[wrenchmen]

wow...did not know UPS has such a bad rap...I used them before and thankfully,
everything was good...But after reading this I will certainly think twice.

I have also used the USPS many times without a problem...but have also read
some horror stories about them.

It really is sad nowadays that most people dont give a chit !

[Jim Zeek]

Never had a problem with them. Just got 2 boxes of tins for my bike today. great condition.

[Polar-Pontiac]

Originally Posted by Jim Zeek

Never had a problem with them. Just got 2 boxes of tins for my bike today. great condition.

Lucky Guy.

[Elarson]

I've never had any trouble either...BUT....I was taught a long time ago that boxes should be packed so that they can be thrown around by the Samsonite gorilla. I've gone so far as to have a box inside of another box, with intermediate padding, so that the outer box can get crushed without putting pressure on the delicate item.

Eric

[einstein]

When I was a toolman, the UPS center was on my route. The mechanics there said "package your stuff to survive a 30 foot drop to pavement". Oh yeah, "don't walk under the sides of the conveyor belts - packages fall off all the time". Just so you know - the conveyors were about 25 feet high.

[performerrpm]

i just sold a 66 gto 4 speed console on ebay for alot less than it was worth but went thrue with the sell and shipped it the other da. i took it to the pack and ship center told them exactly how it needed to be packaged so it wouldnt crack the front if dropped. guess what soon as i left they boxed it how they thought it needed and when the box arrived the front was cracked and the base was broke. i think they used fed ex this time tho, strange because fed ex is usually a little better than fed ex. anyway i insured the console and talked to the guy on the phone and he says aw well ill just try and fix it and use. couldnt believe he didnt wanna try and file a claim

[vtxman]

What a witch hunt.

I receive shipments from UPS at least twice a week. (I do a lot of online shopping) I sent and received my 6X heads to/from SD performance in perfect condition. I also sent them my Performer RPM manifold and received it in perfect condition. I ordered my rotating assembly from Butler, again all parts in perfect condition. I have received pistons, manifold and other parts from Ken at PPR with out any problem.

You guys make it sound like every package that is in the UPS system is going to get damaged. I have never had to file a claim with UPS. One in ten shipments I receive come by Fedex. Although I have received some from them that were well worn, I haven't had to file a claim with them either.

I feel for those who have had problems, and I know that packages can and will become damaged. But give me a break! Do you think UPS would still be in business if they damaged all of their packages?

I tried to find out how many packages UPS delivers in a day and could only find an old press release from 2003.

"The quarter's performance capped a record year for volume. UPS delivered 3.44 billion packages in 2003, or an average 13.64 million per day"

That is 13 million a day. Do you think that maybe a few of them may become damaged? What is an acceptable percentage?

I also sell on Ebay occaisionally. When I ship, I always take the extra effort to package my product as if it will be traveling with 13 million other packages. If I ship something fragile I double box it. It's not that hard, and it increases my chances of not having a problem.

I don't mean to minimize all of your experiences, but I think you have to take things into perspective.

If I were shipping a dash, I wouldn't rely on some college students at the UPS store to package it for me, I would build a wooden crate for it.

Sorry for the rant.......I know that this will not be a popular post, but somebody had to say it. Most of our Pontiac vendors use UPS for a reason.

[abefromen]

Originally Posted by performerrpm

i took it to the pack and ship center told them exactly how it needed to be packaged so it wouldnt crack the front if dropped. guess what soon as i left they boxed it how they thought

why would entrust someone at a pack and ship to box up the console? Because you are paying them and assumed they would do it right? I wouldn't trust anyone at those places to box something fragile unless I stood there and watched them. After all, it's you that somehow would be hassled with the headache if it was damaged.

Luckily your buyer wasn't too concerned.

This does need to be kept in perspective. I worked 20 years for UPS. 10 as a loader/sorter/supervisor and 10 as a truck mechanic. While it is very true that certain individuals had very poor package handling skills and generally don't give a crap there were those who did the job as they were trained. The daily volume UPS handles is HUGE! Packages do fall off conveyors, get dropped,tossed, break open, crushed in belt jams etc. But to say packages marked "fragile" get singled out for "special" abusive handling is a crock.

I don't care who you use for shipping. Package sorting procedures are all the same be it UPS, Fedex, USPS etc. Lots of conveyor belts,slides,rollers and human handling. Take the time and pack it well and the odds are it will arrive just fine.

[Judge Smails]

Originally Posted by stimpy

I quit using Ups several years ago and strictly use Fedex they might be a little more expensive but I haven't had any claim problems yet .

More expensive? Unless things have changed dramatically recently, they're usually about 1/3 less across the board than Untimely Package Smashers, which I make a point of NEVER using. I use USPS Priority Mail for light pkgs going far and FedEx gnd for heavy pkgs going <1000 miles or so, esp to a business.

[stimpy]

uhh that post is almost a year old when they where charging a fuel surcharge on all packages .

[goatman65]

Originally Posted by abefromen

why would entrust someone at a pack and ship to box up the console? Because you are paying them and assumed they would do it right? I wouldn't trust anyone at those places to box something fragile unless I stood there and watched them. After all, it's you that somehow would be hassled with the headache if it was damaged.

Luckily your buyer wasn't too concerned.

This does need to be kept in perspective. I worked 20 years for UPS. 10 as a loader/sorter/supervisor and 10 as a truck mechanic. While it is very true that certain individuals had very poor package handling skills and generally don't give a crap there were those who did the job as they were trained. The daily volume UPS handles is HUGE! Packages do fall off conveyors, get dropped,tossed, break open, crushed in belt jams etc. But to say packages marked "fragile" get singled out for "special" abusive handling is a crock.

I don't care who you use for shipping. Package sorting procedures are all the same be it UPS, Fedex, USPS etc. Lots of conveyor belts,slides,rollers and human handling. Take the time and pack it well and the odds are it will arrive just fine.

I have been a UPS employee for 8yrs.I agree 100% with everything said above.I load the 18 wheelers at about 400 packages an hour.My 4 hour shift does a package volume of typically 180,000 packages building wide.Of the many damaged ones I see everynight the majority are without a doubt the result of poor packaging.Flimsy boxes,no packing material to stabilize/protect contents and not closing/taping the package tightly.These may seem like small details but defensive packaging should always be used.If you think it's 'good enough' double check to make sure the the box is sturdy to contain the contents and don't skimp on the tape to keep the box firmly closed.

[performerrpm]

Originally Posted by abefromen

why would entrust someone at a pack and ship to box up the console? Because you are paying them and assumed they would do it right? I wouldn't trust anyone at those places to box something fragile unless I stood there and watched them. After all, it's you that somehow would be hassled with the headache if it was damaged.

Luckily your buyer wasn't too concerned.

This does need to be kept in perspective. I worked 20 years for UPS. 10 as a loader/sorter/supervisor and 10 as a truck mechanic. While it is very true that certain individuals had very poor package handling skills and generally don't give a crap there were those who did the job as they were trained. The daily volume UPS handles is HUGE! Packages do fall off conveyors, get dropped,tossed, break open, crushed in belt jams etc. But to say packages marked "fragile" get singled out for "special" abusive handling is a crock.

I don't care who you use for shipping. Package sorting procedures are all the same be it UPS, Fedex, USPS etc. Lots of conveyor belts,slides,rollers and human handling. Take the time and pack it well and the odds are it will arrive just fine.

first, i used to package things myself and put alot effort in making sure things were packed just right but after 2 boxes looked like they tied them to a truck and dragged them were they were going and i was told they werent gonna pay the insurance because lack of packing i started paying the ups stores and pack and ships. ive had pretty good luck too and the ones that got damaged they didnt have that" self packed" or lack of packing excuse to fall back on and i was paid.

2nd- most generally if i pay someone to do something i expect it done right so the answer to your queston is yes, since i paid them it shoulda been packaged right or at least how i told them too. most generally thats how things work. you pay someone for a service and they deliver on there end. if you go to your job and do half ass work how long would it take to get fired? knowing the answer to that, dont you think the money you give to someone for a job to be done should be done going by the same standard?
iam sure if my buyer would have filed he woulda gotten paid he just didnt wanna go thrue the headache of filing a claim which to me is sensless but owell.

so i guess if you go by a p-dude crate motor from him and tell him what you want your gonna stand there and watch him do it up to your standards or even tell him you wanna do the work on a few areas that you dont think he is capable of even though he is the one thats the professional? and i guess if you do get a bad motor and you wasnt standing there watching you will just take as it is and go on? go ahead be my guest!


p-dude was just an example i by no means am questining his work, he just the first credible engine builder came to my mind when i typed this

[mikeb]

Originally Posted by vtxman

What a witch hunt.

I receive shipments from UPS at least twice a week. (I do a lot of online shopping) I sent and received my 6X heads to/from SD performance in perfect condition. I also sent them my Performer RPM manifold and received it in perfect condition. I ordered my rotating assembly from Butler, again all parts in perfect condition. I have received pistons, manifold and other parts from Ken at PPR with out any problem.

You guys make it sound like every package that is in the UPS system is going to get damaged. I have never had to file a claim with UPS. One in ten shipments I receive come by Fedex. Although I have received some from them that were well worn, I haven't had to file a claim with them either.

I feel for those who have had problems, and I know that packages can and will become damaged. But give me a break! Do you think UPS would still be in business if they damaged all of their packages?

I tried to find out how many packages UPS delivers in a day and could only find an old press release from 2003.

"The quarter's performance capped a record year for volume. UPS delivered 3.44 billion packages in 2003, or an average 13.64 million per day"

That is 13 million a day. Do you think that maybe a few of them may become damaged? What is an acceptable percentage?

I also sell on Ebay occaisionally. When I ship, I always take the extra effort to package my product as if it will be traveling with 13 million other packages. If I ship something fragile I double box it. It's not that hard, and it increases my chances of not having a problem.

I don't mean to minimize all of your experiences, but I think you have to take things into perspective.

If I were shipping a dash, I wouldn't rely on some college students at the UPS store to package it for me, I would build a wooden crate for it.

Sorry for the rant.......I know that this will not be a popular post, but somebody had to say it. Most of our Pontiac vendors use UPS for a reason.

I got a UPS shipment from jegs. It was packed improperly, the box had a hole in it and stuff was just falling out. I was missing quite a few parts from that order. They fell out of the hole.

So, I called UPS and requested a call tag.
And a few days later did the same.
A few days later, did the same.
No call tag ever appeared, despite several assurances that it was on the way.

Finally, I was outside a few days later and heard the UPS guy coming. I flagged him down, explained the situation, and he took the box that I patched up and jiggered the shipping info so that it went back to jegs after being delivered to me.

I've received several UPS shipments that looked like they were run over by a forklift in a shipping warehouse somewhere. Fedex? everything has shown up just fine.

I'm glad you've had good luck with them, but please don't presuppose that the rest of us have had similar results.

[Elarson]

Some people have had good luck and some have had nightmares. It got me to thinking.....

It's probably not practical to answer this question, but I'm curious........if we could track all of the really screwed-up packages, I wonder if a high percentage of them would show up as going thru the same distribution center?

Just a thought...

Eric

Originally Posted by GTOnly70

If I were a manager at UPS, playing "football" with a package, fragile or otherwise, would be a one-strike-and-you're-out type of offense. No reason to keep those cretins employed when there are clearly people out there who could do that job better.

Sorry 'bout this but you forget about affirmative action hiring. Cant fire most of the employees!!! UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, you namem.

[bmidgley]

I, also, had trouble with UPS claim. Not to go into it, but the person on the other end of the phone sounded like a recording. I am sure they are trained to use certain language. I could not have a real conversation with him.

Anyway, he basically called me a liar. I spoke with his supervisor who was no more help.

I have been using FedEx since. Better service and lower costs.

Also, you can go online to FedEx.com, get a shipper number. Attach that number to your credit card and print out labels at home. Rates are significantly lower than UPS. I am shipping 70# tripowers in same size box (30" X 16" X 16") so, I can easily compare costs. I am saving at least 25% over UPS.

Mike www.pontiactripower.com