MP
2386 posts
Aug 01, 2012
1:55 PM
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a guy i've done a few repairs for sent me 5 harps that were never delivered to me. wouldn't you know it? it is the very first time he didn't insure his order. he did label every harp with his address in case of breakage. at present they are lost in limbo.
i think it's a very good idea to use bulk rate boxes from the post office and at least get a confirmation of delivery on things that can be replaced. i think if you use their boxes and get a confirmation of delivery they take more care with your packages because they have to take an extra step to get it to the addressee.
of course it is best to insure your package and get a confirmation of delivery.
especially if you are like me and develop a personal relationship with your harps.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
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LIP RIPPER
611 posts
Aug 01, 2012
2:04 PM
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Last month they lost a $500 check that was to a customer of mine. $35 to stop payment and he still doesn't have his money back yet. That is a first; they usually do a very good job. As far as insuring a package I have been told by an antique dealer friend that you're pissin in the wind thinkin you'll get any money back from USPS. I'd love to hear a story to the contrary. And when you insure something, that does not cover the shipping. So if you're selling a vintage amp to a buyer in Japan which I have done, you'll still be out the $187 it cost to ship it.
LR
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MP
2387 posts
Aug 01, 2012
2:29 PM
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hmmmm. yeah LIP, " That is a first; they usually do a very good job."
i think so. maybe it's just a crapshoot sometimes.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
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mandowhacker
190 posts
Aug 01, 2012
2:40 PM
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There is no perfect way to ship.
I know a guy that won't send a guitar any way except Fed Ex. As a former OTR truck driver, I can't add up the numbers of Fed Ex trucks that I have seen from Nashville to Tacoma and down to LA blazing along the highway with their roll up trailer door open with packages bouncing down the blacktop.
Once thought I had struck gold when I found a 2nd gear for a Porsche 901 gearbox with a changeable gear. It arrived with the gear and a hole in the box where the shaft slid out. It was packaged super...UPS said it wasn't and the shipper and I worked together to lessen the impact on our respective hind ends.
I had the last factory new hood, known to be in captivity, for a 300SL just disappear in transit. The trucking company found it eight months later in the back of a warehouse with tow forklift fork holes in the middle of it. The company offered to refund the freight charges. Bent over again.
I have just accepted the fact that if you ship anything by any carrier that you had best provide your own vaseline----they aren't gonna help you a bit.
Greg
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Just when I got a paddle, they added more water to the creek.
Last Edited by on Aug 01, 2012 2:40 PM
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nacoran
6026 posts
Aug 01, 2012
7:32 PM
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I don't have very good luck with my post office. I got something sent from Rockin' Rons once. I put in the order Friday afternoon. It was a holiday weekend, so no mail on Monday. I went in Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday... I was perplexed (this story may be like a fish story. I imagine every time I retell it it takes longer). So anyway, I finally go up to the counter and ask them to check. It had arrived at the office Tuesday morning but they never bothered putting the notice in my box.
I'm expecting a package right now that shipped on the 9th with an expected 2 week wait that's still not here.
Every time I go in I go up and ask at the counter, but nothing so far.
For a long time I used to get someone else's mail. I live in a town with two post offices, Guilderland, and Guilderland Center. I think because Center comes after the name people don't read that far and as a result us regular Guilderlanders get a lot of the Guilderland Center people's mail. For years I got this guys mail. Then I started getting mail for him and this lady. Then her last name changed to his last name. I started getting mail for her from the local community college, and then from a four year college. I feel like I know them. :)
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Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
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Greg Heumann
1729 posts
Aug 02, 2012
8:08 AM
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I probably have more data than anyone else. I have had very good luck with the post office - I HAVE had a few packages lost, though within the U.S. the incidence is probably a tenth of 1% or lower. Internationally it goes up a little, but still has been very reliable.
And yes, I've had to file one USPS and one UPS insurance claim - and they're both a nightmare. They will do everything they can to avoid the claim - took me about 3 months and several letters back and forth, together with photos of damage - to recover on a Kalamazoo amp someone shipped to me insured - that was obviously thrown off the back of a truck and destroyed itself in the carton - but ultimately I prevailed.
I've also had packages get lost in the system for MONTHS and then found and delivered or returned to me. Extremely rare but it happens. One turned out to be a small package that slipped between the floorboards of a Swedish postal truck......
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/Greg
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1847
104 posts
Aug 02, 2012
9:21 AM
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i ordered 4 harrison harmonicas
i received 2 of them
the other 2 must be lost in the mail.
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barbequebob
1996 posts
Aug 02, 2012
10:10 AM
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From experience when I was a shipping clerk for a dry goods firm when I was around 19, and this holds true far too often, is that tho shipping with USPS can be cheaper, you often had to wait 60 days before you could even file a claim, and even when you did, good luck to you, and pray, because a lot of times you basically s**t out of luck in no uncertain terms.
Tho shipping thru UPS may cost more and they won't deliver on weekends or to post office boxes, you can file that claim immediately and you usually get settled within 2 weeks.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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HarpNinja
2602 posts
Aug 02, 2012
10:41 AM
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I've lost two this year...
The one harp I didn't get delivery confirmation on - never turned up - and most recently, a harp I sent to Australia (which is hard to track in the US).
I would say that represents about 1-2% of what I've sent.
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Mike
VHT Special 6 Mods
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
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florida-trader
169 posts
Aug 02, 2012
11:31 AM
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If you run a business that relies on shipping packages to customers, there is no such thing as "UN-insured". The question is, do you transfer the risk to someone else by purchasing insurance or do you assume the risk by self-insuring? If a customer has paid you for a product(s), then you ship it, and then it gets lost in the mail, what are you going to do? Are you going to tell your customer, "Oh well, I guess you're out of luck." Fine way to have an ex-customer and lots of bad press on the forums. No. The bottom line is you ship a replacement - signature guaranteed if necessary - but you honor your agreement with your customer. I charge about $5 for shipping. I usually ship first class mail which typically costs less that $2.00. Include the cost of the padded envelope, and bubble wrap and I might be up to about $3.00. So there is a little bit of "profit" built into the shipping cost. Not really. All I am doing is creating a small pool of money (self-insuring) which ultimately will be used to replace a lost item.
I agree with Greg. I ship a lot of packages and the vast majority are delivered no problem. Even international. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than we would like and people get slightly impatient but most are very understanding as long as you communicate with them.
From my experience, the lone exception is Mexico. No offense to my Mexican amigos, but of 4 packages I have shipped to Mexico, 2 had to be reshipped.
1847 - I have your two missing B-Radicals. They were delivered to me in error just yesterday. They were post marked 2010. I was wondering where they came from.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by on Aug 02, 2012 11:33 AM
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MP
2388 posts
Aug 02, 2012
11:40 AM
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well, guess what?
those harps arrived yesterday.
the package had two post marks. one was dated july 14th.
that means i should have received it july 18, or 19 if
it was a weekend. second post mark is illegible but
i think it was added when it got lost.
the guy is very happy. cool. so, Marks Harmonica Tune-Up is battin, a thousand in shipping.
i still think that if you use shipping boxes from the Post Office-instead of being green and using your own box, you are better off.
i think lost mail percentages are probably close to gregs 10th of 1%. i'll bet greg practically lives at the post office. first name basis, how's your mum? spot of tea? that'd be lovely. kinda deal.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
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MP
2389 posts
Aug 02, 2012
11:46 AM
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1847 :0)
oh, has Harrison gotten around to fixing the coverplate
finish problem? it wears off really fast.
maybe the post office sent your B-RADs to Tom for
powder coating? smart move! go postal!
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
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florida-trader
170 posts
Aug 02, 2012
12:06 PM
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Coulda saved the company!
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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GMaj7
62 posts
Aug 02, 2012
2:53 PM
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1847 .. The missing B-Rads.. are buried in the end zone of a New York football field.. That's all I can say about it right now
Blue Moon (Tom) is actually writing from a small cell next to some guy named Bernie..
But hey, the "Gregs" of the world are still in biz...
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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1847
105 posts
Aug 02, 2012
3:29 PM
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looks like i owe brad an apology
i'd like to do so in "person"
anyone know where i can find him?
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mandowhacker
193 posts
Aug 02, 2012
3:34 PM
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Just order stuff under the name of a customizer and the dealer will send you all kinds of neat stuff!!!;-)
Greg
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Just when I got a paddle, they added more water to the creek.
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MP
2392 posts
Aug 02, 2012
5:46 PM
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"Just order stuff under the name of a customizer and the dealer will send you all kinds of neat stuff!!!;-)"
@mandowacker.
Brilliant! i gotta do that! :0)
for Seydel you could be Rupert Oysler, or that Swedish gent.
but Hohner has more choices of who you can be.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name for info-
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