#46
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I’m so sorry to hear this. I had a Brook guitar get damaged sending to a nice AGF person, so I have personal experience with this with UPS. This is why I will never ship another Acoustic Guitar...period.
Prepare yourself, this is going to take some time...they will stall and delay. This took almost 3 months from start to finish for me to receive my check. You need to follow up, follow up, follow up. Take names and document EVERY interaction with UPS. But be respectful. They hold the cards. UPS uses a 3rd party to settle their claims. The “insurance” is NOT guaranteed and is misleading. It only gives you the right to make a claim. Here is how it will likely go down. 1. THey will initially deny the claim do to packaging etc. 2. You need to push back respectfully and confirm that the packaging was the hard cardboard etc. 3. They may offer to pay for the damage. You will need a letter from a Luthier. This is where I messed up, because they only paid me for the Luthier’s fee. What I should have done was had the Luthier also include the additional reduced value from selling a broken guitar. I.e. - if the guitar was worth $2K but now it is only worth $1.2K, and the Luthier fee is $500....then have the Luthier’s fee be $800 +$500, otherwise you are eating the cost of the decreased value. Good luck and let me know if you have any additional questions.
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Taylor 512ce Urban Ironbark Fender Special Edition Stratocaster Eastman SB59 |
#47
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I never use UPS. I have sent out 100 guitars. I like Fedex. I always over package for over 2K$ guitars, inside the case, too. Remember boxes are tossed, leaned, dropped and stacked on top of... Do not think your box is strong if you are not willing to do this to your box after you complete packaging. Always shake the box to see if there is any movement and pack accordingly.
I had one guitar odyssey that was a horrible hit. SENT by USPS...a gibson Hummingbird only sent 300 miles away. It arrived to my buyer with a broken headstock and no external box damage. I made insurance appeals to Washington DC. total black hole. As stated, they won't pay unless a box looks like it has severe damage externally. Plus you need before and after pics during wrapping and buyer pics. After a year in appeals I went in to the USPS office and retrieved it. Then luthier repaired, and I had a $1K loss. I chalk it up to gorillas with big boxes. Plus I suspect inside the G case a design flaw. The Gibson neck rest, headstock case cradling is only a couple inches wide providing a fulcrum point for impact instead of 6" wide plus for safety. Last edited by tippy5; 10-25-2019 at 11:10 AM. |
#48
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The biggest thing you can do to help your guitar in transit is to pack the peg head firmly with padding (I use logo t-shirts that never fit me as case candy for the buyer). When the peg head end of the case has to be reefed down to latch, you have immobilized it and reduces the chance of whiplash neck breakage considerably.
My experience was different. $66 for self-packed based on weight and dimensions versus $124 for store packed, all in - box, packing materials, and labor. I'd say you got a great deal with only an $18 premium. |
#49
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Always use a specialty insurer, like Heritage. They cover your guitars against theft or damage, including guitars shipped or sold by you. Because they collect premiums from a large pool, and they want to keep you (and your friends) as a customer, claims payment is easier. I'm with Jayne on this one.
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Bashkin 00-12 Adi/Hog Bashkin 0M-MS Swiss Moon/PRW(build thread) Bashkin GC-12 Sitka/Koa Carter-Poulsen J-Model German Select Spruce/MacEb Fender MIJ Strat ('90) and 50s RW Tele ('19) Martin 00-28c Spruce/BRW('67) Martin M-36 (R) Sitka/EIR Michaud O-R Cedar/Koa - New Build Michaud J-R Sitka/MBW K. Yairi RF-120 Spruce/EIR KoAloha KTM-25 Koa/Koa Yamaha G-231 Cedar/Hog ('71) |
#50
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Did the OP actually buy insurance or did they just increase the 'declared value' of the shipment?
These are two very different things. Freight companies have limits as to what they will pay in the event they are liable for loss due to damage, theft, fire, etc. This can vary from company to company but is usually around $100 or a set amount per pound. What many people view as purchasing insurance is in actuality just increasing this limit. You need to prove that the shipping company is liable for any loss in order to collect any money. And then there is the matter of determining what the actual dollar value of the loss is which is covered by the terms and conditions of the freight documents that you sign. In short, insurance covers you for an agreed to value under specific conditions and circumstances. For musical instruments, one of the specialty agencies such as Heritage will discuss with you in detail what conditions are covered, under what circumstances and how value is to be determined. The premium you pay is based on this information. These are key items and need to be clarified upfront. Some people have their instruments covered with a rider under their homeowners policy. Be very careful about how value is determined and confirm in writing that in event of a loss, your claim will be calculated in the way you expect. At one point, UPS did offer actual insurance on shipments thru a self-owned insurance subsidiary. Again, this was a very,very different thing than just increasing the declared value on a shipment. |
#51
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I am not really stressing about it. $2700 is a lot to me. I am not made of money but it’s not causing the family to have to eat beans and rice.
I got to finally talk to Ted at LA Guitar Sales. He was informative and positive. He believes that it will be resolved easily. They need to investigate because of all of the false claims reported by scammers. UPS are not experts on guitars or much of anything else. They have to figure out the issue in this case. He thinks this should be a cut and dry case. Ted says now that he didn’t see any visible flaws in the guitar on his quick inspection. That’s good news if I end up with it. He just can’t make claims that he knows definitively the condition of the guitar. I may be asked to provide current value of the instrument in its condition from a third party source. Well, he will be the third party source if I need him to be and he figures the value to be around $500 to him. (No, if they deny my claim, I am not selling it to anyone here for $500.) 😁 They can call it a total loss or pay out the difference. I did discover that the added amount was not insurance but added value cost like was mentioned by one of the responses earlier. That was a bummer. Lastly, I just happen to be meeting with my insurance adjuster today when they assess water damage in my house. I will have a couple of questions regarding my expensive instruments.
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Vancebo Husband of One, Father of Two Worship Leader, Music Teacher Oregon Duck Fan Guitars by: Collings, Bourgeois, Taylor Pickups by: Dazzo Preamps by: Sunnaudio Amps by: Bose (S1) Grateful |
#52
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Misconception by many. UPS owns the "The UPS Store" and franchises the individual stores. Just like McDonalds. They own the brand and license the stores to operate as UPS Stores. They purchased the shipping franchise Mail Boxes Etc. and rebranded (renamed) them. So, they do own the company and the name and license the stores to operate for them. They are ultimately responsible.
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#53
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Not at all. LA Guitar Sales didn't ship the package. The OP did. This is between the OP and UPS - no one else.
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#54
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No, sorry. That was well over a decade ago.
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#55
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GREAT BEANS 1 lb. beans. Pinto, black, peruano. 2 baseball-size brown onions, large dice (approx 1/2" X 1/2") 10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped. 1 Tb. salt. Start with 2 teaspoons. Ground black pepper. 10 bay leaves. A gallon of water. Oil. Start the water boiling in a separate pot. Start some oil heating in the bottom of a large, heavy dutch oven or the like. Rinse the beans in a colander and pick out whatever's in there that isn't beans. When the oil's hot, throw in the onions and garlic. Stir. Crank in some black pepper. Don't skimp. Keep stirring until it looks and feels like apple pie filling. This will take quite a while. Throw in the beans and carefully add enough boiling water to immerse the whole business. Add the bay leaves and 2 tsp. of the salt. Bring the heat down to the lowest that will still maintain a gentle boil, adding water when it needs it. Leave uncovered or not entirely covered. A couple hours in, taste the liquid (not a bean) to see if you need more salt. Depending on which kind of beans you use and how old they were when you bought them, figure on at least 4-5 hours. Black beans can take 10. This is also a split pea soup recipe, but with more water (duh), and no bay leaves. And although the title is just "Great Beans," they also happen to be great vegan beans. But that's only a selling point with certain people. |
#56
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Wow... that might have been a costly oversight. I hope the misinterpretation doesn't cost you, but sadly, I expect UPS will hold you to the contract - and to be honest, why wouldn't they?
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#57
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After a couple of bad experiences shipping larger and more expensive items through USPS and UPS that we had packed (always well and more than sufficient), we opted to pay extra for the Pack and Ship service. It’s saved us time and trouble so far. Here’s more info about the UPS pack and Ship Guarantee Program. You need to make sure that your local UPS Store is a member. https://www.theupsstore.com/about/pack-ship-guarantee
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1950 Martin 00-18 RainSong Concert Hybrid Orchestra Model 12 Fret Eastman E20OOSS. Strandberg Boden Original 6 Eastman T185MX G&L ASAT Classic USA Butterscotch Blonde Rickenbacher Lap Steel Voyage-Air VAD-2 Martin SW00-DB Machiche 1968 Guild F-112 Taylor 322e 12 Fret V Class |
#58
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Just as an aside.
This is why in the situation of valuable guitars, I try to change out the original wood cases with Calton, Hoffee, Hiscox, SKB iseries, etc. The new plywood cases may look nice and be OEM, but they don't protect nearly as well as good aftermarket case like those I mentioned. In the case of this $2700 guitar (and had I kept it), I would have put it in $300 Hiscox and not worried about much short of a tank rolling over it. I currently have a lovely OM-28 Authentic posted for sale in a nice Calton case. I've had more than a couple of folks ask where the original Martin case is. I laugh and tell them that this $4k plus guitar is now being sold and shipped in the protection of a Calton! |
#59
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Martin-Taylor-L'arrivee-Halcyon-Guild-Bedell-Manuel Rodriguez-D'Angelico-Ibanez-Fender |
#60
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Calton cases are wonderful, essentially bombproof, and heavy. And they are rather pricey starting around $1K.
Hiscox are great cases and are about $300 for the Pro II version, or ~$600 for the heavier Artist version intended for touring pro's. I currently have two Hiscox cases that came with guitars, and if those guitars ever sold I would keep the cases myself and get something else for the sale. |