I have had the same experience with FedEx. Additionally they are considerably less expensive and even more-so if you have an account and print your labels at home and just drop the box off. I actually find them to be around $100 or more cheaper than UPS when shipping oversize bike boxes. Edward Albert Chappaqua, New York, U.S.A
Edward Albert, Ph.D.
Prof. Emeritus, Sociology
Hofstra University
>>> "Charles Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com> 07/02/08 4:23 PM >>>
" received my 1974 Cinelli SC today and much to my chagrin UPS has bent
the drive side drop-out.
Here's a picture:
http://www2.lexairinc.com/
**************
even incompetently packed, as that cinelli must have been, it still takes deliberately abusive treatment to bend a drop-out like that. which is why I quit using UPS years ago. I've been shipping with FEDEX for 8 years now, and I have yet to have a problem of any kind, coming, or going. I just shipped a tandem across the country by FEDEX ground, and it arrived safely. It was packed in bullet-proof fashion, I'll say that, but, at this point, bullet-proof packing is de-rigeur, regardless of who you use to ship. It's probably a good bet that any kind of large package is going to get some abuse. Best to pack as if it was an original Tiffany lamp or something.
Charles Andrews
Los Angeles