Posted by Steve Guidry on 01/02/07 21:06

I agree. Others probably have horror stories. Mine is with UPS, and
therefore teh only one I have to tell about . . .

And if it had been just the loss, that would have been easier to deal with.
OR if it had been just the loss and the no-pay, that would have been sorta
not-so-bad.
OR if they had paid the $200 that the shipment WAS insured for, I could
have used that to defer some of my $1k deductible.
OR if they had even admitted to losing it and refunding the shipping charges
instead of sic-ing their collection agency on us . . .
OR if they had done all of the above in a timely manner . . .

In my book they did absolutely everything wrong. And I'll never be a
customer of theirs again. Further - - I'll be using every bit of my
influence and persuasion to sway others away from putting money in their
coffers.

Steve



"nobody special" <msu1049321@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1167770937.201275.283860@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
>
> I have heard similar horror stories for every shipping service out
> there, UPS, USPS, Fedex,DHL,you name it, somebody's lost somethign
> vital or had it damaged from time to time. I've seen plenty mof phot
> evidence onthe damaged stuff where it was obvious, i,e, big treaded
> boot prints on the boxes and so forth, or holes in a case (and a deck
> within) made by the forks of a forklift. You can't say any one of those
> services is definitively better or worse. I think the best you can do
> is to do everything you can up front, then it's up to fate.
>
> Things I would do if it was an important job:
>
> Split the shipment up into two components, either of which has the bare
> minimum to get most of the assignment done if the other half gets lost.
>
> If possible, carry-on the camera, battery, and charger and forget any
> other luggage, leave everything else to checked baggage or overnight it
> ahead or arange for a local area rental.
>
> Put obvious shock-sensor /g-meter stickers on the outsides of a box or
> case. Pay for all the extra coverage and bill the client for it. If
> there are extra features or serivces that require tracking numbers and
> signing for things, by all means employ every one of those things.
>
> Don't count on the shipping employees to have a conscience about losing
> or damaging your gear. Count on them to be afraid of accountability:
> tracking numbers, delivery van and operator numbers, manifests that
> require capturing a signature, g-shock indicators that can prove at
> what stage damage occured; these are the things that keep those guys
> and gals honest because it tracks loss or damage back to them
> personally, and that can endanger their job.
>

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