UPS ??? Do they ever pay a claim???

Similar experience with FedEx. They destroyed a VPI TNT MKIV turntable, arm and cartridge in March. Filed the insurance claim, returned the buyer's money, communicated via phone, email finally resorted to writing the CEO. It's been 2 weeks since I emailed the CEO and founder and still no response. I'm left with no option other than legal. Having shipped over a hundred components via FedEx, i'm a card carrying FedEx account holder and believe they do a much better job than UPS, nevertheless, their customer service even with insured items is horrible.

TT's are the most heavily damaged audio item that gets shipped. Most people don't secure the arms and platter correctly and all hell breaks loose ( literally ). Then again, one of my friends has literally had a TT delivered where the wooden base was split at the seems and the spindle bent. There is no accounting for poor handling even if well packed.

I think that the next one on the list is heavy amplifiers. Due to the bulk and weight, they get dropped or tossed because they don't want to carry them from point A to point B. I have had amps delivered that had rack handles ripped off of the faceplate and heat sink fins broken off. The funny thing is that United Package Smashers actually attempted to deliver one of them with 1/3 of the amp hanging outside of the box : )

If everybody took the time to pack accordingly, we wouldn't have as many claims. I'm not sticking up for United Package Smashers or Fed Up, but we all know how the packages will be handled and should pack accordingly.

As mentioned above, stick to your guns and pressure the shipper to deal with the situation. They will do EVERYTHING possible to get out of paying a claim, so keep that in mind when working to resolve the situation. Sean
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All you need to do is go to the local small claims court and spend $10 to file a claim. Within days of getting served, the person who can pay you will call YOU. You won't need to call anyone or speak to uneducated reps who can do nothing for you. Once it hits legal, you have reached the department that can ACT and not BS. I even charge them the $10 for the court filing fee or make them show up in court. No chance that will happen, everything will be settled very quickly.

For the record, anytime I have a claim I file all of the paperwork and then go straight to small claims court. I don't waste a second. If they pay me quickly than I don't show up for the court date and it was the best 10 bucks I could have wasted. If they give me the runaround, I am already scheduled for court so one way or another I have a timeline for some action and I have never had to go before a Judge in the 4 times I filed, they always settle provided you had insurance and the package was packed properly, which I always do.

Has anyone tried one of the packaging/shipping services such as Pak Mail? I was told that if I pay the extra charge to have them package an item that I want to ship, that it would be covered under their insurance policy--thereby avoiding UPS or FEDEX hassles. I am curious if anyone has had better luck when filing a claim through one of these outfits...

Pretender, some of the worst packed items that i have ever received came courtesy of a "mailboxes, etc" or "Pak-n-ship" type of service. The episode that i mentioned previously with the amp hanging out of the box was packed and shipped courtesy of one of these types of services. Besides doing a horrible job ( my experience ), their prices are absolutely ridiculous.

I had a piece that i was going to purchase from someone in Nevada. I told them that it would run about $12 - $15 to ship it to me here in Chicago. While they thought i was crazy with the shipping price i mentioned, they went to get an estimate. They took it to their usual shipper ( one of these "3rd party" shippers ) whom they said that they had been using for over 4 years. They were quoted $42. Needless to say, i refused to pay that amount of shipping on a very small, lightweight box. I stressed that they should go directly to a UPS terminal and do some "comparison shopping". The UPS price was $13 for the same package with the same insurance. Needless to say, they were VERY upset with the "3rd party" shipping service that had been stabbing them for several years.

Ericbee: I've seen other people make mention of this tactic. Your approach seems very well thought out and i may put it to use if i run into problems in the future. I just hope that i ( or anyone else here ) has to resort to such tactics. Sean
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