[yidimsum]

Today, Fedex Ground - Home Delivery left a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 and a pair of Proac Response 2 out in the drizzly rain (although under the overhang of my garage, but all three boxes were very wet). It really irks me why the guy didn't ring the door bell, also I had not waved the signature confirmation. I made it a point to arrive early from school and wait for the packages, even turning on the light at the front of the house. Fedex Ground - Home Delivery is different from regular Fedex Ground in that Fedex hires contracts out the shipments to private citizens in the city that you live in. Basically, if you choose Fedex Ground and need to have it delivered to a residential address, it goes through the Home Delivery service. Home delivery also has no guaranteed time of delivery, basically the guy picking up the package can haul his lazy arse around. Fedex customer service said that the private shippers just take the packages home and then ship from there. The SF Line 1 took 6 business days to arrive in Lexington, KY from Alexandria, VA. The pair of Proacs took only 4 business days to arrive in KY from Minnesota.
I am at a loss to know what the best method of shipping/receiving audio equipment is. UPS is notorious for abusing equipment (when I shipped a pre-amp, the woman at the counter asked me if I had packed it well enough to withstand the fall from the counter to the floor [~40 inches] 17 times. she mentioned that this is how it would be handled with UPS Ground service). I chose Fedex Ground initially because I had had good experience with regular Fedex. I'm not going to use Fedex Ground - Home Delivery ever again. USPS Priority has been really good to me, but sending speakers and electronics from 40 lbs. a box on up is very very expensive. USPS Parcel Post is basically a gimmick in that it cost $1 less than Priority. Best deal in USPS is the flat rate Global Priority for $5-$7 depending on the size of the envelope. I sent around ~2 lbs by Global Priority to Hong Kong for $5. The only bad thing is that you can't buy insurance and also there is no delivery confirmation available.
On a side note, the SF Line 1 appears fine, but one of the woofers on the Proac Response 2 is damaged (I have contacted the seller and am working on getting it fixed or replaced). Anybody have an idea how much replacing a Proac Scanspeak woofer would be for a discontinued product? Also would the woofer on the other speaker have to be replaced also so that they match? Thanks.

 

[TimSchirmer]

fedex ground (and ups) both suck for audio. Fedex ground relies on the good reputation of the regular fedex.

It costs a bit more, but priority mail w/insurance is the way to go. UPS has broke two items i've sent with them.

 

[neil]

I prefer UPS SonicAir. (wow, even UPS uses StudlyCaps) Same day delivery! A seven pound package from Detroit to Beverly Hills, CA is only $239.02 -- and it's guaranteed to arrive only 10 hours from now! AND, they'll come and pick it up. Mind you, it's 5:00 AM EST.

As I see it -- UPS has the package about 3% of the normal possession time -- so it will be 97% more intact than normal. Then again, as I see it, I've been awake for 24 hours straight too so I'm a little loopy.

 

[aeberbach]

If you don't pack equipment so that it can stand a 40 inch drop you're asking for trouble. An amplifier needs to be shipped inside a box with plenty of padding or ideally the foam inserts that it came in. That box needs to be shipped inside another box with plenty of padding and it should be a double-wall box. The inner box needs to be sealed with plastic and you should also use moisture-absorbing crystals next to your equipment to minimize condensation. If you don't do this your insurance isn't valid even if you paid for it - I've read that even re-using a box is grounds for denial. If I buy a tuner or similar on eBay I spell this out to the seller and offer to pay for the extra packaging - what's $10 compared to receiving broken equipment? UPS are a self-insurer and will deny every claim they can - I recently bought a guitar from a place that uses UPS but goes to the trouble of insuring the instruments with a third party just so claims are paid if necessary.

Residential service quality depends on where you like. In San Francisco I would sometimes see the Fedex Home vans (green text, with the dog) but not often. In NY (Manhattan) never, service is great - ground service from anywhere in the country takes around 4 days. If you don't complain to the right people about your packages being left without a signature that delivery driver will never change. In some places UPS smash everything and Fedex are perfect while in others UPS can be trusted and Fedex will play football with your package. Your packaging is your only guarantee.

A lot of the time I use US Postal Service. They're cheap, reliable and fast, but I can't be bothered standing in the 60-person line at this time of year.

 

[DarkAngel]

I buy and sell a lot of expensive gear at Audiogon. I use both UPS and Fedex (not the home delivery service!) and have had no problems......you must use common sense however!

I cannot repeat this enough times, you absolutely must double box with the strongest outside box you can find, heavy moving boxes are good for this. Do not try to cheap out save a couple bucks here you will surely regret it..........always a sign of a novice seller when item arrives not packed properly. Aeberbach is right on with his comments!

Always send/ship to address where in person signature can be obtained, sometimes this means shipping to work address or even relatives house. Never waive signature, this is essential to prove delivery and complete sale.

I do not use USPS mail for items over $100-200 because there is no reliable package tracking.......delivery confirmation is not tracking!

Even though you did everything right following the above steps, spend a couple more bucks for insurance, again don't cheap out you will be sorry.

Proper packaging, tracking, insurance and signature at delivery are essential to successful sale. The case you site above is a perfect example of novice seller trying to save a couple bucks on shipping and packaging etc.......you can see the results.

I might add as a buyer you should insist these steps are taken and don't take for granted seller is smart enough on his own.

 

[CaptBubba]

Fedex ground is not Fedex. It is RPS which was bought out by Fedex to compete with UPS's excellent ground service. Fedex second day and next day are awesome, ground sucks. I have never had any trouble with UPS ground. I've recieved computers, DVD players, and speakers and all have arrived with barely a scratch on the outside box. It must depend very heavily on the local office because nobody really touches your package as it is sorted and routed by machine. I guess it only takes one screw up to change your mind though.

I personally use USPS for small stuff, and UPS for the larger, more expensive, stuff

 

[00940]

I asked some people of the staff here at the university, they use Fedex for quick shipping and ups ground for the bigger things. I must say I all the package I received from UPS ground were in perfect state, but for the same price, I prefer the fast shipping of USPS priority

 

[yidimsum]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to call Fedex to talk about the Home Delivery guys leaving expensive stuff laying around. I never realized that shipping and receiving equipment is so complex with all the packing. I've always sent stuff and received stuff with no problems, it's just the past two purchases that have opened my eyes about the steps needed to assure that everything is shipped safely.

 

[yidimsum]

I called Fedex customer service and leaving packages at your door step during the holiday season (beginning 2nd week of December) is part of their policy to ensure that Holiday packages get to their recipients - with the price of the contents of the package not factoring in. The customer service rep. said that to require signature confirmation during the Holiday season, you need special labeling. Just something to make note of.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Sorry to hear about the FedEx problem Alister!!! That really sucks that they busted one of the woofers!!!

Thanks for posting this to let all of us know to avoid using them in the future. I generally stick to UPS or USPS, but from now on I will DEFINITELY will never sue them again!!!