2chnlben,
You have posed several excellent questions. I am sure there are some horror stories out there but I can report over 40 items either sent or received by me without loss or contents damage. UPS did once deliver an item back to the sender and they came seriously close to damaging the amplifier I received last week. It only traveled a couple of hundred miles but UPS managed to put a large puncture through both boxes. The only thing that saved the amp was the space between the two boxes and the space between the amplifier and the internal box. The "rubbery" foam spacers also helped.
I am not a fan of either UPS or FedEx. They have done some major damage to more than one box but so far the contents have survived. You asked for honest feedback and that is MY experience.
You asked about tactics that can help to protect the shipment. I always insure and require a signature. That way a box can't be abandoned and mysteriously disappear. I always use the factory packaging. That saved my latest delivery and possibly others.
Full disclosure: I have never shipped or received speakers via UPS or FedEx. That could be a whole 'nother story.
You have posed several excellent questions. I am sure there are some horror stories out there but I can report over 40 items either sent or received by me without loss or contents damage. UPS did once deliver an item back to the sender and they came seriously close to damaging the amplifier I received last week. It only traveled a couple of hundred miles but UPS managed to put a large puncture through both boxes. The only thing that saved the amp was the space between the two boxes and the space between the amplifier and the internal box. The "rubbery" foam spacers also helped.
I am not a fan of either UPS or FedEx. They have done some major damage to more than one box but so far the contents have survived. You asked for honest feedback and that is MY experience.
You asked about tactics that can help to protect the shipment. I always insure and require a signature. That way a box can't be abandoned and mysteriously disappear. I always use the factory packaging. That saved my latest delivery and possibly others.
Full disclosure: I have never shipped or received speakers via UPS or FedEx. That could be a whole 'nother story.