If the OP sent 50 shipments and had only 1 problem, he was ahead of the commercial percentages, which in my old business could be as high as 4-5% of shipments lost, damaged, or mis-delivered.
This particular package was probably run over by a forklift, or an Abrams tank.
Maybe twice, forward and reverse.
No amount of packaging could have prevented its damage, unless it was deep inside its own Abrams tank.
I once saw a titanium-frame bicycle delivered folded in half. It had been shipped in an industry-standard bicycle carton, but the company tried to deny anyway, claiming inadequate packaging. I've since wondered what they would have considered adequate packaging to protect a titanium-triangle bicycle, maybe a concrete cube with titanium reinforcing bars?
The plastic tubes suggested are good ideas, but when a shipper crushes any package between a two-ton forklift and the concrete warehouse wall, there is no amount of Home Depot framing that will protect the contents.
Insurance arranged by the owner of the cue is the only real protection if a financial settlement will suffice after a loss. If a cue is insured by name and description and value specifically, say as a rider on a home-owner or renter policy with supporting documentation, the payoff can take mere days. Using this method I once got the full $1200 retail cost of a camera lens which was stolen in shipment, and I got the check within a week of filing my claim to my insurer, despite the shipper refusing to pay the claim on their end.
The cost for a rider on a homeowner or renter policy used to be about 10% of the insured value per annum, so for my $11,500 worth of camera gear I paid about $115 every year and received full retail replacement value, no-questions-asked coverage, no fault, and all risks covered.
