Consider this next time you're waiting for gear in the mail

[Snarl 12/8]

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/vi ... e-wild.cnn

[mrclean]

We had the pleasure of sitting next to the window on a flight home from a gig and we watched a fellow pull baggage off the ramp and throw them onto the baggage truck.

Watching your bass and guitars being hurled 10 feet onto a truck is gut wrenching. Those "Fragile" sitckers mean nothing to them. (All were OK thankfully...)

[T-rex]

I have been really lucky actually and have stuff delivered all the time but when I ship stuff I pack it like its going through a war zone. You don't have a choice and what really irks me is when I ship something fairly expensive and insure it, they always question my packaging. They say something like, "well if its damaged we will have to inspect the packaging." I am thinking if its damaged it sure as hell isn't going to be my packaging, its going to be your handling.

[lancebug]

Awesome.

[Mudcloth]

Last year I went to the UPS center in Austin to ship out a few things. A woman walked in behind me with a huge truckload of packages and ask for a cart. One of the employees offered to help her load it up. This thing was piled high, I mean 8-9 feet tall.
He comes whipping around corner and the whole stack falls over, minus the ones on the bottom. UPS basically smashed up most of her packages before she even checked them in. The very first person out of a series of people handling these packages damaged her shipment.
When I ship something out it is packed like a mo-fo.
I actually drove 8 hours to Oklahoma to pick up an old Fender amp instead of having UPS or Fedex toss it around for a couple of days. Worth the $100 in gas and 16 hour round trip.

[KennyLusk]

I ordered about $1,000 worth of stuff once from MF and UPS delivered it with a big ol' gaping hole through the box. Obviously one of the tines of a forklift had gone right through the box. Inside you could see the burn marks from the sparks. A power conditioner that was in there was all dented and scorched.

My gear was trashed...yet still they delivered it.

Unbelievable man, unbelievable. I hate UPS and always use USPS.