Shipping with UPS

[rbrown7713]

I am posting this information about UPS shipping practices.  I just had my Fine Art models sent to me with the carrier UPS.  I pulled up to the UPS station to pick my goods up and when the lady pointed out my shipment, the shipment was turned on its side 90 degrees off of the "THis SIDE UP" warning.  My shipment was on sturdy skids, but not upright.  Also there was a sticker with "treat with care".  When I asked the lady why my shipment was not upright, she told me the they do not pay any attention to these warnings.  She said that it is not there job to make sure that "this side up" stickers or treat with care stickers are adhered to.  It is the shippers responsibility to pack them so that there is not any damage.  There was damage to my shipment, but not enough to go through the insurance procedure to file a claim. so I just fixed it.  I am posting this to warn anyone shipping with UPS that these are their rules, or lack of rules.  So, beware if you ship with UPS.  I don't know, but probably the other shippers are the same. Bob.

[Rayman4449]

Thank you for sharing.  

 

I'm going to link to the main topic I started on shipping G scale engines (particularly steam) and host of recommended shippers and methods.  

 

 

I absolutely would avoid UPS at all costs.  As UPS made clear to you, they do not care at all and I can tell you we as customers have noticed.   MTH stopped shipping via UPS because of the high rate of shipping damage to their One Gauge Steam models.  (Although I do think their comment that it's 'not their job' is just an example of a business practice to shut you down, shut down your claim, shutdown the discussion and get you off the phone.  Terrible terrible business practice and again why I avoid UPS as much as possible.)

 

For any item that you absolutely need to make sure arrives safely, the only way to go is the USPS with their extra Special Handling/Fragile Service (+$11.15).  I can confirm that Special Handling Service does make a difference and recently for the first time in a long string of damage, was able to ship an MTH One Gauge Big boy (2006 production model) without suffering broken frames in shipping.  I had other good examples of USPS Special/Fragile handing success.  

 

[rbrown7713]

Thank you for the information about USPS, I had no idea that they had this service.  My guy that shipped the FAM stuff might not have had a choice because the shipment weighed 160 lbs.  I don't know what the limit is with USPS, but if I knew, I suppose that we could have split the shipment to get the weight down.  Thanks again for the info., very useful. Bob.

[mark_s]

Although I usually agree with Rayman, in this case, I would disagree.   We (Bridgewerks) ship almost everything via UPS, and we do have the occasional issue, but far fewer than we have with USPS.   We pack our stuff in such a way that it is pretty well protected (we spend ~$20 per power controller for the packaging that we ship in), and it doesn't care if it is turned upside down.   The primary reason that I prefer UPS is that their tracking system works.   If a package shipped via USPS disappears, they cannot track it, whereas with UPS they are able to figure out where it was last seen.   We have also had more issues with USPS with them leaving packages on doorsteps in the rain and other issues like that.  UPS tends to be better that way.   We have had issues with UPS, but not many, and we ship a lot of packages with them.

 

Mark

Bridgewerks

 

[rbrown7713]

I know of four instances that Fine Art Models have been damaged through UPS and had to learn the hard way that this side up, and fragile means nothing to them, obviously I assumed too much.  After hearing from the horses mouth that they do not pay attention to stickers, I will not ship sensitive material with UPS.  I realize now that the shipper has to make sure that the goods are packed in such a way that damage cannot occur no matter how they throw the packages around. Bob.