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Posted By: Dennis Potter shipping problems - 06/29/21 02:10 AM
Dave, I spent a lot of time giving some shipping advise to members, like insuring their packages and requiring Signature required for delivery, , I was making some changes to my post and the entire thing vanished, and I sure cannot find it, any possibility I can retrieve my draft?
Dennis
Posted By: Dave Weber Re: shipping problems - 06/29/21 09:29 AM
Hi Dennis, Do you have the link for your post? If it was saved then there is a possibility I can do something. If it was just a draft and not saved then I am not able to do anything.
Posted By: L. Brown Re: shipping problems - 06/29/21 07:05 PM
Hope you get it back, Dennis. Even the brief version posted above is good advice.
Posted By: arrieta2 Re: shipping problems - 06/29/21 08:42 PM
if can answers any questions I would be happy to. As you know I have Quality Arms. While not as active as I once was, did it for 45 years of shipping. UPS came everyday.

John Boyd
Quality ARms
Posted By: gil russell Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 12:41 AM
I HAVE USED USPS LATELY, WITHOUT ISSUE. I HAVE HEARD WAR STORIES ABOUT USPS. ONE PROBLEM I HAVE HAD IS THEY WILL LEAVE PACKAGES (THAT HAVE BEEN SENT WITH SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT) JUST WHEREVER THEY NORMALLY DROP PACKAGES. UPS DELIVERY RECENTLY TOOK A FULL WEEK TO GO FROM AZ TO TEXAS (2 STATES AWAY) WHEN THE UPS PERSON SAID IT WOULD TAKE 3 DAYS. THAT'S FAIRLY MINOR STUFF. I'M INTERESTED IN HEARING DENNIS' STORY. GIL
Posted By: Dennis Potter Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 02:52 AM
Dave,
Sorry, I don't have the link, it appears to be gone. Frustrating, but it happens. I do fail to see why the designers of any software like this can have something like this happen with no course of restoration, but... Thanks for your help.

In summation, don't ever send a parcel that has any value that does not require Signature Required for Delivery, because if it is missing, or sits out in the rain, too bad. And always insure your parcel for value, if it is missing or broken that is the only hope you have. And don't think that if you use generic terms like sporting goods, or the like that your claim for damage to your firearm is going to be covered. Shippers use insurance companies or self-insure, and insurance companies don't make money by paying claims, they do be denying claims. And I am not trashing insurance companies, it is the nature of the business. Follow their rules, and save your receipts And finally don't re-use a cardboard box that has been shipped around the country and is creased, etc, for obvious reasons. And it is always a good idea to contact you Gunsmith and check he is going to be around before you ship.
The safest packaging is either a plywood box you make up inside a cardboard box, or a plastic egg-shell gun case in a fitting cardboard box.

The postal people tell me the safest, but not necessarily the fastest is Registered Mail, every postal employee that handles it has to sign off for it. But ther box must be wrapped in paper and all seams sealed with paper tape.

I have not found either of the major shippers to be better than others, but I do like the Postal Service myself.

\And I won't go in to adequate packing of you firearm, but don't ship a shotgun assembled, take the barrels off and wrap separately.
Posted By: Argo44 Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 04:03 AM
Dennis, type your text onto a document. Save. Then super-copy and post. Save often.

I shipped a lot of Pashtun made copies of Enfield muzzle-loaders, Snider-Enfields, and Martini-Henry's back from Afghanistan using card-board map tubes. Had to take them to the JAG, get paper-work, take them to the APO...show the postal clerk, then wrap them in tape and stamp every seam. But for USPS here in the states..use a cardboard tube for barrels...i.e. Container-store. Card-board boxes from almost everywhere work for the stock and action.
Posted By: Lloyd3 Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 01:47 PM
Don't cut any corners either. If, God forbid, something does happen to your shipment, you want to be able to prove that you followed every rule. Adequate padding and distance from the exterior wall of the container is something they will question if a firearm is damaged.

Also.....save early and often here. I too have lost fairly long posts that I had to recreate. Immensely frustrating, especially when you're really pleased with what you just wrote.
Posted By: gunmaker Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 01:49 PM
Always “COPY” everything before submitting your post.
Posted By: Chantry Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 02:10 PM
Unfortunately due to Covid right now checking the box 'Signature Required for Delivery' is not a guarantee. Based on personal experience UPS doesn't always get a signature. I had bought a shotgun last year and the UPS driver left it the front of condo building I lived in and didn't even ring the bell. My father had a similar experience with a camera body worth about $3000, left at his front door and they didn't even ring the bell.
Posted By: L. Brown Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 04:11 PM
If you're shipping barrels only, another good "barrel box" is the tube in which you store fishing rods. That's assuming you're going to get it back when the barrels are returned, if the rod tube is worth much.
Posted By: Little Creek Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 05:21 PM
Dennis, I recently ordered parts from Midway and Briley. These were small parts which could have been shipped inexpensively through USPS first class or Priority. Instead, they were shipped with the hybrid UPS/USPS type handling. The difference is that the new method didn't appear to save me money, but takes weeks for delivery. I object to this shipment!
Posted By: Brittany Man Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 05:26 PM
Re. barrel shipping tube.

A few years ago I decided to use Briley for choke alteration on a set of Perazzi DC12 bbls so I made up a "bomb proof" shipping container out of schedule 80 PVC pipe, padded the interior & end caps w/ foam & sourced the proper size heavy weight cardboard box to ship the PVC barrel carrier in. In the end I had about $30.00 in the shipping container + my time in sourcing the materials & putting it together. Figured I was going to have it for future use so I might as well do it right.

In my instructions to Briley I asked that the barrels be returned in my shipping container & put my name & address on the PVC bbl carrier in addition to the outside cardboard shipping sleeve.

Sure enough, a week later my bbls come back in the standard flimsy cardboard box that Briley uses w/o much of any protection from being crushed. Thankfully, they were undamaged (except for the scuffing up of the soldered keel between the bbls that Briley seems to do all too often when opening chokes or installing choke tubes).

After thinking about it for several days I called & asked them to send my PVC bbl carrier back & after a few weeks I received someone else's PVC bbl carrier but this one was flimsy thin wall (schedule 20?) PVC.

At this point I was so disgusted I just gave up & I guess my point is that in shipping stuff around it doesn't always go as smoothly as one would hope.
Posted By: GLS Re: shipping problems - 06/30/21 10:33 PM
I recently shipped a small single-shot without stock and the item fit inside my barrel shipping tube--3" OD PVC with one cap glued on and the other taped. About as sturdy a container as one can ship. UPS wanted an additional $20 because of "irregular shape" for a total of $54. I said "no thanks" and took it too USPS for 3 day priority. $30 and it got there in 3 days. I've probably used the same tube a half dozen times shipping barrels off to Mike Orlen for choke work. I tried scraping off the old labels and bar codes with mixed success and ended covering them up with gorilla tape. It had so many labels and scuff marks on it that it reminded me of an old Victorian steamer trunk covered with shipping labels and destination decals. Gil
Posted By: rrrgcy Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 04:55 AM
Warning: USPS signature confirmation to a residence will result in delivery driver dropping it off at your mailbox or door. No ding-dong. They’ll instead sign for YOU with“C-19” and route/driver code on the slip as proof and they’re not to go to the door nor interact at the door or residence, hence will drop highly insured items at the mailbox. They did so for a signature confirmation insured multi-thousand dollar package leaving it in my mailbox at the street and never stopped to ring the door bell. The mailbox door was left half open and the package hanging out to the street for two hours!!
Posted By: L. Brown Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 10:07 AM
Using UPS, much seems to depend on the outlet where you drop your package. I had no problems at all with the rod tube I used to ship barrels. A few years back, I used an office where they (or at least those working the counter when I delivered my package) had never shipped a firearm previously. They pretty much followed the book, with me giving them hints. Sometimes they ask to see a copy of the addressee's FFL, but sometimes they don't.
Posted By: L. Brown Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 10:08 AM
Using UPS, much seems to depend on the outlet where you drop your package. I had no problems at all with the rod tube I used to ship barrels. A few years back, I used an office where they (or at least those working the counter when I delivered my package) had never shipped a firearm previously. They pretty much followed the book, with me giving them hints. Sometimes they ask to see a copy of the addressee's FFL, but sometimes they don't.
Posted By: GLS Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 10:29 AM
Originally Posted by rrrgcy
Warning: USPS signature confirmation to a residence will result in delivery driver dropping it off at your mailbox or door. No ding-dong. They’ll instead sign for YOU with“C-19” and route/driver code on the slip as proof and they’re not to go to the door nor interact at the door or residence, hence will drop highly insured items at the mailbox. They did so for a signature confirmation insured multi-thousand dollar package leaving it in my mailbox at the street and never stopped to ring the door bell. The mailbox door was left half open and the package hanging out to the street for two hours!!
The above doesn't happen where I live. If I'm not here to sign, a pre-printed pink slip is in the mailbox informing me of attempted delivery with instructions to appear at a named post office location after 830 am next morning to sign for and retrieve item. This has been the procedure as long as I can remember and happened again last week. Gil
Posted By: Stanton Hillis Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 10:51 AM
Originally Posted by GLS
Originally Posted by rrrgcy
Warning: USPS signature confirmation to a residence will result in delivery driver dropping it off at your mailbox or door. No ding-dong. They’ll instead sign for YOU with“C-19” and route/driver code on the slip as proof and they’re not to go to the door nor interact at the door or residence, hence will drop highly insured items at the mailbox. They did so for a signature confirmation insured multi-thousand dollar package leaving it in my mailbox at the street and never stopped to ring the door bell. The mailbox door was left half open and the package hanging out to the street for two hours!!
The above doesn't happen where I live. If I'm not here to sign, a pre-printed pink slip is in the mailbox informing me of attempted delivery with instructions to appear at a named post office location after 830 am next morning to sign for and retrieve item. This has been the procedure as long as I can remember and happened again last week. Gil

Doesn't happen here, either. Always a pink notice, same as for a certified letter. I think rrrgcy has a lazy postman. Our rural postal carrier regularly brings packages to our carport door that don't even require a signature, if they won't fit in the mailbox out by the road.
Posted By: Recoil Rob Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 02:25 PM
USPS once left a signature required package hanging from the red flag on my mailbox on the street. It was a holiday weekend and I was away so it was there from Friday afternoon until Tuesday morning when I returned.

It was an S&W K-22...I reamed the postmaster a new one...
Posted By: gunmaker Re: shipping problems - 07/06/21 03:28 PM
UPS left a Blaser F3 at my gate while I was away on a holiday weekend. Was signature required, so the driver forged it. Had to have a friend go get it at 11:30 at night after I noticed what they had done.

For those putting trust in PVC tubes…I’ve had them break the end caps on one shipment, thankfully the contents were so firmly stuffed inside they didn’t slide out. I decided to test just how strong it was, it would survive a 10’ fall into cement.
Posted By: bbman3 Re: shipping problems - 07/07/21 12:37 AM
I once had a mailman that would call me from PO when i had a gun arriving. Bobby
Posted By: GLS Re: shipping problems - 07/07/21 08:45 AM
Originally Posted by gunmaker
For those putting trust in PVC tubes…I’ve had them break the end caps on one shipment, thankfully the contents were so firmly stuffed inside they didn’t slide out. I decided to test just how strong it was, it would survive a 10’ fall into cement.
Never underestimate the ingenuity or resourcefulness of a shipping concern's ability to break the shipped item. I can visualize off hours shipping employees chewing the fat experimenting: "Well, it survived a 10 foot drop. Try 11."
I am still baffled how this gun was broken while shipped in a plastic gun case. The seller was more disturbed than me as the buyer. The gun was unpacked by my LGS and the refund by the seller was prompt. If I had to guess, seller violated the rule of shipping a gun with the barrel assembled to the receiver giving leverage to the mysterious force applied. Gil

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com]
Posted By: tut Re: shipping problems - 07/07/21 01:25 PM
Recently had a restocked Fox 20 gauge shipped to me Via Fed Ex. Was not notified it was being shipped so I was not looking for it. Got up to walk the dogs at 530 am and saw a package leaning against my garage door. Had been there overnight. Fed Ex never even attempted to knock on the front door as the pups would have alerted me.
Posted By: SKB Re: shipping problems - 07/07/21 01:32 PM
I believe it is the conveyor belts and associated shutes that cause most of the damage. While the round tubes have advantages, they tend to roll off of things. A recently received pvc tuve had the cap cracked in two. I now ship tubes inside square boxes and high value items go registered mail which is hand carried every step of the way. Additionaly USPS has a fragile item service which also is hand carried, I have used it and registered mail with great results though I did have board members package get put at the bopttom of a locked storage unit and it took weeks to get delivelered.
Posted By: graybeardtmm3 Re: shipping problems - 07/07/21 04:29 PM
i have stumbled onto an interesting discovery that might be of use to y'all....i recently sold a house and did the official change of address sequence with USPS....among the options that were presented was USPS Informed Delivery....which literally shows photos of each regular mail item (not junk mail) that you will receive that day, and includes a separate classification for packages. evidently you can receive this service on cell phones, but only for limited period of time....but, if i understand it correctly, the service is open ended when sent to your email account. i have had one or two glitches, but so far it seems to function pretty well..

uspsinformeddelivery@informeddelivery.usps.com

best regards,
tom
Posted By: rrrgcy Re: shipping problems - 07/08/21 06:13 AM
This USPS non-signature non-interaction happened about two or so months ago. After some anger abated I visited my U,S. post office here in south Florida and asked what is this gibberish on my (digitally viewed) signature receipt which I never even signed, and that my proof was my video camera which showed the driver simply dropped it in the street mailbox and took off? The usps management confirmed with me that’s the (local?) policy the driver doesn’t stop for signature confirmation instead stuffing it and signing scanning the receipt themselves with the COVID coding, I asked how on earth can you confirm delivery even with a driver’s signature? She said they have gps (doubtful but they might with the scanning device) to prove the driver stopped at the residence. Then I asked how do you know beyond trusting the driver they actually drop it off? What if they did but I simply claimed I never got it, do you pay out? She said, they would initiate an investigation but without proof otherwise of the delivery Yes they would pay out. Crazy.

Might have mentioned before but better than several years ago fedex-ups delivered a full auto Uzi on behalf of my dealer to the wrong address (sent to a co. for repair). After 3 weeks or so I call the co.to ask is the repair finished and they say they have no record of intake of the firearm. The co. owner took it on himself to track it down, found it across town, was at an honorable Vietnamese fellow’s house (!) who said he came home one day, saw a big box on his front porch that was misaddressed and simply put it away in his closet unopened figuring maybe someone would figure it out. More crazy.
Posted By: GLS Re: shipping problems - 07/08/21 10:57 AM
My worst shipping misadventure of something of value was a purchase of expensive ham radio gear. The items were shipped via UPS fully insured with expedited delivery. After a month of delivery hanging fire, insurance payment had been approved. Seller had double boxed the gear and the outer box's address info had been obliterated during shipment. The inner box was formerly used in a Lands End shipment. It somehow was delivered to Lands End which alerted UPS of the SNAFU and was able to come up with the seller's name and contact info from a bar code on the inner box and I eventually received the items. Gil
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