[CR]fedex problems

(Example: Framebuilding:Tubing:Falck)

From: "C. Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 11:11:05 -0700
Subject: [CR]fedex problems

Louis wrote:

"Needless to say, I will never, ever use FedEx.

Louis Schulman"

********

I've been rolling the dice on FEDEX ground for some years now, with no problems at all. But I'm fully aware I'm rolling the dice every time I send a bike, and there's nothing pleasant about it.

I started using FEDEX after UPS damaged two very valuable bikes that were shipped to me. Also, UPS's prices for shipping bikes went way up at about that time. Perhaps they've gone down again, in competition with FEDEX, but I haven't checked. I probably should.

One thing I'll say for UPS, they paid off on both claims. But I had to have all my ducks in a row. Proper paperwork, proper inspection and repeated follow-up were all required to get the money.

The damage to the bikes appeared to be caused by gross negligence, so I just could not trust UPS with anything valuable. Does anyone with contact inside the company know if things have changed at UPS when it comes to handling large boxes? One bike was badly bent in shipping, and it appeared as if something very heavy had been placed on the box...like a fork-lift maybe? Just gross negligence, in any case.

Anyway. I'd love to go back to UPS, because at least I know that when I buy insurance, it really IS insurance! I've known all along that the FEDEX fee you pay for "insurance" isn't insurance at all. As was mentioned earlier, it's more like an extra fee to FEDEX so that they'll consider the possibility of compensating in the event of damage or loss, but the fee does not guarantee anything. Essentially, with FEDEX, we're all shipping without insurance.

Charles Andrews SoCal

...concerning "energy conservation:"

"The government asks the peasants to sit in the cold and dark so the rich and famous can heat their olympic-size swimming pools and still have enough left over to fuel their Lear Jets for gambling junkets to Monaco..."

-- Jay Hanson. Founder of http://www.dieoff.org