Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

[Blueline]

so.... two thursdays ago was supposed to be a very nice day for me and Pureoldsound (fellow forumite).
His long awaited guitar was supposed to arrive on his doorstep and finally be in his hot little hands.
However, an unnamed three letter shipping company known for wearing brown clothing (undoubtedly an indicator of the quality of service)
nealry destroyed the guitar.
Though packed in a rectangular hardshell case with foam lining and placed with packing ina box, the shipping co. managed to drop the guitar or drop somthing enormous on it causing the following damage:
1) nearly all the electronics to break apart - leaving on the volume knob wroking;
2) causing the knobs to break off the guitar and roll around, scratching the top's mirror finish
3) the photo cd, enclosed in the case (in a seperate pocket and inits own case) broke apart and went careening around the case scratching the top and back (hwich boggles the mind)
so...
sadly, I now am in the midst of fighting with the shipping co to that i can recover the costs of having the guitar reshipped to me
disassembled, refinished, and rewired/rebuilt, and then finally reshipped
i feel so bad because my customer waited a long time for this shipment and it was a complete disappointment for us both

but..
have no fear, this guitar will sparkle again

cheers

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Oh MY GOD!!!!


Did they give you any explanation?

 

[Blueline]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

explaination?

I couldn't even get an inspector to keep his word and show up at my customers house
they just finally gave in and told me to submit my paperwork
i've seem my guitars thrown around on stages and tossed into tour vans pretty roughly
this one looks like someone dropped it off the top of a truck (or under one)

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Did they give you any explanation?

"Sir, if you REALLY wanted to make sure the guitar got there undamaged, you would have couriered it there yourself."

:chairshot

 

[tone4days]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

did he take pics of the damaged box before he opened it ? .. i received a shipment by the brown guys from musicians friend that looked like they dragged it behind the truck all the way to my house from the warehouse .... i took pics before i even opened it .. in fact, i know the brown guy pretty well and convinced him to smile for the camera holding the box (lucky the digicam was right near the front door when he rang the bell) ... they didnt give me any trouble on the claim
sorry to hear of this bummer for you guys ... hope it resolves quickly and favorably for you both

t4d
t4d

 

[Guest]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

The fact they gave in and told you to submit the paperwork atests they find themselves at fault... I'd slit someones thorat.

Do you have any before and after pics?

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

This really sucks for both of you... best of luck with the claim, as the Company owns their own insurance company (which should still be illegal IMO )....

 

[Blueline]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

thanks for the well wishes
I just feel bad that this happened, Pureoldsound was so patient and now he has to wait again
but all will be made right

and we have before and after pics

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

And I thought I had bad luck with shipping companies. Good luck getting this resolved.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Wow... :smack: that is one crazy tale of poor service from "the brown guys". It seems there's been a lot of complaints about their service lately. It's too bad all of this is happening to guitars and such, let alone anything of major value.

 

[blindedbysilence]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

I've never trusted shipping companies too much for this exact reason. Sorry to hear about this Blueline.

 

[Blueline]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

I always try to have my guitars out of my and my customer's hands as little as possible
this is why
but, you ship enoughguitars, its kinda bound to happen
i've had someguitars that have arived still tuned to pitch
so....
i'll fix it

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Why is United Parcel Salvage still in business. Hasn't Fedex wiped'em out yet?

Last time I checked, Fedex cost the same, and they rarely damage anything.

 

[Triviumfan971]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

I tried getting a Madore Gibson clone guitar shipped to me from Ed Roman guitars, and it came out with a neck crack and a bunch of scuffs, and I thought that was bad, but crap, I feel really sorry for you man.

 

[Guest]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

When I asked for Before and After pics I was asking for your beifit in this situation but I also forgot for our own ? Call it a morbid curiousity LOL.

 

[Blueline]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

i'll get some pics up tonight
you an see the before on the website (on the secret ingredients page - its the flat top)

as for structural damage - the guitar itself is still in working order and playable

i'm happy to report that one of the few (given the circumstances) comments Pureoldsound had was that his double cutaway out sustained his LP by about a minute
so - i was happy to hear that, despite all the damage

 

[Grandor]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Yuck that is horrible.

I usually ship through USPS, what doy ou guys think about them?

 

[Blueline]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

here's my take on teh postal service (not the band)
i have no faith in them but they've been nothing but impressive
i've had stuff shipped cross country from wood suppliers "regular shipping" and i've received it in 2-3 days
for basically nothing compared to fedex and ups
the big prob i have is, that their idea of tracking is merely telling you that its been shipped and received
to me, that's not much "tracking"
but then again, what can i really do if my package gets lost or messed up during tracking
i just prefer to know where it is at all times because i'm a control freak and don't like anyone (who i don't trust) being responsible for my work

but, like i said - they've been nothing but great

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

Here's some advice with UPS. When you talk to their claims department don't bend an inch. If they offer to pay partial or not at all, don't fall for that game, tell them 100% or the next call will be from your lawyer. They'll do it. That's what I had to do.

 

[B2D]

Re: Brothers - we have a guitar down, repeat...

You know what UPS stands for, right?


UPyourS