Courier despair

[Neil P]

I've come to unwrap my new (to me) monoblocks and the transformer is flopping around inside one of them ... and my normal amp is off for a service. I have unexpectedly got the house to myself for FIVE DAYS from Friday and my planned music/gear demoing has gone right out the window. GRRR

 

[Darren L]

That's a bummer, hopefully they were shipped with adequate insurance?
Were they shipped in their flight cases?
@G T Audio the manufacturer is about 2hrs/100 miles from you.

 

[Neil P]

That's a bummer, hopefully they were shipped with adequate insurance?
Were they shipped in their flight cases?

Shipped in bubble wrap in cardboard box, in a second sturdy box full of packing material. I don't think it would have been possible to pack them any better, and certainly no blame attributed to the sender. Fully insured thankfully.

 

[say it as it is]

I have had this as well sadly. Not a fault if packing simply the big heavy transformers don't like it especially if a captive nut rather than a large washer to hold them down.
After much fretting it was just a case of getting the large washer and rubber pad to secure it and no further damage had occurred

 

[Neil P]

When I bought a new PC that had been "custom" built, theyd actually filled the interior with expanding foam (but in a polythene pouch). This filled in all the gaps to stop the components shifting in transit. It was a 2 min shop to take off the side panel and remove it. Might be worth considering for components like amps etc. I'm surprised we don't hear of more amps getting damaged in transit!

 

[mercalia]

I bought an Audiolab 8000m I got from a London Store, brought it home and some thing was knocking around inside - one of the heatsinks from a componant had come adrift.

 

[Mr Pig]

This isn't the fault of the courier. It sounds like it was packed properly but the amp has not been built to withstand transit. It should be able to withstand being dropped while in good packing as it's a cast iron certainty that eventually it's going to happen.

 

[Bas V]

I just shipped a streamer from NL to Ireland. It took 20 days without updates and no sign of the unit, but it arrived. The outer box was totally damaged, although it was filled with 'fragile' stickers. Fortunately the streamer was in it's original box in the outer box, so double packed. The buyer will check today, but says it looks fine. I keep my fingers crossed...

 

[Tony L]

If you can design something there will be a courier somewhere that can break it.

 

[Stuart Frazer]

I just shipped a streamer from NL to Ireland. It took 20 days without updates and no sign of the unit, but it arrived. The outer box was totally damaged, although it was filled with 'fragile' stickers. Fortunately the streamer was in it's original box in the outer box, so double packed. The buyer will check today, but says it looks fine. I keep my fingers crossed...

Good job you double boxed that!

 

[eastone]

When I bought a new PC that had been "custom" built, theyd actually filled the interior with expanding foam (but in a polythene pouch). This filled in all the gaps to stop the components shifting in transit. It was a 2 min shop to take off the side panel and remove it. Might be worth considering for components like amps etc. I'm surprised we don't hear of more amps getting damaged in transit!

I’ve done this for valve amps - air pouches stuffing the internals to stop anything moving around.

 

[Mr Pig]

The outer box was totally damaged, although it was filled with 'fragile' stickers.

I don't think fragile stickers do the least bit of good. It's just another box to be moved.

 

[ducatiman]

They also pique’s interest, the more anonymous the package the better fwiw

 

[robs]

They also pique’s interest, the more anonymous the package the better fwiw

Many years ago I worked for a short time on the baggage handling system at Gatwick. Vividly remember seeing a baggage handler picking up an expensive looking bike (unboxed and unpackaged) and raising it above his head and throwing it down onto the conveyor belt...some people just have that mentality unfortunately...

 

[misterdog]

I don't think fragile stickers do the least bit of good. It's just another box to be moved.

I've had 2 Audio items shipped from China, not even a mark on the box.

New one arriving this week - touch wood.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've had 2 Audio items shipped from China, not even a mark on the box.

A mystery and no mistake.

 

[wow&flutter]

I mate who worked briefly in a warehouse for a major online retailer. He witnessed every tv that was unloaded from a trailer be put on a moving conveyer with a four foot drop at the other end. Only issue was there was no one at the other end to lift them off! So the first seven or eight just dropped into each other then the following units were forced of the sides of the conveyor. There were also existing stacks of broken units in various positions throughout the place, not good!

 

[Neil P]

I don't think fragile stickers do the least bit of good. It's just another box to be moved.

I wonder if they're seen as a challenge ... how high can you throw the item!

A good courier service would track the amount of insurance claims as a KPI... I live in hope!

 

[Richard Lines]

A good courier service would track the amount of insurance claims as a KPI... I live in hope!

Neil - how many people actually take out the insurance when booking through such as parcel2go (other similar services are available). Having used their services for over more than 10yrs now their current insurance rates are sky high and can only reflect the losses incurred. It is often cheaper to ship by Royal Mail/ ParcelForce with inclusive insurance.

It also takes a great many weeks to get the insurance paid out and you need to chase them up.

Those bits I sell on eBay now are open to oversea's buyers but the goods will go through the GSP. I had a potential buyer complain to me about why it cost so much for some PCB's to be shipped to them. I openly admitted I could send the PCB's to them more cheaply and directly but my experiences with overseas sales has been highly variable in the past and I would rather 'lose' sales then take on more grief.

Such as Royal Mail base their lost mail figures solely on claims made which ignores the fact that many people simply won't bother.

Many years ago we made a claim for an item that 'got lost' in the UK. We duly filled out the Royal Mail form and, credit to the customer, so did they. RM wanted to know what the true cost of the item was so it was a built up electronic item this boiled down to the cost of the components, labour and postage appeared to be excluded from the compensation figure as far as we would see.

From that point forward we just allowed for 5% of annual sales going missing and added that to the cost of all items sold. This still didn't stop items 'reportedly' going missing and we then went to 2nd Class Signed For for everything we sold which kind of cured the problem within the UK but not overseas.

The likes of Digi-Key/ Mouser/ RS/ Farnell etc. don't use Hermes - so why would anybody else? I've never had a problem with UPS in over 20yrs.................... nor Royal Mail/ Parcelforce that I can recall. It's a complete pain in the bottom that the only courier service (and I use the term loosely here) available to our home address via p2g is Herpes.

Regards

Richard

 

[Mike P]

It never ceases to amaze me how roughly couriers treat packages. I've had kit arrive here with the pins of the mains plug bent over almost double! How much force does that take!

Then again, it never ceases to amaze me how optimistic some people are with their packaging too (not that this applies in the OP's case).

It makes me want to start a courier company that actually treats the stuff people are sending with care and respect.