[R-390] How much should it cost???

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

Just wanted to chime in here to agree with what Barry is stating about these
'pack and ship' joints. The only items I've *ever* received damaged through UPS,
FedEx, or USPS have been items "professionally packed" by these places. They are
in this for profit, meaning they will cut corners to maximize profits wherever
possible. This translates to packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and other materials
not at all meant or suitable for packing of a heavy metal radio with corners and
edges. The only person to benefit beyond the packer is the seller, who gets you
to pay for his convenience of dropping the problem on someone else.

The added cost for this lower level of service is ridiculous as Barry
illustrates - it's like paying for abuse, really. I'm in the process right now
of getting an AR-88 shipped from Colorado and the seller has arranged to have it
shipped through one of these places. Considering these rigs weight a lot more
than an R-390A(steel panel, steel cabinet, steel chassis?), the thought of a
'packer' shipping it makes me shudder. I've talked him out of shipping it and
letting me have a friend pick it up for me(I was *just* in Boulder two weeks
ago!), and I think I'm going to try the bus route. Packer wants $30 to pack and
will add on an additional 20% to the actual UPS cost for shipping. With a 100 lb
+/- radio from Colorado to Vermont, that translates to a pretty hefty chunk.

Worst packing I've seen came from a place in California. A little Kaar 2-way
radio, should've been a piece of cake to ship. They used some kind of colored
thick foam blocks (looked like left over children's toys), and apparently laid
them out in a line on a table, and ran a piece of duct tape across them to
'maintain separation' between them. I think there were two small pieces of
half-wadded newspaper inside as well - that was it. They basically dropped the
stuff inside and set the radio on top. Box was a reused cookie box from a
supermarket.. It arrived mostly crushed from lack of packing materials inside,
rattles from loose parts that had found their way off, etc. Fortunately, damage
was minimal. This was a "business" packing job, too!! They even had their return
label on the box(talk about gall, or bad advertising at the very least).

If anyone else can shed light on their experiences shipping heavy receivers via
Greyhound, I'd sure appreciate hearing. I understand that UPS uses a 'foam in
place' method that is quite effective, and there are also shippers out there
like Hank who know what they're doing(few and far between in comparison,
though). I've heard of using Greyhound or airfreight before, just never much
info.

73 de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ

Barry Hauser wrote:

> Is this a '390 we're talking about, or a grand piano?  Also, from whence
> does it shippeth?
>
> Sounds to me like this:  This is being "professionally" packed at a certain
> type of franchised storefront operation which shall remain nameless.
> Familiar with hundreds of them, but the numbers are still extreme.  Those
> places typically charge a lot of money for poor packing materials - flimsy
> singlewall cartons, used peanuts and bubblewrap.  But the corker is that
> they mark up the UPS or postage anywhere from 15 to 100%, unless you've
> found a new high there.  I think UPS coast to coast runs about $75-80 for an
> 80 lb. package taken to UPS directly or called in on a next-day pickup.
> FEDEX ground is somewhat cheaper, but might be a day slower.  Some of these
> places will gladly charge you double that -- like $160, even though they pay
> a lower daily pickup rate and get volume discounts -- so the markup is
> really more than 100%.
>
>