Thanks FedEx

[stevie]

A big shoutout to FedEx, who shipped the first LFSys cab to the States this week. This is what we sent:

 

 

 

and this is what arrived in New York (five days late): Scroll down for the reveal -

 

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The box was plastered with Fragile stickers, by the way.

 

Edited September 19, 2024 by stevie

[TheRev]

Did they drag it through the sea all the way to New York?

[tauzero]

What state were the contents in?

 

PS: I don't mean New York state (although it looks like it might have done a grand tour of the other 49 first).

Edited September 19, 2024 by tauzero

[stevie]

Some of the plastic corners are broken, which isn't too much of a problem as they're easily replaced and they've done their job of protecting the most vulnerable parts of the cab. There are also two screws in each corner - so I doubt that the cabinet itself has suffered any structural damage. There are  some chips in the paintwork and some small dents. The chips are fixable - not sure about the dents; it depends how big they are. We don't know yet if the speakers have been damaged.

 

 

[lemmywinks]

They subcontracting to Oceangate now?

Edited September 19, 2024 by lemmywinks

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, stevie said:

A big shoutout to FedEx, who shipped the first LFSys cab to the States this week. This is what we sent:

 

 

 

and this is what arrived in New York (five days late): Scroll down for the reveal -

 

>

 

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

 

 

 

 

The box was plastered with Fragile stickers, by the way.

 

 

What explanation have you had from Fedex, and what counter-measures are they putting in place to prevent this happening again to someone else..? I'm presuming that the shipping cost has, of course, been reimbursed..? 

[wateroftyne]

10 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

What explanation have you had from Fedex, and what counter-measures are they putting in place to prevent this happening again to someone else..? I'm presuming that the shipping cost has, of course, been reimbursed..? 

 

I suspect they don't give a monkey's.

[stevie]

I contacted FedEx in the UK and they said the consignment was delayed because of damage to the packaging. They didn't say what the damage was and proceeded to deliver anyway. I received the photos of the damaged packaging from the customer this morning and have been wondering how exactly to approach FedEx about it. The shipment is insured via FedEx.

This is the first time I've used this delivery service. I think @wateroftyne is right. The people I contacted in the UK were friendly and efficient but I suspect the warehouse people in New Jersey are throwing parcels around for a laugh. I've never seen anything as bad as this.

[Dad3353]

8 minutes ago, stevie said:

I contacted FedEx in the UK and they said the consignment was delayed because of damage to the packaging. They didn't say what the damage was and proceeded to deliver anyway. I received the photos of the damaged packaging from the customer this morning and have been wondering how exactly to approach FedEx about it. The shipment is insured via FedEx.

This is the first time I've used this delivery service. I think @wateroftyne is right. The people I contacted in the UK were friendly and efficient but I suspect the warehouse people in New Jersey are throwing parcels around for a laugh. I've never seen anything as bad as this.

 

From the look of it, that's water damage, and not recent. I'd guess that it was dropped into a deep puddle or something early on in the shipping process, or got soaked being left on the tarmac in the rain whilst loading the 'plane to the US. Cardboard doesn't get like that in just a few hours. 

[stevie]

Thanks, @Dad3353 - that makes sense, but it doesn't explain the smashed corners. So it must have been dropped quite badly as well.

[Dad3353]

Once wet, the boxing will have pretty well no protective qualities, so any mishandling from then on will result in disproportionate damage. 

 

May I suggest, for future shipments, by any carrier, to sacrifice a roll of cling film, wrapped around the entire box..? This will keep water out in most reasonable (and some unreasonable...) situations. The cost is slight, but will ensure that all the contents are kept dry. 

Edited September 19, 2024 by Dad3353

[stevie]

What an excellent idea! Thanks, @Dad3353.

[Beedster]

2 minutes ago, stevie said:

What an excellent idea! Thanks, @Dad3353.

 

Check with the courier first, cling film gets stuck in the sorting machines used by some firms. About 2 years back I sent a box protected in bin bags (neatly done) ands Interparcel charged me £30 fee for manual handling. When I told them to do one they pointed out that a) it's clearly written in their T&Cs and 2) they still had the package  

 

Funnily enough I literally just told the same story to a guy here who sent me a package covered in cling film and warned him to watch out for the invoice! 

[lemmywinks]

We ship all over the world (non music stuff and not particularly fragile) and anything going outside mainland UK gets the item(s) individually packed in plastic and usually plastic wrap on the outside too. For a speaker cab I'd be going overboard on cushioning materials on the corners, maybe double boxing it. Even then a courier can kill a driver without any external damage as I found out with my little EA CXL110.

 

Unfortunately every different stage of the shipping process is another chance someone is going to throw/drop it, put something too heavy on it or leave it out in the rain.

 

[Beedster]

By the way, that's pretty impressive even by courier standards, but having arrived at its intended destination within a reasonable period of time still has some way to go to beat Parcel Monkey and my lost then found then lost agin then living on a pig farm in Suffolk Mesa Boogie cab  

[lemmywinks]

Gotta give a bit of credit to Parcel Force btw - the last used bass I bought was packaged with just some random bits of cardboard taped around it and arrived completely unscathed. We've had the same PF delivery guy here for 17 years, he's seen an embarrassing number of bass shaped boxes coming and going (mostly the former) and he just laughed when he handed it over.

[stevie]

It gets worse! 🤒

 

Barclaycard just called asking me to confirm a transaction with FedEx - for seven times the price originally agreed. Fortunately, they had declined the transaction and I have an emailed quote showing what the price should be. I've put in an insurance claim but I'm not holding my breath.

[LukeFRC]

5 minutes ago, stevie said:

It gets worse! 🤒

 

Barclaycard just called asking me to confirm a transaction with FedEx - for seven times the price originally agreed. Fortunately, they had declined the transaction and I have an emailed quote showing what the price should be. I've put in an insurance claim but I'm not holding my breath.

what! they charge more for their erm, smashing, service? 

[jezzaboy]

6 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

I suspect they don't give a monkey's.

This exactly. Having worked in the transport/logistics sector most of my days including with several parcel delivery companies, my wife who has always worked in the NHS doesn`t believe me when I say that the majority of the people who work in these companies just don`t give a baboon`s rear.

[Boodang]

My heart sinks whenever someone says they're using FedEx to ship to me. Apart from anything else it's so difficult to speak to a human being at FedEx. At every turn they try to use chat bots. A horrible company to deal with. Good luck! 

[Norris]

Mrs Norris just asked if that package was one that Tom Hanks didn't manage to pull out of the sea in Castaway? 😂

[Beedster]

28 minutes ago, Boodang said:

My heart sinks whenever someone says they're using FedEx to ship to me. Apart from anything else it's so difficult to speak to a human being at FedEx. At every turn they try to use chat bots. A horrible company to deal with. Good luck! 

My heart sinks when anyone sends me anything via any courier these days 😕

[Beedster]

18 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

What explanation have you had from Fedex, and what counter-measures are they putting in place to prevent this happening again to someone else..? I'm presuming that the shipping cost has, of course, been reimbursed..? 

They generally won’t reimburse unless it was fully insured AND it didn’t arrive or was SERIOUSLY damaged 😡

[Beedster]

2 minutes ago, Beedster said:

They generally won’t reimburse unless it was fully insured AND it didn’t arrive or was SERIOUSLY damaged 😡

….by which I mean the item was seriously damaged, not the box, their argument is that the box is there to soak up the damage and not to arrive in pristine condition! 

[Beedster]

19 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

I suspect they don't give a monkey's.

That is the absolute bottom line, like many large organisations, they are characterised by a systematic absence of care for or responsibility towards their customers, they are largely unregulated, cover every possible example of professional failing on their part in small print, and make communication and complaint almost impossible 😡