Never ever ever ship a bike by UPS.

Thread started by
PC at 11.7.08 - 3:17 pm

And if you do, don't have them "package" it for you.
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fukkkkk.......
they messed up tern's masi too...
neverclever11.7.08 - 3:19 pm
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
canadienne11.7.08 - 3:20 pm
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oh no, the d-berds paint job! are there any dings in the tubes? did you insure it? get your money back!
ruinedbyidiots11.7.08 - 3:21 pm
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FUCK THAT, MAKE THEM PAY TO BUY YOU A NEW BIKE, TO MANY MUSCLE-HEADS WORKING THERE.
eddieboyinla11.7.08 - 3:26 pm
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The tubes are intact. I already called them and they asked me whether it was repairable. So it looks like I'm going to get a paint or powdercoat job on UPS's dime. I just need to get an estimate on a full disassembly + painting + reassembly job for the frame. Whee! Fuckers.
PC11.7.08 - 3:35 pm
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dont forget to make them pay for new decals from de bernardi as well. i think you can order them?
ruinedbyidiots11.7.08 - 3:36 pm
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Unified Pot Smokers.
Tried to get on as a doubles-driver over there, but they said I wasn't baked enough.
bentstrider11.7.08 - 3:48 pm
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i tried to get a job at the ups warehouse thing in oxnard and couldnt pass the drug test for employment. are you sure they are all stoners?
ruinedbyidiots11.7.08 - 3:51 pm
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What the hell happened to it?!?!
It looksI likes like it got caught in a bear trap!!
deffinitely ruined by idiots ; D
Eric Hair11.7.08 - 3:55 pm
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Oh gawd, another epic fail from UPS. I am getting a bike shipped soon and I insisted that the person use Fedex Ground with insurance.
This service called ShipBikes.com might a good idea. There's an upfront cost for the weird box, but you save shipping the rest of the way, plus you don't have to break the bike down as much as with a regular bike box:
http://www.shipbikes.com/
http://www.aircaddy.com/
cabhauler11.7.08 - 4:03 pm
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Whoever packed it didn't bother using any kind of padding or "dunnage" (as we call it on the waterfront) to keep the various items in the box from rubbing and scraping one another in transit. He had the frame in there upside down with the back wheel right next to it, so that the axle and nut of the back wheel were right up against the downtube. So of course my back axle ended up treating my downtube as though the axle were a bow and the downtube a fiddle.
PC11.7.08 - 4:05 pm
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@rbi
Nah, I just needed a couple, more years of driving.
As far as working the floor, never applied for that position.
bentstrider11.7.08 - 5:07 pm
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OUCH!!
condolences...at least you can get a sick powdercoat job now, eh?
Lance K11.7.08 - 5:09 pm
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"dunnage".
I always thought that it was a flat-bed driver term.
Oh well, I guess shipyard-personnel and OTR drivers go hand-in-hand.
bentstrider11.7.08 - 5:27 pm
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i used to work there about 10 years ago (wet behind the ears) and man... we used to abuse packages. at the time... the only important thing was to make a solid wall so that the people unloading the packages wouldnt get crushed by loosely fitted packages.
since working there i have never (unless it's a letter) sent a package via UPS.
it is not worth it and you should try to get your money back. that is some fucked up shit!!
Jazzy Phat Nastee11.7.08 - 5:44 pm
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Always pack your own shit - doesn't matter what venue. If cosmetics are important to you, pack it yourself. No one else will care enough to get the details right. Manufacturers only do so because they can figure out a packaging mechanism once and then just apply it systematically to every unit they ship. I few paper towel cores and some masking tape is all it takes to keep a frame looking pristine in a bike box.
When my ex-wife moved from upstate NY to SF, she shipped 17 boxes via UPS and had them pack it because they refused to insure it if they didn't. Pretty much EVERY SINGE box suffered damage to at least 10% of the contents. Several boxes had every single dish broken inside, despite being labelled fragile in 3 languages. Not only do they treat the containers like shit, but they also did a godawful job with the packing - often wrapping multiple ceramic dishes together so that they bounced against each other all the way across the country. It took forever to get them to pay up, too.
ideasculptor11.7.08 - 9:58 pm
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I know, I know. You're right. I chose expedience over...over that thing where you don't do stuff that is lazy and ill thought out because you want to save time and effort. What's that thing called? Well, I chose expedience over it.
I just didn't want to have to find a bike box, find the dunnage, package it all and find a way to get it from my hostel in east Williamsburg to the nearest shipping facility, while also having to wrangle my bags and get to the airport on time. And for some reason, I assumed that the independent businessman who runs the UPS Store on Flatbush Ave would have some idea how to pack things for shipment, seeing as how that's the business that the motherfucker chose to go into. I should have planned ahead. Next time I'll plan ahead. Fuck!
PC11.8.08 - 2:57 am
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doesn't matter if you pack your own stuff or not...they still broke the right rear dropout on my Masi, even though I packed it myself. They must have dropped it off of a loading dock or something. This happened almost two weeks ago. Luckily, I was able to find a welder / fabricator here on the port to fix my bike. NOw, on on side...I have no paint on the dropout, and there is weld where the wheel alignment screw was in the dropout.
tern11.8.08 - 4:44 am
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DHL aint much better. they misplaced 2 of my friends bikes and it took them a week to find one. I recommend shipping mcallisters to ship bikes
shauners11.8.08 - 7:40 am
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Actually, in my experience, DHL is much worse. I worked at a company where we had something like a 30% damage rate with DHL. The problem is that there is no repercussion for the employees when they break something. The company passes it off to the insurance company, which occasionally raises rates, but that just gets passed along to the consumer. If there were real repercussions for employees, or at least a real benefit for having a clean record, things would be much better.
ideasculptor11.8.08 - 3:56 pm
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This is a clear example of poor packing, SORRY TERN!
A properly padded bike should look like this -->
richtotheie11.8.08 - 4:21 pm
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and actually with cardboard around the fork and chainrings
richtotheie11.8.08 - 4:21 pm
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Fuck that PC !!!! Claim a new frame...!
skano11.8.08 - 4:55 pm
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All I have to say is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !
One of (your) my favorite frames < hands pushing upon both facial cheeks> .
KataCyklsLA2NY11.8.08 - 10:49 pm
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UPDATE: After getting an estimate from O20, I started the claims process. They told me to put everything back in the box the way that it came to me, and that a UPS driver would come the next day and pick it up, so that UPS can "inspect" it and decide whether or not to approve the claim*. The next day = yesterday, and the driver never came. Hasn't come today, either. IT JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER.
PC11.20.08 - 5:00 pm
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I never personally have had any problems shipping my bike, but I make it so that you can't even see paint let along I remove my chains, deflat my tires, and pack it like its going to the moon. Knowing that it has to re-enter the atmosphere. I do use a Serfas brand hardcase. Sells new for $300-400. I ship it alot so its worth it.
HOWEVER, I ship alot of bikes via UPS for BIZ and we have claims where bikes are CRUSHED, I MEAN CRUSHED. Fork legs touching at the bottom. Frames that are peirced by a forklift, ETC.
Some of these claims are 6-8months old. AND NOTHING.
I wish you GOOD LUCK!!!
parlorbikes11.20.08 - 5:07 pm
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Wat wat WAT? Six to eight months?
PC11.20.08 - 5:21 pm
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She's coming home. UPS finally got up off of $414 and they're going to send me the check and my D-Bird tomorrow. I will keep you all updated via my really real Twitter account that really exists. Facebook too!
PC04.22.09 - 3:38 pm
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Awesum! BTW, did you ever answer my question that was supost to be posted on facebook?
User104.22.09 - 4:22 pm
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Check your Facebook.
PC04.22.09 - 4:31 pm
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checked, ain't in there. Gota bunch of friends I don't know too!
User104.22.09 - 4:46 pm
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Oh, sorry. I sent it by Twitter. My bad. Check your Twitter.
PC04.22.09 - 4:54 pm
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grrrrrr I don't do twitter!
User104.22.09 - 4:56 pm
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And I don't do Facebook, genius. Ba-ZOOM.
PC04.22.09 - 5:05 pm
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That's what she said.
PC04.22.09 - 8:16 pm
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Wow, that took a while. Glad she's coming home.
Mook04.23.09 - 11:58 am
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I can't help but feel guilty about this... =( next time we go far far away and can't fathom leaving our bikes we def. need professional packers, and NOT UPS! ever.. ever. I'm so sorry PC. Poor D.
mixtemotions04.23.09 - 1:05 pm
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THE D-BIRD IS HOME.
End of f'in transmission.
PC05.1.09 - 2:13 am
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