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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 623
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Hey...
Been meaning to post about this for a while.
I've had some interesting experiences with the UPS Store recently, just wanted to quickly mention it since many here may do shipping of our precious guitars through them.
The dumb-ass that I can be made the ass-umption that the UPS store was directly affiliated with UPS. The idiot sees the logo on the store, makes the assumption. Apparently, not so. It was around the block from me, and much closer than the UPS facility, so I went for the convenience.
My most recent trip was to ship an Adamas about 2 months ago. Went in with a well packed box, ready to go. The transaction is processed, just about to pay when the owner takes out a rubber stamp and stamps the receipt with something for me to initial. Essentially it said that they are not responsible for any damages to the item in the package. He did that one other time to me as well, but I didn't care the first time because the item wasn't fragile. So this time I said "so if I sign this, you could kick the box in as hard as you want, and I can't do a damn thing about it." He said "if you packed it well, it shouldn't matter". I said, "no way, UPS doesn't make me sign this, why are you? If I'm paying for insurance, of course you are responsible for damage once it leaves my hands" He said, "we are not UPS". So I left with the package. I went to a UPS facility later that day, and the shipping fee was $20 LESS than the UPS store.
Later learned that my better half went there recently to make copies and buy stamps. They charged her $9 for a book of stamps that should have been $7 and change.
Everyone's gotta make a buck, I can't blame them, but I'm not going back. I'm not willing to take that risk, nor be charged more to do so. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Does the word Fraud come to mind? |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 37
Location: Warwick, RI | My understanding, probably wrong, is that UPS has a piece of these stores--maybe all of it--but I notice you pay big for "convenience." BTW, I ALWAYS use Fed X, seem to be friendlier, faster, and have NEVER had an issue with them.UPS is last resort for me.--Ron |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | UPS went after Mail Boxes Etc. and Fedex countered with Kinko's. At least FedEx bought an organization made up of corporate stores ... the MBE locations were all franchises. Therein lies the difference ... my local UPS Store is great to deal with, while I've been in others that wre just terrible. UPS doesn't own the stores, they just have their name on them.
I've found that FedEx has gotten much better at large packages since they bought RPS and remade them into FedEx Ground. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | I've read the UPS horror stories on this site but I have only had good experiences with UPS. I work very close to a major UPS distribution center and so I can easily bring the package in there myself. I've also received many guitars shipped via UPS and have not had any problems. I have also found that the anticipated delivery dates are very accurate.
I think that Strummin's expericence might be a local thing with that particular UPS store. |
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Joined:
June 2004
Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | I'm with Stonebobbo and Ron - I always send guitars and and other large/heavy things via FedEx Ground. As fast, or faster than UPS, always cheaper and never had a claim. |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | I always use FedEx. Cheaper, faster, and more reliable than UPS. Plus they've got better looking trucks. Dave |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 26
Location: Northern Virginia | When I recently sent my 1681 to Stellarjim, I went to one of those stores that does UPS, Fedex,DHL, etc. Fedex ended up being 20 cents cheaper than UPS. It was about 90 bucks for overnight (Virginia to Ohio) and about 20 bucks for ground service. I told them to add $1,000 insurance, and they did. Then they informed me if I had an insurance claim, I would need to have an official appraisal of the value of the instrument to get any compensation. I told them I've shipped with UPS for many years (at their UPS facility) and was never given that caveat. I told her, if I can establish that someone just paid me $1,000 for it and I was shipping it to the new owner, wouldn't that validate the value. She just said again, there needed to be an appraisal. I didn't have time to screw around, so I just told her to put the insurance on and if anything happened to that guitar, FEDEX better compensate me. Don't think I'll go that route again. Drive the extra time to the UPS or FEDEX depot if it's something important. |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 623
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I've sent several guitars via UPS and never have had a problem. It's this "UPS Store" that seems a bit frustrating.
I just thought I'd share what I learned to possibly save others here some headaches and money. As an independently owned franchise they charge more than the UPS fee itself. I never would have known that if I hadn't taken the same package to both places. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I like Dale Jarrett but I always use fedex for my packages. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | I've always used UPS. I think Stonebobbo's correct in that it depends on the retail store (Postal Print, Mail Boxes Etc.....) with whom you work. They make all the difference. |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I would love to see the brown truck motoring around Bristol or Darlington. Wouldn't be good for DJ but maybe the Petty teams would score better. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Good information for all of us to know. Sooner or later we all will either ship or receive a guitar. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | I have used both UPS and FedEx, but lately FedEx has been significantly cheaper...But UPS is easier to do business with using the shipping link in PayPal. FedEx's on-line shipping site is a pain in the ass.
I did have one unpleasent experience using FedEx - Kinko's, I was dropping a pre-labeled box at Kinko's, the counter person noticed a small tear in the box, (about the size of a dime) and refused the box, it was ridiculous. So I asked for a piece of tape to cover the hole and they refused, saying I had to purchase a whole roll of tape at the register. There had to be 5 or 10 box-tape dispensers around the counter. I told them to go F%*&K themselves and took the box to a different FedEx drop off. I would rather eat worms than ever step foot in a Kinkos again. Cheap petty bastards.
If you do a fair amount of shipping, say 5 or 10 times a year it's well worth it to sign up for an on-line account so you can pre-print your own labels and just drop the packages off, it's more convieniant faster and cheaper. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | the UPS stores are horrible. Take the item to the UPS depot and they are much better to deal with.
As for fed ex ground, when a "ryder" truck came down my street and some guy in a wife beater and shorts called out to me and said "hey dude, I think I have a package for you" I will NEVER use them. apparently there are ares where fed ex ground sells their routes.
He delivered a guitar that was laying flat with 15 boxes on top of it. I could not open it fast enough. luckily the guitar was in one piece. |
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Joined:
May 2005
Posts: 327
Location: Evansville,IN | I always take my things to the UPS depot, the stores suck, and charge more.
I've never had a problem with either UPS or FedEx. FedEx actually is faster, especially on anything coming from the West coast. UPS is 7 days, FedEx 5 days. Wonder why that is? :rolleyes: |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 640
Location: boulder | brown paint is heavier, makes the planes fly slower.
or brown is darker and absorbs the sunlight more, thereby heating up the metal and creating more molecule movement hence causing more air friction.
peace |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I live in a rural county, but the town I live in is the county seat. There is a UPS distribition center here and they are great. I have never had any problems, with insurance or otherwise. The pricing is very good, though there is a difference when it comes to overnight or 2day. FedEx is less but way more incovenient for me to get to. |
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Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 274
Location: Maryland, USA | He delivered a guitar that was laying flat with 15 boxes on top of it. I could not open it fast enough. luckily the guitar was in one piece. Whoa! Don't those people know what's in the packages before hand?
Lucky the guitar was indeed ^_^ |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 1445
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | My only two real horror stories were using FedEx Ground service. I'd walk the damn parcel to it's destination before I would ever use those clowns again.
Wayne |
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UPS Store B.S.
