bad experience w/ UPS
- Thread starter sureman183
- Start date
Plus they are the only carrier who will honor insurance. Best value in the business. Plus, they refund overnight shipping if the carrier is late
I insure pretty much everything that costs more than 30,40,not so much to protect from them actually losing the package but also to protect from scammers that say the item never got there or if it's stolen or delivered to the wrong address and that person keeps it instead of turning it in.
FYI, USPS Priority Mail automatically includes insurance up to $50.
No offense intended but I've posted this a dozen times. Use registered mail USPS.
It gets signed for every time it changes hands including the truck driver, airline employee, clerk, letter carrier and if anything happens to it somebody will be in big trouble. You can also get restricted delivery which means the person you list is has to sign for it.
It might take a day or two longer to arrive because it is handled manually but it is an extremely low risk way to ship a valuable item. Everybody who takes possession of it has to sign for it and is responsible until they hand it to the next person. The final person who signs for it is the person you are sending it to.
It gets signed for every time it changes hands including the truck driver, airline employee, clerk, letter carrier and if anything happens to it somebody will be in big trouble. You can also get restricted delivery which means the person you list is has to sign for it.
It might take a day or two longer to arrive because it is handled manually but it is an extremely low risk way to ship a valuable item. Everybody who takes possession of it has to sign for it and is responsible until they hand it to the next person. The final person who signs for it is the person you are sending it to.
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Good tip. It is also the very first item to transfer in the chain of custody at every destination point. Nothing on the truck or plane gets handled until the Reg is signed and accounted for.
how do i post pictures of stolen cue? meant to send next day, but after spending 2 1/2 hrs on phone w/ Asian lady to schedule a p/u, i forgot to do that. i got no answers at all from UPS, except they have no record of it ever leaving Michigan. it goes from West Branch, MI to Grand Rapids, MI, then to Texas. customer has been reimbersed by me. cue was for sale on AZB. it was 1 of 7 Meucci crown cue w/ ivory no Meucci logo. Bob said he wouldn't engrave ivory. i've previously heard about UPS not wanting to pay claims, so i meant to send next day, but w/ all the confusion i forgot. if i can find my post of cue, i will bump it up & state it as stolen, or lost. don't know how else to do it. thanks for the concern.
just found that there is attachments. Don
just found that there is attachments. Don
Attachments
Sorry to hear of this happening to you Don. I hope it's found and all is straightened out!
bad expierence w/ UPS
bump to the top. pictures of cue on page 4. someone at UPS is a THIEF!!!!!!!
bump to the top. pictures of cue on page 4. someone at UPS is a THIEF!!!!!!!
I shipped thousands of packages using all 3 services.
FedEx and UPS are better package shipping options than USPS.
They are more expensive but they have fewer problems, (lost, damaged, late).
Always package properly and insure if you are shipping valuable items.
FedEx and UPS are better package shipping options than USPS.
They are more expensive but they have fewer problems, (lost, damaged, late).
Always package properly and insure if you are shipping valuable items.
I bet a whole lot of someones at ups are thieves and management would love to eliminate and make an example of each one.
I don't know if Express is a better service, but my experiences with USPS shipping for the past few years has been pretty poor. The tracking service has been useless. Each time a package goes missing, all I get from Post Office clerks are blank stares. YMMV
Maybe it's just me but I see things a little bit differently. I guess I'm just very cynical since I've seen just about every scam known to man. I prefer not to insure my packages (several dozen cues shipped over the last few years, many in the four figure range) because I don't want to alert anyone to the value of the contents. I have shipped cues worth well into the thousands via USPS Priority Mail with NO insurance. So far (knock on wood) every one of them has arrived safely. I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or smart. 
Maybe it's just me but I see things a little bit differently. I guess I'm just very cynical since I've seen just about every scam known to man. I prefer not to insure my packages (several dozen cues shipped over the last few years, many in the four figure range) because I don't want to alert anyone to the value of the contents. I have shipped cues worth well into the thousands via USPS Priority Mail with NO insurance. So far (knock on wood) every one of them has arrived safely. I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or smart.
Jay, I'm with you. I've shipped 3 cues this year that were worth over a grand each (I say that only to show they had some relative value) and other collectibles of equivalent or more value. For the cues I buy a super cheap 1 x 2 case for each cue I ship. I wrap it up and put it into one of those triangle boxes and ship it on out either express or priority. Knock on wood, I've had no issues -- but I go into it with the mindset if something happens I'll have to reimburse the customer immediately and take the loss.
The problem with third party insurance for shipping is you do have to ship regularly. They have minimum number of packages you have to ship per month. Usually more than your average cue dealer/flipper would do. Also some that dont require a minimum require you to have a business licence.
Best advice I can give is to buy personal collectable insurance. Some allow you to add items as you get them and covers all perils including shipping. If you use a broker you may need to pay a brokerage fee per year. I dont know about any minimum they may require.
You guys are both lucky. I think your logic that no insurance means less attention and a safer experience may have been accurate at some point, but not now. The escalated documentation of a mailed item's progress is a more secure service, not less secure.
Insurance is cheap, on a per-unit basis...and it isn't a money loser for the issuer, either.
It is cheap on a per unit basis because any single piece has a very low probability of loss.which means nothing when it is your item that goes missing...but that is why neither of you have been burned.
IMO!
Insurance is cheap, on a per-unit basis...and it isn't a money loser for the issuer, either.
It is cheap on a per unit basis because any single piece has a very low probability of loss.which means nothing when it is your item that goes missing...but that is why neither of you have been burned.
IMO!