[Elecraft] Shipping via UPS - A Lesson Learned the Hard Way

[Dave (NK7Z)]

Before I sign for any package, I inspect it for damage.  If ANYTHING is 
noted, even a depressed area, I note it in the signature line.

Once I get it inside, I photograph the box if there is damage, I then 
open it, and photo the packing as well...  I have had two cases in the 
past few years where I needed the photos...  In both cases, the shipper 
covered the damage...

I have found that using FedEx is far simpler.  If you are shipping 
anything expensive, they open and check the packing...  At that point I 
am fairly sure they own any damage that occurs after that point.

73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

On 4/11/22 16:09, Rich Lim via Elecraft wrote:
> FWIW the UPS “insurance” should be taken with a grain of salt. I had my K3 repaired by Elecraft and it was damaged during shipping back. I tried to file a claim but since I “signed” for it and the box was not “damaged” in transit, they would not honor the claim! Then again it may never have been fixed by Elecraft but they swear it was 100% function when it left them. Buyer beware!RichKQ9L
> 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> 
> 
> On Monday, April 11, 2022, 5:30 PM, edauer at aya.yale.edu wrote:
> 
> I just shipped some of my Elecraft gear to someone who had purchased it from
> me.  The agreement was that I would ship it and they would bear the shipping
> expense.  The buyer was OK with my using UPS.
> 
>   
> 
> So I packed it up and took it to "The UPS Store."  There are about 30 of
> them in the Denver metro area and about a dozen in the city itself.  Before
> taking the package there I looked at UPS on-line to see what insurance would
> cost.  The UPS site said $1.05 per hundred dollars in excess of the $100
> included in the shipping rate.  When I arrived at the UPS Store they charged
> me $4.50 per $100.  That difference times the value of what I was shipping
> came to well over $100.  When I questioned it (more accurately, when I
> complained about it) they told me that UPS and The UPS Store are different
> entities.  The latter, they said, is a network of franchises independent of
> the real UPS that "works with" UPS for retail shipping and receiving.  So
> what I had seen on the UPS website was what UPS charges, not the grossly
> inflated premium The UPS Store charges.  OK, I asked, how can I ship this
> via UPS itself?  The answer was a 90 minute round-trip drive to the nearest
> real UPS terminal.
> 
>   
> 
> The UPS Store does not charge real UPS rates.  They have UPS in their name.
> They use a logo indistinguishable from the UPS logo.  Their counter clerks
> wear UPS Brown.  There was a standar UPS truck parked in front of the shop.
> There was NOTHING visible to me in the store that indicated it wasn't a UPS
> shop.  Maybe everyone on this reflector already knows about this.  Until
> this morning I didn't.
> 
>   
> 
> There's an old maxim that a happy customer tells one other person about
> their experience.  An unhappy customer tells ten other people.
> 
>   
> 
> Ted, KN1CBR
> 
>   
> 
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