Do not use Parcelforce to ship musical instruments

[neepheid]

And we'll keep saying it until people get it.

[Musicman20]

I usually don't sell much now, but the last Ray I sold to Ean on here was shipped through interparcel.com.

Ean arranged it, and put insurance on it.

Luckily, I had the original box which also obviously fitted the original case perfectly.

It arrived safely.

I think in future, if I sell, I will ask for the buyer to pickup/meet when I'm close (if possible) or again arrange through interparcel.com.

Buying from a store isn't as bad. If it arrives damaged, just report and you'll get a replacement/refund.

A few months back I bought £450 worth of boutique pedals that all arrived scratched and damaged/dinted.

They were just in the retail display box they come in, shoved in one of those document bags. They were sent out late, and then I wasn't available on the day they arrived. AFter the weekend, they showed up, whilst I wasn't available to check them for a week (away on business).

Luckily I informed the retailer I couldn't check them. When I did, 5 days later, I found the damage.

It could have all been much easier if they shipped it on the day they said they would AND actually USED PACKAGING! Eg, put £450 worth of pedals in a proper box, in their individual boxes, with plenty of padding. Luckily I got a full refund.

I then went to Bass Direct and bought from them. No issues whatsoever.

Edited October 22, 2013 by Musicman20

[Prime_BASS]

I've stopped shipping stuff when selling on here or eBay, unless it's tiny. As it's a massive faff.

I got a barefaced midget delivered by FedEx from BF them selves, and packaging in bomb proof, the box weighs nothing but somehow they had driven (what appeared to be) a forklift straight through it, cracking one of the front edges.

No company is perfect, I've stuff come from the US with no insurance arrive fine and stuff only going to the next county get lost.
Just a case of bad luck.

I don't usually pay for insurance either as unless it's in a bombproof container and you have proof it was sent as it should they won't pay out.

[Beedster]

This is of course the alternative to insurance (although it doesn't stop them losing it I guess) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/219821-how-to-send-a-bass-amp-by-courier/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/219821-how-to-send-a-bass-amp-by-courier/page__fromsearch__1[/url]

[rhythmbug]

Sorry to hear about the damage. I had this happen with a Citilink courier and it was through a corporate account. They claim up to £100 compensation right? I got paid out £55 for significant paintwork damage that warranted an entire respray. I decided to pocket the cash and do a minor DIY repair and just live with it, fortunately it looks kinda cool and heck it's only a MIM Fender, but if it were an expensive bass I'd be mighty peeved.

Lesson learnt, collect wherever possible if it's an expensive one or send in multiple layers of corrugated cardboard / polyfoam plus the box and a preferably inside a hard case. Mine was sent in it's original box from Fender and the bass wrapped in bubblewrap, not strong enough to withstand transit shenanigans.

Edited October 23, 2013 by rhythmbug

[hamfist]

Moral of the story ....

1/ don't ever pay extra for their insurance.
2/ Pack absolutely bulletproof
3/ then put [u]another[/u] layer of packing and another box on.
4/ All couriers handle packages in a disgraceful manner, so simply use the cheapest.

It's worked for me. I have saved many hundreds, maybe thousands in not paying shipping insurance over the years and never had an issue. Amps, cabs, basses, guitars. Luck is a factor I'm sure. On the day they do manage to damage one of my packages, I'll pay for it out of the money I've saved by never paying insurance.

This won't work for everyone, but it's worked for me.

It's all very well and good saying that you'll never ship and that you'll always specify collection, but for those of us who don't live near major conurbations or fairly centrally in the country, that really does reduce our potential customer base enormously.

Edited October 26, 2013 by hamfist

[bremen]

I frequently travel between Cambridge and Morecambe and would be happy to help move stuff, as others have said its always good to meet folk that you only know as an avatar and a witty sig. Must confess I was a bit disappointed that Nigel doesn't look in the least like his avatar though, nor does EBS freak. still have high hopes for Dr Dave, however.

I'm sure there are plenty of others willing to do DIY couriering to make boring journeys more interesting. How could we organise this?

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1382773786' post='2256367']
Moral of the story ....

1/ don't ever pay extra for their insurance.
2/ Pack absolutely bulletproof
3/ then put [u]another[/u] layer of packing and another box on.
4/ All couriers handle packages in a disgraceful manner, so simply use the cheapest.

It's worked for me. I have saved many hundreds, maybe thousands in not paying shipping insurance over the years and never had an issue. Amps, cabs, basses, guitars. Luck is a factor I'm sure. On the day they do manage to damage one of my packages, I'll pay for it out of the money I've saved by never paying insurance.

This won't work for everyone, but it's worked for me.

[/quote]

I am absolutely bang alongside this. Having spent far too much of my life dealing with insurance issues, claims, and companies, I decided long ago to go self-insuring.

Eventually I'll get a nasty one, and a £1000 bass will go missing or disintegrate, but I must have saved well over that amount in the last 10 years on all the uninsured packages I sent which arrived safely.

Incidentally, the closest I ever got to Beedster's damaged carton was posting a Selmer Treble'n'Bass valve amp to Sarajevo. It reached former-Yugoslavia without issues and was then completely unpacked and dismantled by over-zealous Customs officers looking for drugs. The buyer arrived to collect a large cardboard box full of components.

He was perfectly happy. It was exactly what he had expected, all the bits were there, and once he'd put it back together it worked perfectly ...

[discreet]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1382950990' post='2258223']
...[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=4]completely unpacked and dismantled by over-zealous Customs officers looking for drugs... [/size][/font][/color][size=4]It was exactly what he had expected, all the bits were there, and once he'd put it back together it worked perfectly ...[/size]
[/quote]

[size=4]Very good, but did the drugs get through OK..? [/size]

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382951173' post='2258224']
Very good, but did the drugs get through OK..?
[/quote]

Huh? What? Oh sorry man ... don't really remember. Hey - got any you can sell?

[ash]

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1382949930' post='2258202']
I frequently travel between Cambridge and Morecambe and would be happy to help move stuff, as others have said its always good to meet folk that you only know as an avatar and a witty sig. Must confess I was a bit disappointed that Nigel doesn't look in the least like his avatar though, nor does EBS freak. still have high hopes for Dr Dave, however.

I'm sure there are plenty of others willing to do DIY couriering to make boring journeys more interesting. How could we organise this?
[/quote]

A great idea, I'd rather pay someone I know or at least know via the site - it would be especially useful to me as I live in Lancaster and don't use a car! Daz on here helped me with transporting a double bass a year back and it was just a matter of swapping a few details and petrol/beer money. Certainly took the anxiety out of transporting a valued instrument.

[seashell]

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1383075301' post='2259959']


A great idea, I'd rather pay someone I know or at least know via the site - it would be especially useful to me as I live in Lancaster and don't use a car! Daz on here helped me with transporting a double bass a year back and it was just a matter of swapping a few details and petrol/beer money. Certainly took the anxiety out of transporting a valued instrument.
[/quote]

I think Mr Foxen tried to get something like this going but it never really took off
FWIW, I travel between Brum and Weybridge Surrey every 3 weeks or so and wouldn't mind taking a bass with me. Also do a run to Milton Keynes now and again.

[Thunderbird]

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1383081213' post='2260068']
I think Mr Foxen tried to get something like this going but it never really took off
FWIW, I travel between Brum and Weybridge Surrey every 3 weeks or so and wouldn't mind taking a bass with me. Also do a run to Milton Keynes now and again.
[/quote] I think it is a great idea as lots of us on here don't drive or have cars

[Mr. Foxen]

Well, there is a basschat courier service thread somewhere. I need a couple of things got from East London to Bristol.

TNT inform me they have just sent the insurance cheque for the Hiwatt that they entirely lost. I insured it to full valve, and started the claim mid July, and there was three weeks after it was supposed to arrive before that for it to be officially lost. Still waiting on the cheque arriving and clearing, so touch wood on that. Among their excuses was 3 weeks to check CCTV, and when questioned on what the result of doing this was after waiting for that period, I was informed that they overwrite their CCTV every 2 weeks, so that was a total waste of time.

[Geddys nose]

http://youtu.be/wu_0urzCaao

The Gray plastic bag at the beginning is packed like my last bass I got!

I use Shipleys for most stuff now and have never had any trouble.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Geddys nose' timestamp='1383150694' post='2260844']
[media]http://youtu.be/wu_0urzCaao[/media]

The Gray plastic bag at the beginning is packed like my last bass I got!

I use Shipleys for most stuff now and have never had any trouble.
[/quote]

There was a video doing the rounds a while ago of an American Fed-Ex worker throwing boxes into the back of the van without much care. The boxes appeared to be very light (possibly even empty), but the lady got fired. People were bitching about how bad it was, but do they honestly think this was the worst these parcels had been treated? Do they honestly think that this lady was the only one behaving like this? Then the Fine Brothers made a "Youtubers react to" video, and the posh twats who have never had to do a minimum wage job before were all saying how it was a management issue and how this was just the lady showing a disregard for peoples stuff. BOLLOCKS! Mistreatment of packages is totally institutionalised.