Mojo needed
 

Well, I’ve got a problem. I was having an issue with the Element pickup sounding harsh in my Sable, reached out to McPherson and Larry has been great. After some back and forth emails, he ended up sending me a UPS return label to ship it to them so they can check it out. I packed the guitar up, printed the label and went to the UPS store down the street from my office. I didn’t have any packing tape at hand once I got to the store, so I handed the box and label to the lady at the store and left.

A week has passed and I got a call from Larry yesterday. He told me he received a box, with the label he sent me on it, of Christmas presents with a handwritten address label also on it for a lady in Louisville. :mad: So, it seems the geniuses at the UPS Store put the label addressed to “McPherson Guitars” on a box of presents with handwritten address label to a lady in Kentucky and put her label, with the same address information that is on her box, on the guitar box that has “McPherson Guitars” printed on the side of it. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep last night.

I’m traveling back to town from a business trip today and get to go in and try to get this resolved. Trying to keep a positive attitude, but man, some serious incompetence took place and I’ve only heard the nightmares regarding UPS Stores skirting responsibility when issues arise. Hopefully I’ll have some good news later today.

Wow that's crazy. Best of luck in tracking down your guitar.

Well, that makes my blood run cold! Sending good vibes for a safe return for your Sable.

Matt;

I feel your pain. Several years ago the U.S. post office lost a guitar I had mailed and for several months I went through trial by bureaucracy. Just as the post office was about to pay, the guitar was found and returned. I sweat bullets on that mailing and suspect you're doing the same with yours.

I can imagine some lady down in Kentucky, sitting on her front porch, receiving a surprise Christmas present. She may not play guitar, but she could re-gift the instrument and make her guitar-playing cousin a happy man. And when approached by the UPS folks she can demand to know why her Christmas cookies haven't shown up.

Hopefully you had the shipment insured.

LOL...I'm sure that helped Evan ! Good luck tracking it down Matt, it will be fine.

Geeesshh Unc Evy... at least you didn't suggest dueling banjos might be in the mix there.

I'd be darn anxious with the guitar out there somewhere

Indeed. I regularly use my local UPS store (where my business PO Box is located) and I know the staff well. But I usually pack the items myself at home and the box is sealed before they ever see it. Then we verify the address label they typed into their system matches the address I gave them before signing off on the transaction.

Serious best wishes for a positive resolution of this issue, and safe return of your McPherson.

Yes, that was a bit depressing. On an up note, McPherson may have just received a box of home baked Christmas cookies from an unknown source in Kentucky.

And somewhere in Whoville, little Cindy Lou Who might not have her presents waiting under the tree either. But that pales by comparison to a valuable guitar out there in the wind somewhere.
:eek::rolleyes:

They are working to resolve it. They will be getting the labels to both parties and having the boxes swapped. Somewhat hopeful, now just need to get the plugged in sound right and McPherson is going to be working on that.

I like the McPherson folks... I see them at NAMM every year and I spend some time playing and listening to their guitars.

Mr. K;

Do they buy you lunch?

Shipping
 

What I often do for shipping large packages is write the address info on the box, so that creating shipping labels is read right off the box and the label can be readily matched when applying. The other issue is a backup if the shipping label gets damaged. I’m always sending sample parts for work all over the world so I’ve learned a few tricks to avoid problems.

When doing the custom packaging at USPS/UPS do as much as you can on your own. I once spent two hours at one of those stores repackaging a bicycle to avoid using multiple cartons. Then make sure everything’s labeled correctly. The lady I worked with was outstanding, got it to Alaska from Michigan with no issue, everything was labeled properly before I left.

At home I kept getting other people’s mail on a constant basis when my wife and I first moved here. Then one day I noticed the mail was being delivered by temp/contract employees using their own vehicles driving on the opposite side of the road. I put my address on both sides of the mailbox and the problem stopped. Never got someone else’s guitar though :)

So silly... you must play with nylon.

Mr. K;

Must I? If you say so I'll string along and go play some nylon