Be careful with UPS too.

[Gil Verwey]

I had a bow shipped from Alaska to me. They sent it UPS. They shipped it on 6/25. It was lost in UPS land from 6/28 until 7/09 when I had them open a trace. As soon as the trace was opened I magically got the bow the next day.

The bow had been removed from the packing tube. The padding around the bow removed and the string was missing.

They apparently shoved the the bow back into the tube where they opened it with the two piece longbow banging around in the tube. They tapped the tube together with clear tape. The tape was over the UPS mailing labels so I know it was placed on after shipping.

I contacted the person that shipped the bow to rip him a new one. he said he packed the bow with padding and the string was with the bow.

I believe him. No one in their right mind would have shipped a bow like that.

This the last time I purchase anything where the item will be shipped UPS.

Here is how I got the tube with the bow.

 

[vermonster13]

None of the shipping companies are perfect by any means. Just illustrates the importance of insurance and packing the best means you can.

[JRY309]

Man I hate to see this,but I feel lucky I haven't had any problems with UPS or USPS myself.Was the bow ok?

[Gil Verwey]

I know what you mean David.

Any problems I have in regard to receiving a package has been with UPS. I have had great luck with USPS.

I receive a lot of stuff. Today I received 3 Hill takedowns from Alaska. He mailed them Tuesday USPS and I received them today in great shape.

I am sure if I had the same problems with other carriers I would feel the same way, but UPS is my nemesis.

Never again though.

John it was a used bow so I can't tell how much of the dings are from shipping or before.


Gil

[Paul/KS]

Just this morning I had to send back a camp chair that was DOA. (Dented On Arrival...)when the brown truck came by.
The driver felt bad for me and took care of the claim. Nice guy...  

[JamesKerr]

I have had several issues with ups lately as well but don't think your problem is just with them. All the shipping and mail services have issues.

[BBWV]

I've had problems lately with UPS. Last week I shipped with Fed-EX. We'll see how they do

[Fletcher]

My new to me Great Northern Fireball arrived today in perfect shape, thanks to the USPS.  They are by far my favorite shipper.

[pdk25]

Gil, what is your hook up for the takedown Hills, lol.  None of them are lefty, are they?  Glad it didn't come out worse.

[ericmerg]

i hate to see this after shipping with them today

[**DONOTDELETE**]

It's not the shipping company.... it's those round tubes that cause the problems.... They roll....

They roll off the tail gates of trucks, they roll off the top of a load... the roll around around in the delivery trucks.... but worst of all they don't stay put on a conveyor belts at the distribution centers...   I have a buddy that works at UPS and said the worst thing you can ship a bow in is a round tube....

if you are going to use a tube, tape some cardboard corners on one side.... so the don't roll off the conveyor belts....... did i mention those round tubes roll?

[Gil Verwey]

I have had many sent to me in the rolls. This bow was lost in UPS from 6/28 until I put a trace on it on 7/9. I think someone opened it, took it out, put in their locker waiting to see if a trace came in and then when it did, threw it back in the tube and into the system.

Just my opinion from talking to the person that shipped it and what I see. He shipped it through a UPS store and they would never had let it go into the system like I received it.

I can't get an answer from UPS what happened between 6/28 and 7/9.

I would think they would want to find out. I would if it was my company.

I personally think they have one bad apple where the package wound up. This isn't the first time I have had problems with them, but it is the last.

Kirk since you are bowyer and ship bows you should check out this link on Ben Graham's Hummingbird site. So much for insurance. Every new bow I have purchased has come in a rectangular cardboard box. If they can do this to a heavy tube imagine what can happen in a box.  

  http://www.hummingbirdbows.com/No_UPS.html  

Pat no lefties. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.

[Mint]

The best is FedEx Ground service by far. We spend over a $100,000 a year with them shipping products and when we were using UPS we had nothing but problems. They always blamed the belt but I think people just didn't care since they were employees only. With FedEx ground they are independant contractors and they sure care aboutthe product since they can't afford to lose the FedEx contact. Sure you will have isolated cases of bad truckers but then we don't see them again.

[wingnut]

Yep I've shipped with them all and everyone will have a problem now and again.  What seperates the shipping companies is how they handle the claim when something goes wrong.

USPS is by far the best at handling your insurance claims.

Mike

[shortstroke 91]

This is the reason I just shipped a bow inside a 66" long 4" schedule 40 PVC tube inside a sock with padding all around and 6" sections of 1" PVC tapped to the outside so it couldn't roll. It cost me $50 between materials and shipping but it'll be cheaper than a new one for sure.

[L. Harris]

I used to help out at a gun/archery shop that was a Ma&Pa type store. The high dollar shotguns (3500-10,00.00)as well as our bows from P.S.E. were shipped through Fed-Ex. The driver would throw the boxes from the center of his truck out onto the concrete floor if someone wasn't there immediately to unload them ourselves. We reported him several times but with no luck of getting a different driver. He always said, "if it's packed right. it'll be O.K.". As much as they charge, I expect better service!

[Gil Verwey]

I don't know if anything would have helped this one. All customer service wants to do is open a claim.

All I want to do is find out what happened. I can see they aren't interested in finding the problem that caused it. They just want to appease me.

That makes me leery about shipping or receiving from them, since they don't care what the problem was and that tells me won't try to the fix the problem in the future.  

I get emails like, "this happens where there isn't a label". This one I love, "we do random searches but it should have been repacked better". I said this had a label and asked if it was searched. I haven't heard back.

But the best thing, is after going through so many people, having a trace put on, each person has to ask me the tracking number again. That tells me they have no idea about my problem and I am starting from scratch. I told them to forget it.

I have worked for large corporations for a long time. I have many contacts in many industries. At one time UPS was a great company to work for. They prided themselves on being the tightest ship in the shipping industry. Today it appears that their mission is lost with new management. The old UPS would have been more interested in finding the problem and fixing it. I know people in IT that worked there many years ago. They made everyone work on the trucks for a while, so they understood the delivery of the package and the driver were the most important thing in the company. I bet they don't do that any more.

I am tired of sloppy, slipshod service. I am tired of companies not doing what they should be doing. That is why I pushed this one. Today I find it hard to get the right order at a fast food place. How hard is that. It seems nobody wants to do even the minimum when it comes to their jobs.

[pdk25]

Sounds like a very frustrating deal.  I have just been lucky so far, but I only ship USPS.

[stujay]

USPS has been the best for me as well.

[Hit-or-Miss]

I think Kirkill is right, it's the tubes that cause the problems. I just rec. a Red Wing Hunter via USPS, and I was shocked that it made it A-OK. The sender used a thin cardboard Remington Rifle box, folded into a triangle, no padding or wrapping (it ratteled around in the box!), and just a few simple strips of tape to close it. The most flimsy packing job I have ever seen. And, by the Grace of the Shipping Gods at the Post Office, it made it just fine from Penn to Maine. But it was a triangle of sorts, not a tube. When I ship bows, I wrap those suckers up like they are going to go through a Nuke Test sight, Insure them...and say a Prayer.