unpack and check for damage at the store in case there was any claim, everything worked out great. Seems like an option to direct shipping to the house. I also think it was a bit cheaper too since it did not go back out on a truck for final delivery.

My issues lately is people using the PP return policy to try out used gear as they have 90 days to make a false claim about the item and have PP force the buyer to take it back. I can understand if there was shipping damage immediately reported upon receipt but these unscrupulous types are abusing it. In the days of old of gear acquisition if you bought an amp or guitar that you just didn't bond with you just re-flipped it no bitching, no whining.

I hope the claim goes through and reimburses in full Gary.

Yep...these PP buyer return policies always have me cringing when I sell something. It's great as an honest buyer to have some protection, but there's a lot of people out there that abuse it. I've been lucky so far, but odds are if you flip regularly, your bound to get burned I would think. If you want to test drive something, buy from the big box stores that offer 30-45 day return policies.

 

[napalmdeath]

This is why i ship everything to my work. My Hours are 7:30am-4:00pm M-F. Just seems easier to ship to ones place of employment than run the risk of shit being wrong.

Me too. Hell, I've had to start getting stuff from Amazon, too delivered to my work. Their new delivery service with "private" contractors has been nothing but a headache. I had 4 packages last month delivered to the wrong addresses.

What's funny is, they now take pictures of your package, and send it to you when delivered. I had some misc. stuff delivered to the wrong address, and picture sent that wasn't even my house! They apologized, and sent it out again. Then, I get a delivery confirmation the next day, with a picture of my package, right next to the other package, wrong house! Dipshits. That's just ignorant, right there.

 

[Detroit1973]

This is why i ship everything to my work. My Hours are 7:30am-4:00pm M-F. Just seems easier to ship to ones place of employment than run the risk of shit being wrong.

Me too. Hell, I've had to start getting stuff from Amazon, too delivered to my work. Their new delivery service with "private" contractors has been nothing but a headache. I had 4 packages last month delivered to the wrong addresses.

What's funny is, they now take pictures of your package, and send it to you when delivered. I had some misc. stuff delivered to the wrong address, and picture sent that wasn't even my house! They apologized, and sent it out again. Then, I get a delivery confirmation the next day, with a picture of my package, right next to the other package, wrong house! Dipshits. That's just ignorant, right there.

I've gone back to only buying small things on line like pedals, strings & picks. Guitars & amps i will only buy in person since i've had so many issues with description VS. what the guitar is really like.

 

[PBGas]

I will never forget the time about 10 years ago when the driver left a brand new Diezel Herbert sitting on my porch that I ordered from the distributor up here. It was supposed to be delivered in the aft but it was dropped off in the AM without a signature.

I guess since the amp weighs like 70lbs, no one figured they would tackle it! LOL.