Shipping damage More irritating than ever?

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Rand

Rand

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So I've ordered literally hundreds of items in the last 10 years from computer parts to tools etc.

Recently I've had 7 out of 10 packages with shipping damage.

MOST recently..

I ordered 2 "treadplate" 48" florescent bulb fixtures from sears.

one had a broken pull chain and was mildly bent.

the other one the whole end was crushed in totally obliterating it....

now another 6$ for gas to double exchange them.
(the deal was online only and said out of stock in store)
but apparently the store has 6 available for exchange.

Anyone else noticing extra shipping damage recently?
 
Yes, ups has been pretty bad, but FedEx was worse. Other than the mailman getting my mail wet during rainstorms, I think he has been the best. Then again, the parcels he carries are usually smaller too.
 
No, but i can tell you AMAZON is getting faster! I order alot from them and started griping about the silly long shipping times. Ive been pleased as of lately that my stuff is getting to me so much faster! maybe they listened.. hired more staff ? who knows. Im pleased.

Now that you mention damage durring shipping, i dont know that ive ever recieved a package theat my product was damaged due to shipping, ither than some rough edges on a few boxes my stuff usually arrives just fine (sometimes slow as mentioned about) but otherwise fine.. I probably get atleast 1-2 packages per week.
 
I once bought a chandalier at home depot, sent to tulsa by ups, on container to chile, by truck to santa cruz, bolivia. Got there great. Sent by truck to Tarija(450 miles). Someone sat on it and smashed it.

On the good side, 48 hours ago the parts for my engine were shippied from london. Got here today.
 
Although we like to blame the shipper, it's a packaging problem. The company shipping it to you needs to package the product to handle the rigors of the shipping/handling process. There are standards (ISO and ISTA) but nobody pays attention when they are shipping cheap stuff. In general, UPS, FEDEX, and USPS adhere to the standards when conveying packages.
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Although we like to blame the shipper, it's a packaging problem. The company shipping it to you needs to package the product to handle the rigors of the shipping/handling process. There are standards (ISO and ISTA) but nobody pays attention when they are shipping cheap stuff. In general, UPS, FEDEX, and USPS adhere to the standards when conveying packages.


Holes and tears in boxes, as well as dented corners aren't a packaging problem.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Amazon? Really? Even before I had prime, I got most stuff next day.


I've ordered items with free Super Saver shipping that were in stock but took 7 or more days to ship. Not to receive, but to actually ship from the warehouse.

When I emailed and asked why my order wouldn't ship for 10 days they said basically "hey, Super Saver can be slow."

I pretty much only order things that aren't time sensitive from Amazon. For auto parts I want ASAP, often Rock Auto is about the same price on stuff that isn't large or heavy, and RA always ships my orders in one day.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Although we like to blame the shipper, it's a packaging problem. The company shipping it to you needs to package the product to handle the rigors of the shipping/handling process. There are standards (ISO and ISTA) but nobody pays attention when they are shipping cheap stuff. In general, UPS, FEDEX, and USPS adhere to the standards when conveying packages.


Holes and tears in boxes, as well as dented corners aren't a packaging problem.


If they don't affect the contents then they are a non-issue. If they do then the shipper needs to pack properly to make sure small tears, dents, and crushed corners do no affect the contents. Those dents and tears are known in the packaging industry as "packaging malfunctions" not as "shipper carelessness".
 
I work in a major aerospace company receiving department. The parts we get can be HIGHLY expensive. It's nothing to receive a part worth the price of a Ferrari. So you would think the shipping companies would be careful with our shipments from vendors, right? Not in a million. Foolish mistakes like stacking heavy boxes upon one another when they say FRAGILE, AIRCRAFT PARTS all over them. Forklift holes punched into boxes; wet and rained on electronics; scratched and broken composite parts....etc. Needless to say our Quality Inspectors are always dealing with damaged parts and rejecting them....daily.
 
My favourite was Canada Post leaving my $1400 laptop on my doorstep because no signature was required. I later got told its up to the postman to decide if the package would be held at the depot or left on the doorstop.

Bonus points for my buddy though who managed to one-up that one with flying colours. Canada Post left a package on his doorstop without even ringing the doorbell to attempt to find somebody.

But, it was only a Glock 19 handgun direct from the factory they left on his doorstep on a public Canadian street. Way to go guys.

Generally the packages are undamaged at least. Seems thats the trade off. Your package spends years in customs gathering dust, charged duty, eventually released, then arbitrarily dumped on your doorstep, but at least you get it in one piece.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: RiceCake
My favourite was Canada Post leaving my $1400 laptop on my doorstep because no signature was required. I later got told its up to the postman to decide if the package would be held at the depot or left on the doorstop.


We ordered a pretty expensive bike from Bikes Direct and they require a signature. The UPS guy tried to deliver it when we weren't home. He was too lazy to come back and try to deliver it again, so he just flagged down some guy, got him to sign for it and gave him the bike.

I was really angry. We had just moved in and didn't know any of our neighbors, so he just gave the bike to a total stranger.
 
I always get my deliveries sent to work. No leaving it on my doorstep or having some random guy on the street sign for my delivery.

Everything I get from Canada is mangled. I do not know if it is Canadian or US Customs that is responsible but they do have a green sticker from Canada Post indicating that Customs may open it. Got a great deal on a new DeMarini bat from Toronto...even with shipping. Box had been mutilated and retaped with brown packing tape and that green Canada Post sticker.

Maybe they are looking for government subsidized prescription drugs making their way to the States.
21.gif


Back to the bat though. I couldn't track from Canada but once here I tracked my shipment:
Buffalo, NY
Niagara Falls, NY
Rochester, NY
Syracuse, NY
Rochester, NY
Buffalo, NY
Ft Worth, TX

I'm kind of jealous....I would like a trip through upstate New York. Fall would be better but Spring still sounds nice. Not too sure about the efficiency of the USPS. Shouldn't you have just left in in Buffalo rather than drag it halfway across the state?
 
Never had a problem with UPS.

FedEx on the other hand I will never use again. Ive used them 6 times and only once did my package show up on time and perfect condition. Every other time I've used them when ordering stuff online, its been a day or two late (something scheduled to arrive on wednesday doesn't show up till friday) and the packages are completely mangled. The last two of those times the FedEx guy showed up between 9 and 9:30...at night. [censored]???
 
My UPS & FedEx guys are fine. Almost never any damage. But the Einstein who delivers my mail is a pure 110% mouth-breather.
 
Amazingly, with personal use purchases, I've never had a problem (knock on wood). Everything from Rock Auto, eBay, Amazon, etc. has shown up without any hitches regardless of shipper. I got a bumper for my truck from Taiwan in something like three days without so much as a scrape on the box.

When I was the parts manager for a power equipment repair company though, shipping damage was a constant headache. FedEx was always pretty good, and I always had the same driver who knew me by name (and even remembered me when I saw him almost a year after quitting that job!). UPS would constantly change up drivers though, and they would DESTROY a lot of our stuff. I ordered about $450 in Subaru carburetors from a company one state away...waited, waited, and waited, then got them in a box UPS packed themselves, because they completely obliterated the original. They had crushed the box so badly though that the smaller boxes inside containing the carburetors got smashed too. The linkage was so bent up that none of the carbs were usable or repairable. The company I bought them from made it right, but it was still a major inconvenience due to the time delay. I don't know what they were expecting...apparently that I wouldn't notice my carbs were mangled beyond use? That was the worst one, but not the only problem. Another time I packed something up for another service center and shipped it UPS...it came back to my dock a few days later, in their own box. Again, they had mangled and destroyed everything, and apparently wrecked the shipping label (in one of their own adhesive pouches) so much that they could only figure out where it came from and sent it back.

We didn't get many parts via USPS, so I can't speak for them, but where I worked FedEx was the trusted, reliable company and dealing with UPS was always "I wonder what they did to it this time." Ironically though, we were only allowed to ship things out via UPS because they were cheaper. We never gave FedEx any business, they just brought the bulk of the things we ordered. Apparently most of our vendors had figured out who would get the stuff there and who would just wreck it.
 
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
No, but i can tell you AMAZON is getting faster! I order alot from them and started griping about the silly long shipping times. Ive been pleased as of lately that my stuff is getting to me so much faster! maybe they listened.. hired more staff ? who knows. Im pleased.

Now that you mention damage durring shipping, i dont know that ive ever recieved a package theat my product was damaged due to shipping, ither than some rough edges on a few boxes my stuff usually arrives just fine (sometimes slow as mentioned about) but otherwise fine.. I probably get atleast 1-2 packages per week.

That's because there's now an Amazon fulfillment center in the center of your state.
 
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