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DPM
05-11-2007, 09:51 PM
Well, it took awhile, but I finally found the Hales Transcendence center channel speaker to go with my Trans. Eight towers. In fact, I found one that was unopened in its box. (The previous owner had bought it for a surround system that never materialized.) It arrived today from Michigan via UPS.

When I removed the speaker from its box I discovered that the metal frame of the grill had been severely bent. Evidently, some idiot at UPS dropped the speaker, and it landed hard on a corner of the box thus collapsing the frame a bit. Luckily, the speaker itself escaped unscathed, and it operates perfectly.

It's pretty apparent to me that UPS cannot be counted on to do its job properly. Has anyone else here had a similar situation? Who is the most reliable carrier as far as getting shipments to their destination in one piece? DSL? Fedex?

PeruvianSkies
05-11-2007, 10:10 PM
I used to know a few people that worked for UPS near Harrisburg PA and they were on the night crew that loaded the trucks with all the boxes for delivery. They actually had contests when the supervisor wasn't around to see who could throw the largest boxes into the truck or have other destructive ways of using the boxes for their 'fun'. After hearing that I am so nervous sending stuff UPS and usually prefer FedEx.

superdougiefreshness
05-12-2007, 04:11 AM
I used to know a few people that worked for UPS near Harrisburg PA and they were on the night crew that loaded the trucks with all the boxes for delivery. They actually had contests when the supervisor wasn't around to see who could throw the largest boxes into the truck or have other destructive ways of using the boxes for their 'fun'. After hearing that I am so nervous sending stuff UPS and usually prefer FedEx.

I have known many couriers for several of the large shipping corps and the UPS guys are paid much better and have far more work to boot. The FedEx guys have it easy compared to UPS and they have said so because of the pay and work rule issues that UPS is made or you could say pushed much harder. UPS is worked harder with less people because of the union shop atmosphere they have, While FedEx is non-union and is not generally worked as hard except during the Thanks Giving/Christmas season. Most of the year the FedEx work load is less except for the 6:00pm run to the planes daily for takeoff deadlines, the rest of the day on most routes is a little less hectic then UPS - generally speaking. Just ask a person who works the routes, they will probably agree and say I am pretty much right on the target. Oh and sorry to hear about your speaker grills, hope the sound is still rocking.
Later
SupDugFreshnis - San Diego,CA - Near the FedEx ramp at the bottom of the hill. LOL :dita: :ciappa: :cornut: nice little martians LOL

Sansui71
05-19-2007, 08:18 AM
My attitude towards any of the above, has to do with where one lives and that in itself, is one of the underlying factors of my unhappiness with them. UPS, for me, leaves packages on my porch, if no signature required. I have no neighbors close enough, or at home, for them to leave the package with. Fedex has no local delivery store, and they come from 75 miles away. You need to have it delivered to a work address, if they can get there before the shipping/receiving office closes. Same with DHL. I have had two packages stolen from my porch, from a UPS delivery. I never heard one word from them, as to the outcome of what happened. I also have had broken items. When referred to the sender, they have said that they packaged it very good. But when UPS leaves packages on my porch, there is no recourse but to file a claim. I wonder how many claims they get in a week??

emorphien
05-19-2007, 11:01 AM
I find Fedex to be much better. Our local UPS delivery guy is great, but compared to UPS I have never had problems with FedEx. The unionized approach UPS takes seems to provide better protection for lazy/careless workers whereas the contractors for Fedex are more concerned to represent themselves well. I know people who have worked in both and they have all also said as much about the two companies.

bubbagump
05-19-2007, 04:45 PM
I have to wonder about the packaging. You have to expect rough handling when couriers are moving hundreds of thousands or millions of packages a day. It's practically a miracle that they can pull it off. Most mid size to large companies employee engineers specifically for the purpose of designing packaging. Packaged properly, an egg can be shipped, overnight air, half way across the world without damage.

drseid
05-24-2007, 12:26 AM
Well, it took awhile, but I finally found the Hales Transcendence center channel speaker to go with my Trans. Eight towers. In fact, I found one that was unopened in its box. (The previous owner had bought it for a surround system that never materialized.) It arrived today from Michigan via UPS.

When I removed the speaker from its box I discovered that the metal frame of the grill had been severely bent. Evidently, some idiot at UPS dropped the speaker, and it landed hard on a corner of the box thus collapsing the frame a bit. Luckily, the speaker itself escaped unscathed, and it operates perfectly.

It's pretty apparent to me that UPS cannot be counted on to do its job properly. Has anyone else here had a similar situation? Who is the most reliable carrier as far as getting shipments to their destination in one piece? DSL? Fedex?
Bottom line is that UPS, DHL and FedEx can all damage goods in transit from time to time (but the frequency is very low on all of them).

I head up the B2C Logistics and Fulfillment areas at my company, and know all the carriers very well. UPS and FedEx are pretty much as reliable and "package friendly" as you are going to get IMO. If I *had* to choose, I would ship my *personal* packages UPS, as their ground drivers are UPS union employees. FedEx Home (their residential delivery service) frequently uses contractors to deliver the goods (but the goods are processed through the system at FedEx facilities). Now I don't want to imply that due to the fact that FedEx uses contractors to deliver its FedEx Home (ground residential) packages means they will be damaged more readily than UPS as a result... I just like knowing my goods are in the hands of real company personnel from start to finish (just a personal preference -- all the major statistics show near parity between the two companies).

For the record, however, my company ships tens of thousands of packages via FedEx Home each month, and we do not experience many damaged package issues at all -- we have had the same experience with UPS in the past. Pretty much it just looks like you were unlucky with your delivery as both UPS and FedEx do pretty well here based on the industry damaged package statistics. Sorry to hear about your situation though. :-(

---Dave

Robert-The-Rambler
05-25-2007, 03:21 PM
Well, it took awhile, but I finally found the Hales Transcendence center channel speaker to go with my Trans. Eight towers. In fact, I found one that was unopened in its box. (The previous owner had bought it for a surround system that never materialized.) It arrived today from Michigan via UPS.

When I removed the speaker from its box I discovered that the metal frame of the grill had been severely bent. Evidently, some idiot at UPS dropped the speaker, and it landed hard on a corner of the box thus collapsing the frame a bit. Luckily, the speaker itself escaped unscathed, and it operates perfectly.

It's pretty apparent to me that UPS cannot be counted on to do its job properly. Has anyone else here had a similar situation? Who is the most reliable carrier as far as getting shipments to their destination in one piece? DSL? Fedex?

UPS dropped one of my 18" Pyle subs destroying nearly the entire enclosure. I told Amazon about it and they overnighted me a new one via DHL at no cost to me.

jevuichard
05-26-2007, 02:16 PM
Hello, I have always heard great things about Pioneers HPM-100's 200 watt speakers. Well I finally found a good pair and bought them. The carrier was DHL and when I opened the boxes I could have cried. They were in alot of pieces. I am still waiting on any info from seller from Ebay. Also I have Sansui 9000 speakers, kenwood kl-900x 350wt kenwood kl-9090 300wt and others. I have kenwood kr-9600 & kr-9050 & sansui 9700 for receivers.What I am getting at is I have read is that sansui 9000 or any sansui speakers sound like crap. So far they are better than any speaker I have had. Thanks Jim V

audio_dude
05-27-2007, 11:08 AM
...and this is why I always ship using Canada Post (most of my business is done in canada anyway)

never had anything damaged, always arrives promptly, it just works. (we're known for having one of the best postal systems in the world)

Feanor
05-27-2007, 04:49 PM
...and this is why I always ship using Canada Post (most of my business is done in canada anyway)

never had anything damaged, always arrives promptly, it just works. (we're known for having one of the best postal systems in the world)

I recently sold a Tripp Lite IS1000 isolation transformer to a guy in Ottawa; he said the box and the unit casing were crushed and the unit only worked for a couple of days. I never saw the unit myself. I suggested he ought to make an insurance claim but I never heard from him again.

Bit of looser though, judging by his corresondence; plus he took about 12 days to pay me via PayPal.

JerryTimes
06-04-2007, 03:18 PM
Personally, anything like this should be insured through the shipping company because anything can happen.