UPS Does it Again!

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seido

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Posts
303
Loc
Palm Beach Florida
When we were in Atlanta we stopped by the Tru Vue booth and got our picture taken for the free glass comparison sample they were offering...great selling tool for the shop!

Well it arrived yesterday! It was double boxed, wrapped in bubble, suspended inside the outer box and sandwiched in there with 3" thick styrofoam corners! Best packing I've ever seen...would almost survive a nuclear blast but not UPS!!!

The Unbelieveablybad Parcel Service managed to damage it. Both pieces of glass were smashed and it is now useless. It is a really great looking piece...too bad.

Never understood how they stay in business. FEDEX, DHL and the others are not so great either but UPS is the worst! (Hint, never mark a package Fragile and give it to UPS. That's a sure sign that it will never arrive intact.)

Gotta vent every now and then!!!! I feel much better now.

Joel
 
YEP

Yes, I was told once by a UPS driver that if it is marked "fragile" that it usually means it is packaged well and they are rougher on it than usual.
 
I agree with you on UPS, they are the worst. We will not ship by UPS because of all of the damage to packages and their refusal to reimburse for damages. This problem seems to have developed after the Holiday strike that the drivers pulled several years ago ana almost shut down shipping during the busy season. Joe's bicycle delivery is more reliable.

Jack Cee
 
If not UPS, then who???

OK, we've established that UPS is a butcher shop on wheels. I agree. But we all have to have stuff shipped in and shipped out every day so who would you recommend and why are they so much better than anyone else in that business???

I have used FEDEX, UPS, USPS, DHL, and many local carriers to transport items to my customers and to deliver my supplies to me. I haven't been impressed with any of them with the exception of a small local carrier that I used up in IL that was based in SE Missouri. And they don't go this far South.:shrug:

Who do you use and why do you use them??

Framerguy
 
I must be among the truly blessed.

Except for only one delivery where the package was sealed poorly, I cannot recall any problems whatsoever in 21 years.

This includes UPS, FedEx, and DHL. (USPS is another kettle of worms – or, can of fish)

The Muses must be smiling over me.
 
They All Stink but...

I've had better luck with FEDEX Ground than most of the others. It's not that they don't screw up, they just screw up less often than the others!

P.S. Got a call from Tru Vue...I'm not the only one with his problem. They've had a large number of broken deliveries and are going to work on making it right! Thanks Doug @ Tru Vue! Good company!!!

Joel
 
me too...

Mine arrived broken also but it didn't really surprise me - it wasn't packaged very well, not at all like Joel's was.
Also got a call from Tru-Vue and they're making it right. THANKS!
 
Knock on wood, I echo Bill Henry- in the great service I have received from UPS, Fed X and now DHL. I have even had great service from local based delivery services. Knock knock knock...
Now if the Postal Service would take note and clean up their act...
 
I always try to ship FedEx if it's not just a little box. Usually if I have a problem, it's UPS but honestly, I've had very few over the years. I think for the volume they handle, USPS does a good job. I ship 98% of my Ebay stuff with them without a problem. :kaffeetrinker_2:
 
I do 99% of my shipping with DHL. Very happy, and the rates seem to be lower.

I ordered 6 boxes of moulding from a supplier in Texas. They shipped UPS. UPS handed them off to a freight truck in Salt Lake City. The freight company received 5 boxes. The other box never has shown up. Fortunately I had ordered enough extra to finish my job.
 
Never seen too much difference between any of them. They have all managed to damage shipments to me, but FedEx wins the prize. Managed to skewer a shipping crate with a tine of a forklift. The box was 3/8" plywood and 1x6 construction.
Never had any problem with claims, with the exception of DHL, but that may have been the fault of the supplier.
FedEx Ground was once RPS. Now there was one rickety operation.
 
Handle with Care = use as step ladder

Fragile = underhand toss only.

We hand a package several years back come back to the shop saying "improper packaging". However, our "improper" packaging wasn't. There were tire tracks all over the box.
Hmmmm...

Then, just yesterday, I had a box come in (UPS) where the entire top 8 inches had been smushed and bent over. Fortunately, the canvas was just shy of that line and was fine. The delivery guy didn't seem to notice until I said "I can't sign for it until I check to see if it is ok".

I hate UPS. The only problem I've had with FedEx is that a truck got hi-jacked before the client's piece was delivered (in France). Oh well... SpeeDee has always been good to me.
 
Donna at MetroAF said:
Fragile = underhand toss only.
.... There were tire tracks all over the box.
Hmmmm...
Click to expand...

And they think we wouldn't notice Tire Tracks???

I had one come in from DHL with a big hole in the box and mushed end. Said I needed to check out the contents before I opened it. Guy said I could reject the delivery instead, but not if I opened it first!

Wha'??? Why would I reject it unless I knew it was damaged, and how could I inspect it without opening it? Then he tried to tell me it must've happened at the company that sent it, before it was picked up. I said "Why on earth would your company pick up something that was already in that condition???" He let me open it up and then got all red and left without answering.

I've started taking a picture of the packages marked "Fragile" that come in with head-sized holes, usually right in the middle of the FRAGILE stamp.
 
I've told this story before but years ago there was a story going around the Midwest about a UPS delivery of a container of length moulding East of St. Louis. The entire top of the box was missing completely as was the 3' or so of all the moulding in the box. The funny part was when the frameshop pulled the moulding out it was held in what was left of the box by a brand new 4 iron and a 3 wood!!!

Some jerk had somehow torn open not only the frame moulding box but apparently another box containing golf clubs!! The guy didn't have the smarts to put the clubs in the proper box and the broken tips of moulding in the proper box.

We always wondered what the golfer said when he opened HIS box and found his new golf clubs minus 2 and 5 stubs of frame moulding???:shrug:

FGII
 
The packaging is the key!

seido said:
...It was double boxed, wrapped in bubble, suspended inside the outer box and sandwiched in there with 3" thick styrofoam corners! Best packing I've ever seen...Joel
Click to expand...

Joel,

These discussions are buried in the Grumble Threads many times, and the truth be said....it is all in the packaging rather than the shipper! Just like the best framer in the world can screw up sometimes...it happens.

The packaging you described above is Not what I would describe as the best for shipping framed pictures. I'm sorry....but what you described, simply does not offer enough support.

We have never had a damaged framed picture as I pack shipped via UPS and I'm talking about multiple dozens, including a 30x40 shipped to Europe. In fact we have had only two UPS claims on shipping fragile merchandise and I've shipped over 1,600 boxes with UPS in the past 20 months.

It's in the packaging!

John
 
One of my customers who creates 3 dimensional art, sometimes frames in shadowboxes, sometimes acrylic boxes, shipped a piece to a gallery in Syracuse. It got to the gallery OK but never sold so the gallery owner took it to a UPS store for professional packing and shipping.

The box arrived back in Buffalo smushed and the acrylic box (screwed onto the artwork which was mounted onto a wooden strainer) was cracked in three corners. The artwork itself had NO DAMAGE whatsoever.

Oddly, (and we wonder why shipping costs keep rising) UPS refused to pay the cost of only a new box and the artist had to send a invoice for the cost of the entire piece, artwork included. So she received over $350 (the insured value) for a box that would have cost her around $65 (fabricated locally with regular acrylic).

Is the world getting more idiotic every day or is it just me???
 
No company is going to have a 100% damage free record, so somebody's package is going to be damaged. When it happens to you, it sticks out. We are not a large company, not even a mid-sized one, but I think we ship enough that the quantity of damages should be representative. We have a lost or damaged rate of approximately .025%, or one for every 4000 packages shipped, by UPS.

We don't use FedEx Ground, because even though they're now owned by FedEx it's still a separate company that has no effective shared infrastructure with the real FedEx. In fact, the FedEx Ground and FedEx Home delivery trucks/drivers are subcontractors, not employees. Since we're in the boondocks we have to call FedEx for an Air pickup by 11:30 AM, and it has to be ready for pickup no later than 1:30 PM. Sometimes we don't even know that there needs to be an air shipment until 3 or 4 PM. Having the Ground guy there at 5 PM is no help at all, because he/she can't take air packages. So we've stuck with UPS's one-stop shopping method. Now if UPS could integrate their new Freight division with the rest of the company....
 
seido said:
Forgot to add that there wasn't even a dent or mark on the outer box!

Joel
Click to expand...
That pretty much proves right there that the packaging was not adequate.

There must be too much pressure on the glass. There needs to be either a softer material on the glass, or more thickness of the same material - either of which will translate to less shock transmitted.
 
The glass to glass seam is the problem with this shipment. Packaging will not easily prevent breakage from a jolt - sort of like the problem with glass breakage when working with metal frames. Give the shipping companies a break - at least with this product.
 
I once worked for an art installation and transporting service.My boss spent big bucks getting a poster designed and printed. they we're sent out to hundreds of gallerys and such,telling them how great we we're at handling art.as you might already guess ups sent them all out,almost all reached their destinations in crushed tubes.man I still feel the pain.
 
I feel guilty

I think I am the only one who received this in actual good shape! Ours came in great the other day. The only thing I noticed... the points were bent out so I had to take it apart and put new points in so that everything was okay... but the glass was in good shape.. so was the frame and everything.. and it looks really great!!
 
UPS

Ok just to be different....We have been in Business for 25 yrs and ship all over Canada. We feel we pack a little better then others but unless you are going to build a wood box for it there is only so much you can do. Well in 25 yrs we have never had anything broken....Our shipper of choice in Canada...UPS. Yes you heard it right....Actually they are the only ones I will trust. Everyone else has damaged pieces on me....Incoming pieces...
I always find it interesting how there can be so much difference between the same company in different countries.
 
I don't have much of a problem with carriers, but I suppose the distances and therefore time spent rattling about is less.

I love the flourescent yellow stickers that come with my Nielsen stuff though. "WARNING - DO NOT OPEN WITH A KNIFE OR OTHER SHARP INSTRUMENT"

The things are banded as well as overkill taped up!

Maybe I should burn the stuff off - think I'll leave it all 'til the rep's next visit - he can give me a demo!
 
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