Discussion: Problems with shipping companies?

I’ve bought 3 from here. However I’ve shipped tons of things to friends across the country, and newspaper has done quite well. We shipped a guitar in a huge ass box because we didn’t have a long box, we just had a huge square one. All we packed it with was paper from an old phone book and it got to my friend without a scratch.

Couldn’t it be that you’ve just gotten lucky to not have one problem? I mean even great sellers like Finkle and other reputable sellers have had things that get damaged during shipping. This post isn’t supposed to be “well you’re just a shit seller”, it’s supposed to be about the shipping companies.

I don’t mean to be rude, you just wrote your post in a very condescending way. It’s much easier for someone who runs a business of selling sticks to talk about “proper packaging”. Look at how much they charge for bubble wrap next time you’re at a FedEx Kinko’s. If I’m making a one time sale why would i buy their 10$ for a bag of bubblewrap? And if you pay them to “properly package” it, they do an even worse job (usually a layer of wrap).

To say newspaper does “nothing” is just silly. Is it as good as lots of packing peanuts or things like that? No. But Is it better than having a bunch of empty space? Hell yes. It at least slows down the jostlings.

My experience is that USPS is the cheapest but not the fastest, I rarely have anything damaged by USPS but they have lost a few packages of mines. Fedex has always been great as far as never losing anything of mines and rarely I get anything damaged, but they are a little expensive. UPS is a little cheaper then Fedex BUT holy crap I gotten alot of damaged packages using them then Fedex+USPS combined. I ordered a Megatouch that was in a well padded box, palletized and strapped down. It arrived on a broken pallet, straps missing and the machine broken inside, thank goodness I paid for insurance on that one. So my first choice is USPS unless I need it there fast or its too big/heavy and USPS wont take it, then I use Fedex.

For packing boxes, I just grab those little newspaper style book that they put out for free at restaurants and gas stations and use those for packing material. Its free, it packs tight, and if you get them right before the next one comes out, its recycling. (I pick up a classifieds paper the day before the new ones go out)

Clembo2021 - woah you are taking it too offensively. Dude, chill out. You originally said on your first post before you edit it "(keep in mind all the sticks you buy off of here come with like nothing to keep it from moving around in the box, they’re just loose with a layer of bubble wrap).
You change the you to I, that’s why i type in the tone i did.

Okay so you admit that you cheaped out on packing supplies, and I can understand from your perspective. As for the newspaper, if you reread what i wrote, i said it does nothing when thrown. I am just saying from experience newspaper is only good if the package is handled properly but with fragile things like PCB inside and the fact that packages are expected to be thrown and if its thrown hard, newspaper is honestly useless. This is a 1 of the few complaints someone has with a defective items like yours
"3) No I did not drop the stick down the stairs. I hardly touched it. You packaged it poorly. That’s what the UPS people told me because I sent it back in the same box that you sent to me and they told me that that box with newspaper wouldn’t protect it properly." -Romuska

But honestly, don’t take it so personal. Relax.

One time my parents sent me money to send to Canada to a hotel to book a room for a weekend they were going to spend over there. They wouldn’t take paypal or check… so we had to do International Money order. I did it at USPS.

A week passes and we ask if they got the money and they said no. 2 weeks… 3 weeks… I got in there on the 3rd week to get it tracked and they’re like its impossible. But they told me that within 1 months time if it wasn’t cashed out, I’d get my money back in full. Meanwhile the hotel needed the payment for the booking… so we sent another international money order and (thank God) it actually got there! The cool thing about all this is that at the end of 1 month I got a check from the USPS that was the full amount we initially sent!

Other than that… no problems.

Fedex “delivered” a package (blank stick case from lazeeya) to my front door when I was gone. I live in an apt where the front door opens to a hallway that other residents frequently walk through. Not surprisingly it was stolen before I returned.

The lesson: always demand a signature for shipments or call the office ahead of time to pick up there.

One helpful thing to add to this thread would be a FAQ list for bad situations. For example, Fedex told me the shipper had like 21 business days to file a claim of stolen item, which he never did btw, and that there was nothing I as the buyer could do about it. Maybe those of you who worked in the shipping business could lend some advice on what to do in these situations.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get shipping confirmation on expensive shipments. You’re completely right that if you don’t get it then it’s quite easy for Paypal to screw you over if they get it and then claim they didn’t. It protects them (in the event it’s really stolen) and you.

However, does anyone know if insurance and shipping confirmation are necessary to get together? Because it kinda seems redundant. If you just get insurance, and they claim they never got it (even if they really did), couldn’t you just make a claim on the insurance? So doesn’t the insurance and shipping confirmation kind of overlap?

shadowzer0-

Sorry about how I took it. It just seemed like you were directing it right at me. And I can see how newspaper wouldn’t help in a worst case scenario. There were also packing peanuts, but obviously not quite enough.

If you go through USPS be sure to get SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION because delivery confirmation just means we scan the package as delivered, knock on the door and leave the package. Signature means you MUST sign for it, no questions asked. If you’re not home it goes back to the post office. I’ve heard of plenty of packages come up missing after a delivery confirmation.