MISSING BASS - Hamer TBird -- UPS Delivery

[lowend1]

Probably shouldn't have???

Ya THINK?

Well, there's always the possibility of somebody's mom, dad, or whoever being completely unaware of the intended addressee's name on the box - or maybe thought it was a gesture from John Beresford Tipton, (that's a pop culture reference for you really old guys).

[dadagoboi]

Well, there's always the possibility of somebody's mom, dad, or whoever being completely unaware of the intended addressee's name on the box - or maybe thought it was a gesture from John Beresford Tipton, (that's a pop culture reference for you really old guys).

That would only work with the 'Blackie' strat.

[Dave W]

I hadn't thought about the fabulously wealthy John Beresford Tipton in years.

[mc2NY]

BTW.....another UPS "technicality" if you ever lose a shipment and have to file a claim:

IF you shipped your item from an authorized UPS shipper other than a main UPS hub...like a pack-n-ship location, etc.....then you have to go down to a UPShub to file your claim.

IF you shipped it from the main hub, then you can file over the telephone.

Naturally, when I called to report the bass was lost and not at the buyer's like UPS was claiming, the agent told me that I could not put in a trace over the telephone. They told me that I HAD to go the a main hub to request a trace, which did seem rediculous. The agent also never asked where I shipped the bass from to determine if I could file over the phone.

So...I drove 40 minutes in the pouring rain, out to the hub I had shipped it from...only to be told that I cannot file from there and had to do it over the phone!!!!  The guy behind the counter then explained the differences, as noted above. He pointed to the wall and said "you can use that phone."  The two counter guys look dwn at theri feet with a "we hope he doesn't ask any more questions" look.

So. I try to call and it doesn't work. I yell over after two attempts and the one guy says "oh...you have to dial 9 for an outside line."

It then goes through but is the lowest volume I have ever heard on any phone. Even the agemt on the other end said he was having trouble hearing the conversation, which necame completely inaudible every time a customer rolled a cart by with boxes.

I also asked the counter guy who had shipped the bass why the $2500 insurance was not showing on the reciept because I'd typed it into the computer when I filled out the label (that location has you type your own shipping label.) He told me that I must not have entered it. I told him "no, I DEFINITELY entered it." He just shrugged it off. The first two phone agents also denied that I had the $2500 noted but the third agent said it was definitely in their computer. Not sure what that meant. I was getting worried that I was going to have a lost bass and UPS claim I hadn't insured it.

That computer had also had a sign on it the last two times I'd been in that it was "out of order."

The main reason I've been usng UPS is because they do not sit on their deliveries, like FedEx does. If you ship a package Ground and it happens to get there faster than three days, UPS delivers it. FedEx keeps the box on the truck until the three days are reached and THEN delivers it. I'd shipped this bass Ground, knowing that it gets from New York to PA in one day. Unfortunatley, this time it became a fiasco. Normally, it gets there, is signed for and that's the end of it....a pretty good deal.

[Pilgrim]

Interesting story!

I ship FedEx Ground by preference, mostly because they have a depot within a 10-minute drive of my house.  The UPS site closest to me (that's not a "UPS Store", surcharging for everything) is at least a 30 minute drive each way.

Looks like I'll continue my preference for FedEx.  I don't mind getting incoming stuff via UPS, but I don't use them outgoing unless absolutely forced to.

[dadagoboi]

Slightly off topic...what's the amount should you insure a $1000 bass for?

I build somebody a bass for that amount and he pays me $1k and it gets lost.  UPS, USPS, Fed Ex, whoever, pays me the $1k and I reimburse my customer.  I've now made a bass, don't have it and don't have what it cost me for materials or my time.  Again, how much should I have insured it for?   

To me it comes down to how much you want to gamble.  Which is all 'insurance' is anyway.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Slightly off topic...what's the amount should you insure a $1000 bass for?

Retail

[dadagoboi]

Retail

That's what I do now, insure for my selling price.  Which means I'll lose what it cost me since I'll have to return the customer's money.  Seems it should be my cost plus the selling price for me to break even, otherwise all I'm doing is protecting the buyer.

When one eventually goes missing I'm gonna be screwed.  I've already spent around $400 on insurance this year.
  

[fur85]

I think your math is wrong. You're not giving the customer the money UPS gave you, you're giving the customer back the $1000 the customer originally gave you and you are keeping the $1000 from UPS. (or vice versa, you give the customer the UPS money but you KEEP the original $1000 from the customer)

$1000 (customer pays you originally)
+$1000 UPS reimbursement
= $2000 total.

$2000 - $1000 back to customer, you still have $1000 for the bass.

Does that make sense?

[Psycho Bass Guy]

That's what I do now, insure for my selling price.

For lack of a better term, with a custom-made instrument, that is wholesale.

 Which means I'll lose what it cost me since I'll have to return the customer's money.  Seems it should be my cost plus the selling price for me to break even, otherwise all I'm doing is protecting the buyer.

That is the retail price. It's not a cheat or an overvaluation; you're simply insuring the instrument so that if your carrier loses one, you don't lose money.

[Highlander]

As long as you have suitable levels of insurance I would be pretty certain that you'ld have no problems with most of the bigger shippers...
I work in the security equipment industry as a systems-engineer (cctv/intruder/access/intercom/barrier etc) - certainly my experience with two majors (one with a predominantly purple colour and another with a preference for an orange shade) is that everything is covered, and I meanif that package moves it is in view of a camera, until loaded onto a container/truck/van, where they know who is responsible for the timed and tracked delivery...

They can (most of the time) cross-reference the bar-coded package with the cctv and track who moved it and when/where... High value (read "insurance-level" here) items are usually kept in a more secure area with much better quality playback of images...

There are still people who think they can fool the system though, which is why this thread emerged... What doesn't surprises me is what appears to be the way the item "went-adrift"... someone would have to know the contents of the package to want to "re-direct" the item... Most "redirection" is an "inside-job"... ie, they know what they are looking for or what is easily "lost"...
Most packages are X-rayed at the main hubs, so it would be obvious that a "Thunderbird" shaped instrument would be of interest for those looking... the difference here is that MC John's item was distinctly rarer than your average (terrible term, but "just" in this case) Gibson and created a "stir" in the environment...

The item just became "too hot to handle" and suddenly got "found"...

Right now, a security manager (I have met one on several ocassions that flys round the whole of the EMEA for the American firm doing just this) is reviewing/has reviewed footage and that there is some driver somewhere sweating, right now, because they (the Company) are concerned by bad advertising...
UPS is a major sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics and anything like this is bad for business... drivers that cannot get signature (and sometimes these signatures are pretty poor from these PDA's they use) are transfered to the crappiest of jobs pretty quickly if there is the slightest suspicion raised against them that is unproven, and they... are... watched...

Most common items that "wander"...? Apple goods... with items that are easily "portable" and similar in nature running a poor second...

Hopefully, all's well that ends well... and a signature and insurance are essential...

[dadagoboi]

I think your math is wrong. You're not giving the customer the money UPS gave you, you're giving the customer back the $1000 the customer originally gave you and you are keeping the $1000 from UPS. (or vice versa, you give the customer the UPS money but you KEEP the original $1000 from the customer)

$1000 (customer pays you originally)
+$1000 UPS reimbursement
= $2000 total.

$2000 - $1000 back to customer, you still have $1000 for the bass.

Does that make sense?

Yes, makes perfect sense.  Thanks!!  I'm going to stop worrying about the bass that's 2 days late immediately

[Rob]

Did this ever make it?

[Dave W]

Did this ever make it?

Yes, it was recovered pretty quickly. See third post on page 1.

[Rob]

Thanks Dave
I overlooked that one