UPS Rant (Gorgeous Browning B-92 ruined)

[TNBigBore]

Well, this makes the third time in four years I have lost a rifle to the goons at UPS. I went to pick up my highly anticipated Browning B-92 357 Mag purchased from a forum member here. The stock was completely broken off and chips of wood were missing. It looked to have been packed very securely, so it had to have been thrown around and generally abused in transit.

Last year I lost a first year Marlin 1895 45-70 in similar fashion and in 2006 I lost a much coveted Marlin 35 Texan the same way. This is getting ridiculous. I have never received a damaged rifle shipped via the USPS or FedEx. Although UPS does seem to handle the reimbursement claim process fairly so far, that does not excuse their ineptitude is shipping. Just getting your money back does not make up for the loss of a rare model that one has spent months or years searching for and may or may not ever find again. I have had it with UPS and will never use them again for anything. If any of you need to ship a rifle, I strongly advise you to use the USPS. Rant over.

[Modoc ED]

That's ashame. People I've known that have shipped rifles have shipped them in hard, plastic, foam-filled, cases, with the cases wrapped in cardboard and none of them have had problems.

[Blaine]

Geeez.... Talk about your trunk monkey special! Our office does UPS daily with expensive parts and rarely does it get damaged.......Knock on wood.

[Old Savage]

I shipped one and the barrel was apparently bent in transit. New owner couldn't get it to shoot anywhere near the sights.

What you describe makes me wonder if it is being done on purpose.

[2ndovc]

That's ashame. People I've known that have shipped rifles have shipped them in hard, plastic, foam-filled, cases, with the cases wrapped in cardboard and none of them have had problems.

That doesn't always work either.
Last year they broke the stock on a
near perfect Model 88 I had shipped in a hard case.
Looked like they went out of their way to throw it around.

They wouldn't pay the claim because the guy I sent it
to sent it right back with out calling them first.
I eneded up parting it out but still cost me several hundred.

I've been taking the stocks off and packing in smaller, tighter packages.

jb

[TNBigBore]

The one rifle that I ever personally shipped via USP was a Ruger #1A 30-06. I packed it in a hard plastic case inside a cardboard box. When it was received, the barrel was sticking out of the end of the box and the front sight was warped. I only shipped via the USPS since.

[TNBigBore]

I always remove the stock of leverguns as well and bubblewrap the two pieces seperately. It would almost take a deliberate act to damage one packaged this way.

[Old Ironsights]

Rule #1. Remove all wood and make the gun as short as possible. Ship Wood seperately if necessary.
Rule #2. Never, Never, Ever even HINT that a gun may be contained therin. Political "Activists" are everywhere.

Last gun I shipped was my Drilling... Shipped in a thick plastic (think Pelican, but different brand) Double-Gun case that looks like a saxaphone case. That case was boxed in Cardboard.

When I sent my 1886 off to get the guts replaced & the Tang Sight installed I sent ONLY the reciever... wrapped in Bubble Wrap in a priority mail box. Only way that would have been IDd as a "gun" would be by Xray & someone who knows what an 86TD reciever looks like.

If the box LOOKS like it might be a gun case, odds of someone screwing with it go up exponentially.

[rjohns94]

Wow, I am sorry for your problems. I have been really lucky and have not followed the suggestions here. I will in the future though. thanks for ideas on shipping and the rules to follow.

[Hobie]

We have seen 8" PVC pipe that had the end cut off as cleanly as if it had gone through a guillotine. Fortunately it missed the original painting inside by ½" AND the painting was still inside the tube!

[J Miller]

TNBigBore,
I'm sorry to hear about your B-92. It makes me sad.



I have worked in the Air Freight industry, let me tell you a little bit about it. There is very very little time to check out boxes or packages to see what's in them and then do deliberate damage. ~BUT~ Because of the speed these packages are (mis)handled they are often smashed, broken, dented, ripped, crushed, or literally splattered all over the sorting bay. Every driver has access to a tape gun and uses it liberally to patch up boxes.

Lets say the items come in from the sender and are handled at the front desk. They are scanned in then and taken out to the docks where they are scanned in again and tossed, thrown, pitched, heaved, or sometimes put in big rolling containers.
Sometimes these containers are rolled up into the bellies of the jet transports, other times they are stored at that hub for the next days routes. And sometimes the item is actually scanned to the route for that same days delivery. This is repeated at every hub stop over. That's why you can watch the tracking numbers and see the progress across the country.
After a number of maulings by human gorillas at the various hubs the item may or may not reach it's destination hub intact. If it does it's in for at least another mauling by the off loaders.

At the destination hub here's what happens:
The big rolling tubs are brought in off the transports, (truck or airplane doesn't matter, same system ). The tubs are opened and unloaded and each item is scanned in and placed either on a conveyor belt or thrown across them or into a pile. Once in a pile at the back of the destination route truck the items are handled again by the driver who generally tries not to make their condition any worse. Sometimes you just can't tell.

Everything is done quick time as fast as it can be done. Lots of carelessness in the handling, but no real deliberate damage. There is no time to deliberately vandalize freight in this industry. Especially in heavy freight times like Christmas.

Now, here is one other thing those who send guns and breakables need to know:
THERE IS NO TIME TO LOOK FOR THE FRAGILE LABEL. YOU MUST MARK THE PACKAGE FRAGILE ON EVERY SURFACE IN HUGE BOLD BLACK LETTERS. If you don't there is a real good chance it will not be seen. Many times people will mark it with a small FRAGILE near the addresses. Well, that's where the address and shipping labels get put. So these tiny little FRAGILE markings get obliterated. Sometimes the front desk people, or even the drivers will put brightly colored FRAGILE stickers on the packages, but even those get obliterated quite often.
Another thing to realize is when you use boxes that have printing all over them, such as any box previously used to ship something, it gets very difficult to find the current information. If at all possible use new unmarked boxes. The less printed on them the less confusion and easier to see the FRAGILE markings.

If you're gonna ship guns, you gotta make 'em as gorilla proof as you can. Mark them FRAGILE every where and pack 'em twice as good as you can imagine them needing to be.
Tell this to those who ship guns to you as well. Walk them through packaging. What OI has said is very true, make the packages as short as possible. Long narrow packages are a pain in the @$$ to handle and don't fit in the rounded transports well.

I worked for Airborne Express now DHL, but they UPS, FED EX, and USPS basically use the same basic freight handling system. If you could spend one day on their dock you'd by surprised maybe even shocked by what you'd see.

Joe

[TNBigBore]

J. Miller. I did not mean to disparage anyone who works for UPS. I am sure most of them are honest, hard working folks just doing the job the way they are instructed. It is obviously the system that UPS has in place that is not conducive to getting packages from point A to point B in one piece. I do not have much experience with DHL or FedEx. I have lots of experience shipping/receiving with the USPS. I have found that they are faster than UPS and I have never had an item damaged by the USPS, and only one smaller package lost.

[J Miller]

J. Miller. I did not mean to disparage anyone who works for UPS. I am sure most of them are honest, hard working folks just doing the job the way they are instructed. It is obviously the system that UPS has in place that is not conducive to getting packages from point A to point B in one piece. I do not have much experience with DHL or FedEx. I have lots of experience shipping/receiving with the USPS. I have found that they are faster than UPS and I have never had an item damaged by the USPS, and only one smaller package lost.

I did not take it that way either. I was just trying to give you and others an example of how the air freight industry works. Some are faster and better, some are slower and worse. But they all operate in the same basic manner.

That's all.

Joe

[TedH]

Seems like the only problems with damage to shipped guns is always with UPS. I don't recall ever hearing problems with FedEx or USPS. Personally that's enough for me to never use UPS. I am kind of partial to FedEx though 'cause the wife works for them.

[Leverluver]

J Miller

Got a question; would it improve the chances of arrival intact if a package were made of wood? Something like made from 1x6 top and bottom and 1x4 sides and screwed and banded together. Or would a wooden "crate" be just more easily shattered when thrown?

[J Miller]

J Miller

Got a question; would it improve the chances of arrival intact if a package were made of wood? Something like made from 1x6 top and bottom and 1x4 sides and screwed and banded together. Or would a wooden "crate" be just more easily shattered when thrown?

I handled a number of wooden crates while I was there. None of them got busted. As long as the weight and size was kept within reason I think there's a better chance of them getting through than a card board box.

Joe

[RIHMFIRE]

Sorry about that TN.....
I dont trust anyone when i ship fragile stuff...
the last shotgun i shipped was in the leather case....
wrapped in bubble wrap...a lot of it!
then put it in a oversized box...
with protection on all sides...and fragile written on the box...
you could have dropped this box from a second floor and
not damaged the gun...also insured it of course...

[KirkD]

My son went to a UPS shipping and sorting depot a couple years ago to pick something up. He was amazed to see a conveyor belt about 15 feet above the concrete floor and a steady stream of packages and cartons falling off the side of the belt, dropping 15 feet down to the concrete floor. Some were busted open with the contents all over the floor. He couldn't believe his eyes and still tells the story from time to time whenever the subject of trashed UPS stuff comes up.

[Bear 45/70]

I quit using UPS years ago when they let their contract pickup point start deciding whether they would ship guns or not. Unfortunately it seems since the FedEx accusation of Kinkos, PC Kinkos now gets to say no to guns. I really hate PC and the morons that follow this radical religion.

[Old Ironsights]

I quit using UPS years ago when they let their contract pickup point start deciding whether they would ship guns or not. Unfortunately it seems since the FedEx accusation of Kinkos, PC Kinkos now gets to say no to guns. I really hate PC and the morons that follow this radical religion.

So don't tell them. You do NOT have to declare it. Pack it "short", pack it well, mark it fragile and tell them it's a bassoon.

[Hobie]

The shop I work at just had a 3/4" plywood crate for a single come in with the "lid" peeled off. It had been screwed together. I'm pretty certain that was UPS. He gets stuff via USPS, FEDEX and UPS and most of the damaged parcels are UPS.

[Bogie35]

I shipped one and the barrel was apparently bent in transit. New owner couldn't get it to shoot anywhere near the sights.

What you describe makes me wonder if it is being done on purpose.

Wouldn't surprise me...

[Bear 45/70]

I quit using UPS years ago when they let their contract pickup point start deciding whether they would ship guns or not. Unfortunately it seems since the FedEx accusation of Kinkos, PC Kinkos now gets to say no to guns. I really hate PC and the morons that follow this radical religion.

So don't tell them. You do NOT have to declare it. Pack it "short", pack it well, mark it fragile and tell them it's a bassoon.

The real problem I have with Kinko's, claimed to not be a new policy, is that they shipped my Marlin 1894 back to Marlin for me last fall and to top it off they packaged it for me. So the BS continues. The problem I have with your way is, if they damage it, how do I get anything out of them?

[Old Ironsights]

... The problem I have with your way is, if they damage it, how do I get anything out of them?

Package Contents: "High Tolerance machined parts"
Value: $1,000.

[Bear 45/70]

... The problem I have with your way is, if they damage it, how do I get anything out of them?

Package Contents: "High Tolerance machined parts"
Value: $1,000.

Then their lawyer say "What kind of parts and prove you had them to ship. Oh and be specific, please."

[Leverdude]

I always remove the stock of leverguns as well and bubblewrap the two pieces seperately. It would almost take a deliberate act to damage one packaged this way.

Yep. The very first gun I ever shipped I used Fed Ex & they busted it. Seems cheap insurance IMO to remove the butstock.

[jdad]

Usually Pieces Scattered

[Malamute]

Is it possible to have them pay for repairing it, and you keep it, rather than them paying you the value and them keeping it?

A buttstock certainly isn't a majority part of a gun. If I had a gun I really wanted come with one part damaged like that, I'd find a buttstock and keep the gun. Heck with letting them keep it. Buttstocks can be had.

[TNBigBore]

I had thought about keeping it and trying to replace the buttstock. Unfortunately, extra B-92 buttstocks are hard to find and this one have extremely nice figure and matched the foreend perfectly. The odds of finding a matching buttstock appeared to be remote in my opinion.

[AJMD429]

So don't tell them. You do NOT have to declare it. Pack it "short", pack it well, mark it fragile and tell them it's a bassoon.

...or a 'baboon' -

[stretch]

I try to avoid shipping anything UPS. I worked as a security guard at a UPS facility for
a few months, and as previous posters have said, the place could be a zoo. I
remember a clogged conveyor belt once, and a manager walking on top of the massive
pile, slipping, sliding, and falling down, to find the source of the trouble.

In a previous life, I worked making hi-end flutes. At that time, the least expensive sterling
silver model was about $7K, and the platinum tube with all of the gold fittings went for about $25K.
We had had complaints from customers that flutes were being left on doorsteps, out in
the rain, etc.. A signature was required at the receiving end. So, we shipped two to
one of our employees, who was not, of course, home during the day. Two flutes were
found stacked BY THE GARBAGE CANS of his aprtment - in METRO BOSTON!!
Everything went registered mail, USPS, after that. NO more complaints.

Everybody busts on the Post Office, but I think they provide the BEST service for the
money. True, they don't handle everything, but I go with 'em whenever I can.

-Stretch

[Sixgun]

Stretch has it right in my opinion. I like the Postal Service. I am all the time shipping stuff from Pa. to Colorado and its a max 3 days--cheaper than UPS also. You just can't ship handguns at the USPS.

When I do ship guns, I ship in a $15 hard case and put that case in a cardboard box. I declare it as "antique sporting equipment" but........I always make sure its legal with an FFL if something should happen.

Sorry TN, s__t happens--I once had a rifle shipped from Marlin to me and there was this HUGE gash right through the middle of the box upon arrival. I said to myself, "geeze, whats this gonna look like?" Ha! The gash was RIGHT through the lever. My Momma always did say I was a lucky one-----------Sixgun

[Mike D.]

I ONLY ship and receive via the USPS. Never a problem except for idiot delivery persons. we once arrived home from a tripo to find an obvious firearm box leaning next to the front door. It had been there two days and contained a .35 WCF 1895 Winchester. I called the postmaster and complained but it didn't do much good. Postal employees can pretty much do as they wish, despite instructions to the contrary.