[R-390] What a screw up and a rip off !!!

Thu Apr 1 20:50:34 EDT 2010

Some of these stories are of course terrible. However, I do have another
point of view. I grew up at and worked for a "package express carrier" (that
was the name before UPS and FEDEX came along and helped put the smaller guys
out of business)
Its true, stuff happens on a loading dock, some of it caused by ignorance or
lack of attention.

In my time of working there I did it all. Pick up and delivery, unloading
onto the conveyors, working the conveyors, loading the road trucks, and
driving the road trucks a supervisor and finally an assistant manager.

So, I got to see it all. Not counting the "real accidents of stuff happens"
,a well packaged shipment has a good chance of getting to its destination in
good shape. Anything less than well packaged is a crap shoot. And I saw many
less than well packaged shipments that people just ranted over why we did
not want to honor a damage claim. (and we took special care with high value
items by seperately identifying them, loading them into lockable cages, then
rolling the cage onto the trrailer for its ride to Houston or wherever- in
fact I personally drove a $100,000.00 valued box to Houston)

The automated conveyor system WILL destroy a weakly packed item. if your box
is heavy it IS going on the floor with ALOT of stuff on top of it (we had a
package weight limit of 100 pounds) and for a couple of years may job was to
roam the road trailers trying to make sure they WERE loaded right and safe.

So anyway those days are gone and we now have the huge comglomerates. I
prefer UPS , Rick Mish prefers FedEX
I guess its a tossup.

just my .02 worth  (adjusted for inflation)

David / WB5UOM

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill" <bmarx at bellsouth.net>
To: "Radio Collins R-390A" <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] What a screw up and a rip off !!!

> Having shipped and received heavy radios for over 15 years with no
> damage I suggest the following. Pack it yourself. If you are confident
> it will survive a 3 ft drop without biting your nails then you did good.
> Double boxes with 4 to 6 inches of insulation in each box will ensure
> its safety.
>
> When buying, ship the seller the same box you would want to receive it
> in. I've done this a number of times. Why trust them to the packing.
> They don't know!
>
> I've shipped and received several R-390A's. To Rick Mish and another
> expert restorer. I've sent 9 radios to Howard. You know who he is. A
> number of 75A-4's, 32V-3's and 32V-2's, 51J-4's. Mostly all weighing
> more than the R-390A.
>
> I finally lost my favorite box to a well known guitarist who never
> returned my pet box. By then Arnie was out of those great boxes.
>
> I use FedEx Ground only. They pick up at your home. Never a damage issue
> in all these years.
>
> My 2 cents.
> Bill Marx W2CQ
>
>
>
> Steve Toth wrote:
> > Rick I am in total agreement with you and Bob - pack it yourself and if
you can't do that, insure the heck out of it with documentation proving the
value:
> >
> > When I purchased my R-1247 it was to be shipped from Florida.  I was
very specific about how it was to be packed and shipped - double boxed, foam
or tightly wadded newspaper, Fed X ground, etc. and the seller agreed.  It
was shipped via UPS, and the UPS store packed it.  It arrived with all four
rear corner chassis corners bent over and the side panels bowed - single
walled single box, loosely packed with old shopping bags and some pieces of
soft white styrofoam.  Luckily it was insured, and I was reimbursed for the
estimated damages, but getting reimbursement from UPS insurance is a whole
'nother horror story (Luckily the fellow I bought it from was an honest
guy).
> >
> > After that I purchased one of the double walled boxes specifically for
shipping R-390's from Dan Arney, double boxed the radio inside that using a
another double walled HP printer box and used hard housing insulation foam
on all four sides inside both boxes to ship the radio back to Rick Mish for
repair and reman.  When I shipped the radio back to Mish and he subsequently
shipped it back to me, the radio arrived both times with no damage, but the
outer double walled box took a beating.
> >
> > I'm probably being naive here, but it dismays me that people who are
employed to ship and transport items for people can be so careless and
irresponsible with that same property.
> >
> > -- Steve
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Woodinville, WA
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Thu, 4/1/10, Rick Popovich <RickP at uei.csus.edu> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: Rick Popovich <RickP at uei.csus.edu>
> > Subject: [R-390] What a screw up and a rip off !!!
> > To: R-390 at mailman.qth.net
> > Date: Thursday, April 1, 2010, 11:45 AM
> >
> >
> > Well now I have to reply in response to Steve ...
> >
> >
> >
> > Before buying an item on the E-place I emailed the seller as I was
> > concerned about packing. I sent several very detailed messages to him
> > about how to pack the rig and he responded and acknowledged that it
> > would be taken care of ...
> >
> >
> >
> > I even e-mailed again to see if he had any questions or needed
> > clarification on any part of my instructions - he said no, everything
> > was simple enough.
> >
> >
> >
> > Bottom line: He didn't pack the item even remotely close to my
> > instructions; he only used tissue paper and newspaper (not even wadded
> > up) to pack a near 40# radio in a USPS single wall box. Needless to say
> > there was damage but surprisingly only to the bottom cover. The box was
> > so badly mangled it's a miracle that it even made it to me - the USPS
> > had to repair it at least (3) times that I could see.
> >
> >
> >
> > Moral of the story is that even if the person says they will pack it
> > properly they don't always do it. I had to go after the guy and luckily
> > he offered a substantial refund which I took.
> >
> >
> >
> > The nightmares continue I'm sure...
> >
> >
> >
> > Rick P.
> >
> >
> >
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