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How Not To Ship Computers
jutus writes: "I recently relocated for work from Canada to Florida, and on a suggestion, shipped my equipment (well-packed), with UPS Ground. I've posted some images of the destruction my shipment was subjected to by UPS. UPS Ground does not insure international shipments, so basically I'm up shit creek, no paddle. They have been giving me the textbook run-around for the past week. UPS Canada blames UPS in the U.S., and you can imagine who UPS down here in the States blames. As of yet, UPS has not even attempted to negotiate any compensation for my loss due to their severe negligence ... For Gods sake, use FedEX." My luck has gone the other direction -- I've mostly had good luck with UPS and some misdeliveries with FedEx. Would be nice to hear from any UPS employees reading this about what could have led to the damage jutus illustrates.
I've always found it a bit "funny" that you have to pay an extra fee to make sure they don't break the items you're shipping.
Why this falls under the 'Humor' icon, I can't figure out.
:( icon for such things.
You need a
A video of this guy giving the local UPS delivery person a DDT would have been funny, but not a destroyed computer.
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
I recently bought an SGI Indy off of eBay, and the seller shipped it US Postal Service Priority Shipping. It was *cheap* and arrived in a mere 2 days!! I highly suggest USPS Priority Shipping if the product is packed well with packing peanuts and such. They really have a good service.
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Fuck you, motherfucker. Fuck yous to: Rob "Taco-Snotter" Malda, Homos, Kowboi Kneel, and RMS.
In the surplus-electronics business, it's almost an industry axiom. UPS Blue (2-day air) is fine, and FedEx 3-day Express Saver service is a good compromise between cost and delivery time. UPS Ground, however, guarantees that your equipment will receive the most abusive possible treatment at the hands of heavily-unionized goons who have zero accountability to management.
In fact, you're lucky if your shipment doesn't magically vanish from the distribution hub.
I usually use FedEx when it absolutely, positively, has to get there in one piece. That being said, I have not been hearing good things about the new FedEx Ground (formerly RPS) service. Apparently the integration with FedEx has not gone particularly well, and they're not providing reliable service with low breakage risk.
Before using any carrier or service, it's a good idea to search Google Groups to see what the various collectibles groups are bitching about lately. And always, always pack your gear to survive a 3-foot fall into a concrete floor. If you catch yourself flinching at the thought of such an impact, you didn't pack well enough.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
While I've never seen damage to a shipment done by a shipper that even remotely resembled the damage in his pictures, I don't think I should have to "insure" something to recover the value of the goods when what his pictures showed is a clear case of neglect on the part of the shipper.
I don't use UPS for a host of completely separate customer service issues I've had with them, but one thing I've noted at their drop off point here in Minneapolis is that they don't accept sealed boxes. This is so they can check the packing material (and I assume other things as well).
The only way our poster really screwed up was to not save the boxes that his equipment came in, especially the G4 box. That would have been a much more secure shipment container than some left overs.
I do not have a signature
...to move the following of my personal stuff:
We recently moved and let the gorillas move everything but the things I listed above. Sure I had to rent a small truck but nothing was damaged. It was well worth the small cost.
Many years ago, a ``professional'' moving company found a way to severely dent a peuter plate wedding present given to me by the EE faculty where I was teaching. It was packed in the middle of a bunch of china which miraculously managed to survive the move. Of course the moving company found some reason that they weren't liable.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
This assures no human will try and lift (and possibly drop) it, and that they will have to handle it with a palette lifter.
Also, have the UPS associate inspect your packaging before you send it off, so they can't complain about improper packing. There should be 6" between your cargo and the container wall packed with shock absorbing material.
As for the claims, yes they can take months. It's much better to prevent damage entirely and dummy proof your package by attaching it to a large object like a palette.
Packages shipped via UPS Ground from Canada are protected automatically against damage or loss up to $100, and Excess Value Insurance (brochure available here) can be purchased for values exceeding that. The cost is only 35 cents per $100 of value, up to $50,000 of coverage. Looks like he just didn't opt for the coverage.
Caveat expeditor.
I work in a small computer store that gets the majority of its supplies by UPS.
If it wasn't for the quality of the packaging supplied by most computer equipment manufacturers, I'd suspect a significant portion of the equipment would be damaged in transit.
The items in question were all shipped from a national wholesaler (techdata) via UPS. A motherboard I recieved had a partially crushed box. I've seen Athlon processors arrive in dented boxes. Some of the boxes look like they have been torn apart. However, the parts usually arrive in working order, despite the damage.
To UPS, its just a package, that is handled and moved by a bunch of low-paid workers who have no interest in treating your package with TLC, and the management doesn't seem to add any accountability. Until management cares enough to track where and when the damage occurs, and uses that information to remove the problem employees, nothing will improve.
Just my $.02
So because most shipping companies have been screwing over customers in situations like this that makes it o.k.?
Just because this poor sod was naive doesn't mean it's ok for people/corporations to take advantage of him.
Your arguement is just about as lame as the classic "it's her fault she got raped, she shouldn't have been walking in the park at that time of night!". Obviously someone beat the shit out of his gear. Anyone with half an ounce of common sense can see that this was not accidentally dropped but literally worked over. Look at how extensive the damage is... you would have to go out of your way to break something that badly.
I don't care what they put on their signs or in their small print. UPS should take responsibility for this and foot the bill.
- Toby
Let me get this straight: You put a Powermac G4 tower, an PowerTower Pro, and a monitor all in one box, and expected them to survive?
I don't see how all three would even fit in one box, as the box looks to be the size that a normal monitor (plus copeous styrofoam blocks that the manufacturer uses (hint, hint)) comes in.
Did you just pile them in with some newspaper and think that it would be okay? In general, 'fragile' or not, expect your box to get dropped from 4 or 5 feet a few times in transit. Basically, there should never, ever be direct contact between your valued hardware and the interior of the box.
As for insurance, that's a different issue. I hope you get your money, but it reminds me of a friend who says he wouldn't mind getting hit by a car as long as he had medical insurance. Me, I'd prefer not to have the pain and suffering in the first place.
Kevin Fox
Yeah, it was great that these relics were destroyed. And yes, these weapons were witnesses to the mass murder that is war.
Two of them were Civil War Springfield rifled muskets. The other was a Army rifle from the Spanish-American war. They were three little pieces of history utterly destroyed by some moron like yourself.
Intolerant idiots like yourself are the ones who should be locked away from firearms. Not having the means to live someplace better than a trailer park does not make you a second class citizen.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
you should have read a bit about shipping computers. Only ship the case in a large box. Remove all add-on cards and package them in another box. remove the harddrive and pack each of them in their own box, packed *tightly* in bubble wrap. Hard drives are the most fragile computer component, and can only survive a ~1500 G shock. Thats about a 1 meter fall onto carpet, or a ~12 inch fall onto a desk. Bubble wrap will extend this to acceptable levels.
If you want to ship a computer safely, its gonna take some work. DO NOT SHIP IT WHOLE. Take everything out, even the motherboard, although you can probably leave the CPU's on the MB, but not the fans.
Don't be lazy or cheap when it comes to this - as you have learned, its not worth it.
--
jeremiah();
Its sad that if want anyone to take responsibility for their actions you have to threaten them with a lawsuit. Just keeps the courts clogged and lawyers churning out of law schools.
HT
Thought I'd chime in with the rest of the Slashdot crowd - wow, that sucks.
Now for my brief defense of UPS.
At work we frequently ship at least one RMA'd monitor back and forth each week to Gateway (we're in PA.) These monitors go into cardboard boxes that are very thin with nothing but foam support each end of the monitor.
I have never encountered any shattered monitors or DOA ones that don't work right out of the box. We've never received any calls from Gateway asking where a box might be either. For large 60 pound 17" monitors to travel halfway across the country in thin boxes with barely any protection and survive is amazing.
There are isolated incidents of jackasses in every industry everywhere. There has been a whole lot of generalizing in the discussion about how "every UPS guy" does this. Unfortunately, the number of comments like mine pointing this out seems to be less then people willing to hope on the bandwagon to trash UPS. I'm not denying these things DON'T happen, but I've never encountered any problems in numerous shipments with UPS.
Caveat emperor, insure.