Don't ship with UPS!

[JamesKerr]

I have now had two bad experiences in a row. About a two months ago I ordered a new Tomahawk Legacy series longbow. When it got to me the package was beat to H***. I was lucky though and the bow was not harmed. Then today I get in a 6 pack of arrows and again the box was crushed. Thankfully though all the arrows were intact. I know I was lucky though in that none of my stuff was damaged, but this rough treatment of packages is unacceptable. I won't be doing any more business with UPS.

[KOOK68]

I sent off a box containing jars a couple years ago. They crushed the box, broke jars, and contents ruined everything else in the box.   :mad:

[jrstegner]

I knew some guys that worked at ups. They told me when they see a package marked fragile they really really abuse the package. Seriously!

[vtmtnman]

I think it's hilarious that I've seen more "don't ship with UPS" threads on here than USPS,yet folks still insist on using them.

[Rob DiStefano]

your ups tales of woe are common amongst any and all commercial shipping vendors - not just ups.

pack well, insure ONLY if you have proper and adequate means of proving value, pick a vendor - ups, fed ex, usps, dhl, whomever - and hope to get lucky.  

very large emphasis on "lucky", cause if you think that one shipping vendor is better than any other, you must also believe in the tooth fairy.   :D

[Jeff Strubberg]

I have to say, I've had the worst luck with UPS.

I've had damaged packages from every vendor, but I've gotten packages back from UPS where I had put a 2" square osage stave inside a schedule 40 PVC tube and the osage arrived snapped in half!

I'm pretty sure I couldn't snap a stave like that in half with my truck!  I can't imagine how the package guys did it.

[KOOK68]

Probably was a lunchtime challenge. LOL

[bofish-IL]

I must be lucky because I have shipped and received numerous things from UPS over the years with no problem. I was standing in the driveway as the Fed Ex woman walked up with my new tent and three of the four sides of the box were torn open and smashed. She had me open it there and look for damage.  It was not damaged but I don’t know how it survived..

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
I have to say, I've had the worst luck with UPS.

I've had damaged packages from every vendor, but I've gotten packages back from UPS where I had put a 2" square osage stave inside a schedule 40 PVC tube and the osage arrived snapped in half!

I'm pretty sure I couldn't snap a stave like that in half with my truck!  I can't imagine how the package guys did it.

it happens for sure, jeff.  remember the tembo that usps broke on me?  and that was also in a substantial pvc tube.  long stuff just gets hung in their machinery, i guess.  whatever.  we're all at their mercy.  

now, i got my full insurance back from usps, along with the shipping dollars, for that busted longbow - took a month, which is darned fast.  i ship some big items nationwide and had a ups claim once that took six months for them to reimburse only part of the insurance dollars because the item shipped - a surfboard i made - had no "legitimate and acceptable" proof of value.  so be very very careful when insuring stuff - that can be a waste of money if they won't pay out on a "technicality" such as "inferior or incorrect packaging" or not having  very precise commercially approved proof of value.  

also, there's a lotta "cross vendor shipping partnerships" where ups parcels are delivered by usps, and i think there's another company doing that kinda thing as well.

[Alexander Traditional]

I agree with Rob,that there is damage with all of them. I have had the best luck with fed ex,then ups,and finally usps being the worst.

[sinawalli]

Sorry about your luck! Be thankful you don't live in Canada! We get really screwed by them!

[Yellow Dog]

I was shipping a bow at the local Post Office and made the comment to the clerk working the counter that I would never ship anything of value with UPS. I was shocked when the clerk told me that the big brown trucks are in and out of their dock everyday with parcels shipped via the USPS.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Originally posted by Rob DiStefano:

 if you think that one shipping vendor is better than any other, you must also believe in the tooth fairy.    :D  

Yup.  Ain't none better than the other.  Wait, there is...throw it in the car and deliver it yourself.  Costs a bit more, though.  

Unless someone ships a bow in drilling pipe and it still gets destroyed, nobodys complaint holds any water.  Why would anyone think a bow wrapped in a bowsock and slid into a cardboard tube is gonna repel a forklift?  

Shipping is a gamble.  Prepare for the worst.

[David Mitchell]

No problems here with USPS but sure have had with UPS.  I'll never use UPS!

[JohnnyWayne]

Originally posted by Rob DiStefano:
 a surfboard i made

Wow I had no idea you shaped boards Rob - all I did in highschool was surf  

[daveycrockett]

They all have problems. Shipped a bow priority mail on the 19th from TX to Alabama, No sign of it since it left the sort facility on the 20th! Called every number I can find to call at USPS nobody can help or tell me anything.

[Tall Paul]

A friend that owns a shipping store told me that getting UPS to pay on insurance claims was like pulling teeth.

He continued to say  that USPS will pay the claim much faster, if there is damage/destruction.

[Goshawkin]

I used to work part time for UPS about 20 years ago.The problem with our bows is the length. They get caught in the turns on the conveyor belts and cause a log jam.The packages keep piling up behind it until something gives.Think we got it bad with bows?,ship a one piece fishing pole,I can't even tell you how many I saw snapped in half while working there!

I used to get up at 4am head into UPS and unload trailer trucks (by hand) until around 9am,come home grab something to eat and go to a logging job and work until 5 or 6pm.come home,eat dinner then take my coondogs out until around 11 or 12.Then do it all over the next day.Man!,I'm tired just thinking about that now!!!!

[sore fingers]

These stories make me cringe. Ive seen way to many horror stories on here. Sad

[Kevin Dill]

If we didn't use shippers who damage items...we would never use any shipper, period. They all do it. I personally don't blame it on the company, which must use automation to move and sort boxes. Damage is part of the deal (occasionally) and they know it. It's the price of doing business. All you can do is be sure the item is packed perfectly, strong box, well documented, track and insure. If it's damaged, you work within the system to get it made right...and it may take quite a bit of effort.

I must be the lucky one. I've shipped at least $20k in valuable bows thru UPS and USPS. Arrows, electronics, machinery, fishing rods and tackle, and way too much breakable gear to list here. I ship $3k worth of hunting gear back and forth to Alaska every fall via USPS. I also ship gear to Hawaii. I use UPS just as successfully as USPS. I can't recall even one episode of serious gear damage by a shipper in all my decades of using them.