Couriers & packing.

[Apothem]

I am always astonished when I see basses worth one or two grand shipped for peanuts. With the going courier insurance rate at £20 per thousand, how can such low rates be available? Do you know that 99% of couriers have very low liability limits when carrying musical instruments, if any at all? Take Parcelforce, for instance (aka ParcelFARCE): they're happy to take your insurance money, but in case of claim it's printed in their T&Cs that the max cove for musical instruments is £250!!! (Or, at least, that was what I saw last time I checked).

For basses up to a grand, i use UPS through Interparcel, and over that, UPS directly from them. Not cheap, but at least they insure the full amount.

[itsmedunc]

Myhermes again but I've never heard anything like this before - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/your-parcel-roof-deliveryman-abandons-4033898#.U-fDdyghzdk

[Thunderbird]

Not bass related but I had a parcel delivered today via Yodel it was a signed for parcel so I said to the driver I would sign for it it and his reply was dont worry I have already done it for you and buggered off what a cowboy outfit I never use them myself wonder how many "signed for" parcels go astray? makes we wonder with all the bad things I have heard about Yodel

[Kev]

Big plus one to UPS, have dealt with most of my bass deliveries this year and all have been perfect and fuss-free

A note to some negative reviewers, remember the courier is only as good as the company brokering the deal. I have found 99% of my complaints from a delivery is due to mistakes by Interparcel/Parcel2go etc and not the courier.

[kodiakblair]

Got a good service last time from Citylink, Leeds to Falkirk Next day by 12.

Bought a bass in London last week, asked if it was ok for a courier fella said no probs but I'm only in on Fridays.
Booked through Interparcel Citylink again. Last time pick up was 9am this time 12 came and went fella text'd me
Interparcel say wait till 1630, Website said 1730,receipt said 1800 but helpline said 1900.

Needless to say it never happened.Poor guy sat in all day to hand over a £50 sale. Interparcel refunded straightaway
but that's not the point. I feel guilty as hell the bass was a steal, Peavey Foundation 5'er, but it's the wasting of his time
for such a small sum that's bugging me.

The fella has been really cool about it, I offered to travel down next week but he told me " that's crazy re-book it just a
shame you'll be waiting 2 weeks for it now.". Back with Interparcel/UPS, least I can set collection time now.

Will update by 1431 next Friday. Wish me luck guys.

Kev how would I know if Citylink or Interparcel were at fault? Citylink directed me back to Interparcel when I tried to find out the problem.

[alyctes]

I ordered two necks from Peavey UK.
UPS guy dumped the package outside my front door in full view of the street. No note.
I didn't find it till the day after. It had sat outside in the rain overnight.
Luckily, Peavey had wrapped it properly.

[Mr Anthony]

Spent ages walking back and forth to Halfords to find a decent box. The guy was nice enough to say I could just go behind the store and fetch one whenever I wanted, but every time I went they'd either been collected, rained on or just weren't any there. So I decided to nip into Musicroom instead, and the guy I spoke to in there was actually more than willing to let me take boxes of his hands. He even gave me tips on packaging. Nice chap.

I'll totally agree though, it's worth the extra effort to post something. You're way more likely to get a sale. Not everyone is willing to drive x number of miles to pick something up that they may want to then sell on themselves a few weeks later.

Anyway, people of Lincoln. If you need any big shipping boxes, it's always worth asking. You never know I guess. I didn't expect them to have anything, or if they did I wasn't too sure they'd be willing to give them to me, but if you don't ask you don't get.

[dodge_bass]

Avoid Parcel-farce. Though I suspect looking at this thread we already know that. Still its worth re-iterating.

Sat in house for whole day waiting for collection. Nobody turned up. "oh the driver probably ran out of driving hours" was the only excuse proffered when rung the next day. Complete idiots. Pretty angry!

[kodiakblair]

Forgot to update the Interparcel experience from last month.

Another disaster,when you book collection times it doesn't tell you they've to be 5 hours apart so you get kicked back to change the times,only they reset the date too.
Didn't see that one, so another wasted day for the seller.Then his shifts changed and he no longer was available,his landlord stepped up to the plate and London taxi
drivers had a go slow day so the courier missed the collection time again.Luckily the landlord was just leaving when he did turn up.

Ebay Global Shipping is another joke. I had a bass sitting in Erlanger,KY for a week unscanned,no labels or customs checked then it turned up yesterday.Tracking said
it was still in America yesterday morning.

[Jono Bolton]

I had a bass delivered by UK Mail recently. It was meant to be a 24-hour tracked service. For ages the online tracking info wasn't updated after it had been collected, but showed that it was due to be delivered the following day (a Thursday). On the Thursday afternoon after it should have been delivered, the details were updated to 'Delayed'. I called the helpline to find out what was happening and was informed that the van taking the bass to one of the depots had arrived after the van that was due to take it on to the next depot had already left. Pretty annoyed that they would let that happen when you're paying specifically for a next day service.

[tauzero]

Yokel - bought a g**tar from Gear4Music, which was shipped requiring a signature. Found it left on my front doorstep, in view, though fortunately we're in a quiet cul-de-sac so there aren't many people roaming round. Any aspiring thieves could do worse than following one of these incompetents around for a day.

[Jono Bolton]

A mixed review for Parcelforce; bought a bass that was taken to the Post Office before the 5pm cut off on Wednesday and was sent via Parcelforce 48, but when I called them on Thursday they said it was booked at 5.15pm and still hadn't been picked up. It was picked up late on Thursday afternoon and should have been delivered today, but it was at the Glasgow depot on Friday night and they delivered it on the Saturday instead. So it was early, but still late as it should've been picked up on Wednesday and arrived on Friday.

Funnily enough, they were delivering a parcel for a neighbour upstairs who wasn't in and asked me to take it, and he was having an EBS cab delivered at the same time! Never realised the was another bassist in my building.

[kodiakblair]

Ah the Matt Freeman has finally been delivered then Jono. Congratulations on that one.

Had a courier booked this week and got a text saying delivery between 12.36pm and 1.36pm. Great I thought better get some milk.
Courier arrived 11.55am.

OK I was in but could easy have missed them.

Bass playing neighbour, that's a result.

[PhilLawton]

Worth remembering that all overnight companies set themselves a target of 95% for successful deliveries.

They don't give much of a toss about customer service, so if your item is part of that 5% margin, they're happy, even if you're not.

It's an obvious point, but worth reiterating - it's a cheap service for a reason.

[kodiakblair]

Parcel Force success story here.

Bass picked up in Liverpool late Friday afternoon and delivered to Falkirk this morning at 11.30am

UK customs on the other hand are Crap. Bass body gets picked up,travels through 3 states and across the Atlantic in 4 days to lie in customs awaiting clearance for the last week.

[tauzero]

A further note about Herpes. Minus Zero has just started working at the local depot, and informs me that the approved system of loading into a van is to just chuck it in, regardless of if it says "Fragile" or not.

[discreet]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1418682658' post='2632387']
A further note about Herpes. Minus Zero has just started working at the local depot, and informs me that the approved system of loading into a van is to just chuck it in, regardless of if it says "Fragile" or not.
[/quote]

To be fair, I don't think myHerpes are alone in this. In fact someone I knew at the PO said that packages marked 'Fragile' and the like were actually singled out for 'special treatment'. And I think that's at least the third time I've posted that comment in the same thread over the last three years. Talk about repeating yourself... [size=3]repeating yourself...[/size] [size=2]repeating yourself...[/size]

Edited December 15, 2014 by discreet

[Shabbs]

Parcelforce appear to stipulate guitars in hard cases only?

[stubass]

Another one for the cartel of uselessness. Direct Courier Solutions. I booked a collection from my work, they said collection would take place between 9-30am and 5-30pm. After staying at work til 6 (should finish 3-4pm) the status still showed that they would be that day. Nope, it wasn't until 9-30am the following day until I got hold of them, needless to say they weren't very apologetic and reminded me that things don't always go to plan. At least I got a full refund. They also offered up to £1k insurance for a measly £6 although how smooth the claiming process would be is anyone's guess. My experience has put me off anyway. I use parcelforce normally and as yet, haven't had an issue.

[kodiakblair]

Bit of a turn-up for the books. I had lousy service from Interparcel the last time but was forced to use them again this week.

Parcel Force wanted £52 to ship a 4.4Kg bass to Germany,Interparcel quoted £25 using Parcelforce with extra insurance and txt alerts.

Bass was collected at 0930 on Monday and received in Lower Saxony last night. Money has already been refunded to my PP account.
I took a hit via the exchange rate and shipping,seller only refunded the outward costs.

Can't fault InterParcel this time, 3 days Scotland to Germany is good. So top marks InterParcel though it really was ParcelForce and DHL that did the work

Edited February 12, 2015 by kodiakblair

[MisterFingers]

Some not so good experiences with UPS (via Parcel2Go) this week:
The bass was bubble wrapped and put in a decent (new) ABS case, then the whole case was bubble wrapped and then
boxed in cardboard with plenty of packing tape. The carriage cost about £60, which included £700 cover.
Long story short - a corner of the ABS case has been fractured, and the case lid has been warped slightly.
So not only has the box been dropped (or thrown) on it's end, but there's also been other heavy packages
been piled on top of it at some point.
Fortunately the bass itself was undamaged, but I've opened a claim.
Not chuffed.

Edited April 3, 2015 by MisterFingers

[White Cloud]

UPS success for me. New bass delivered from Italy within four working days in perfect condition. The tracking service was accurate and updated quickly.

Very pleased and impressed.

[alyctes]

[quote name='Shabbs' timestamp='1420665092' post='2652017']
Parcelforce appear to stipulate guitars in hard cases only?
[/quote]

I believe so. But I don't think you're insured even then, because IIUC they don't insure musical instruments.

[blunderthumbs]

Latest delivery from YODEL. Used to be an Epiphone Les Paul.
[attachment=188986:Les Paul damaged by YODEL.jpg]
[attachment=188987:Les Paul Damaged by YODEL2.jpg]
[attachment=188988:Les Paul damaged by YODEL 3.jpg]

[alyctes]

[quote name='blunderthumbs' timestamp='1428594804' post='2742848']
Latest delivery from YODEL. Used to be an Epiphone Les Paul.
[attachment=188986:Les Paul damaged by YODEL.jpg]
[attachment=188987:Les Paul Damaged by YODEL2.jpg]
[attachment=188988:Les Paul damaged by YODEL 3.jpg]
[/quote]

Ouch. That's painful to look at.