QTH.COM Swap Chat

I've made another trade with Robert "Bob" Joswick KE7DIN and just as my first transaction went exceptionally well so did this one! Bob is honest as the day is long and I'll be looking forward to our next deal!
After this trade I doubt Bob or myself will either one be using UPS again! They "LOST" A 70 Pound Triple Boxed Kenwood TS-950SDX! Then after they found it loaded on the wrong "Big Brown Truck" it got delivered to Bob's residence and a neighbor of Bob's Witnessed The UPS Driver "In Pouring Rain" ROLL THE 70 POUND BOX "END OVER END TO HIS FRONT PORCH" LEAVING PACKAGING PENUTS THE FULL DISTANCE THEN LEAVING THE PACKAGE WITH THE OUTER BOX TORN ALL TO HELL AND WITH PART OF THE BOX EXPOSED TO THE POURING RAIN"!!!
Dispite this the beautiful Kenwood TS-950SDX arrived intact and in perfect working order, don't ask either of us how though? lol
This Package Cost Over $170.00 To Ship VIA UPS Select 3rd Day Air! THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE USING THEM AGAIN, "WE CERTAINLY WILL"!!!
Thanks Bob & Good Luck My Friend!
Langdon "Mac" McAlpin
N4PMG
Loganville, Ga.

I have suspended using UPS for any shipments due to excessive damage rates and a "WE DON'T CARE" attitude towards package damage, insurance claims, and the like.

UPS will have to earn my confidence before I use them again.

K4ICL

First I want to start by saying that I do not work for UPS, and I have no relatives or friends that do.
I find UPS to be the best in shipping for me. I have come home from work and found a package on my back deck covered with plastic when it was raining. I even received a phone call from their terminal one day asking if I was going to be home because the item they were delivering was insured and did not want to leave it outside. I shipped a radio to Ohio once and it was damaged in shipping and UPS paid the claim very fast.
I have had FedEX leave a package out in the rain. DHL sent me a card in the mail saying they could not find my house. The mail man did to deliver the letter from them. DHL said for me to call them and give them directions to my house.
For me it will only be UPS!

I did collect a $450 claim when the destroyed a plate transformer - after 4 months! We have an individual UPS guy that is awful, and I filed a complaint about him. I was told 'sorry about that' but he's still here and worse than ever. They informed me that the union had blocked any action against him, even though there were many complaints. Their routes are 'bid' according to the union contract. I don't know if there are any good alternatives, but UPS has really gone down in my opinion.

I no longer use UPS for radio stuff because the UPS shipping center told me awhile back that it has to be able to survive a 6 foot drop from a conveyor. I don't care how you pack it if it's heavy and it drops 6 foot it's going to do some kind of damage.
I still use them for unbreakable stuff like car parts which I sell also as I've had no problems with them there.
USPS proirity has worked good and usually gets all my radio shipments especially now that I've found about their flat rate priority shipping that allows you to ship items up to 70 lbs. for just $8.10 anywhere in the con't USA. And you can order boxes and have them shipped right to your house for free.

Every time I make a purchase I specifically request to use the postal system, I'll even try to send enough extra postage to cover added expenses. I have had the same thing happen with UPS on more than one occasion. Unfortunately I have a package now "in-transit" with them and hope like heck it makes it in tact this time. They leave the package outdoors where anyone can pick it up in any kind of weather. If the package is damaged you have to have proof it was UPS fault. How are you to do that when you aren't around to inspect the package when it arrives? It's definately a crap shoot when you use them around here, could be because of something further up the food chain in the system but I still like to avoid UPS all together, I have found that USPS is usually quicker and cheaper anyway.

I think a lot of the problem is the driver...I know in my neighborhood, we had the best and most professional UPS driver ever. Then one day, he told me (confidentially of course), my neighborhood was chosen to be the new training route for new drivers....OH OH...YEs it got BAD!!! I finally had to call UPS to require a signature on my packages because our new guy transposed numbers....Pretty bad for a Delivery Driver that can't tell the difference between 2203 and 2302.......Luckily most of my neighbors are good honest folks so I never lost anything.

I have taken the same action as Dr. Al, K4ICL. I will not send or receive anything from UPS. The last shipment I received from them was a joke. This package was destroyed. It was properly packed by a caring individual and that was the only reason the parts still arrived in good condition. If it would have been a radio it would have been trashed. Shame on that company. I believe they run the drivers as fast as they can and don't really care if the packages arrive in good condition. I sent them an email four weeks ago and nicely explained the problems I have encountered. They have not answered the email as of today. FedEx has provided good service here and as another said it has a lot to do with the drivers........ 73, Terry N8ERM

This sounds like the baggage handling department at the airport. I bought a new Samsonite suitcase, and when I got my suitcase back, gouges a quarter inch deep. Well, that's for another forum. I have had good luck with both UPS and USPS Priority. I guess it depends on the driver. I do think that packages are handled roughly no matter who you ship through. Maybe I should open my own delivery service. Where I pick up a parcel in person, then deliver. Not exactly cost effective to the shipper but would arrive in FB condition. Hey, there's a thought, :o)

I just received a reel of control cable from the WIREMAN. The cable seems okay as they couldn't seem to find a way to destroy it - but - the reel was SHATTERED. You couldn't do more damage to it with a large hammer. It is difficult for me to imagine how it must have been handled to do that much destruction. No claim as the cable survived, but if they could have, they would hav e....

A lot of people do not know this, however FEDEX GROUND Home Delivery is tops in my books. I send out several FL-7000 Amplifers per month. They weigh 68 pounds each. The cost from Florida to California is $32 to $36 and NEVER have I had a box delivered with bent corners. I opened an online account with them and print the label off , stick it on the box and drop it off at any fedex drop off location. They are cheap and do not play ping-pong with boxes. I have even had the typical "I packed it right" answer when questioning the sender. Come to find out it was packed VERY bad and Fedex actually "fixed" the bad packing. Thanks Fedex....