I hate UPS

[Bill Holcombe]

Waiting on my Trojan to arrive. Was shipped last tuesday. UPS claims 3 day shipping.

Well for 3 days it was apparently lost between Maine and Texas somewhere.
Finally showed up in Ft Worth saturday and arrived in Houston today.

I usually don't hate on the mail carrier systems, but UPS annoys me with their package tracking issues everytime someone ships UPS.

Houston, TX, United States 18/05/2015 8:36 Arrival Scan
Ft Worth, TX, United States 18/05/2015 3:00 Departure Scan
Ft Worth, TX, United States 16/05/2015 1:13 Arrival Scan
Shrewsbury, MA, United States 13/05/2015 4:02 Departure Scan
13/05/2015 1:12 Arrival Scan
Waterville, ME, United States 12/05/2015 21:03 Departure Scan
12/05/2015 19:38 Origin Scan
12/05/2015 13:14 Collection Scan
United States 12/05/2015 6:36 Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Rant over.:whistle:

[Gary Cripps]

Looks like a success story to me. It was delivered and the stock was not broke.
(I don't work for UPS--Just have had different outcomes)

[Bill Holcombe]

Not delivered yet lol.

[Angel Cruz]

When I ship a gun thru UPS or USPS, it's next day delivery and insure for the max. Seven years with no issues. knock on wood...

[Bill Holcombe]

I have never had any issues with their delivery, more their inability to update tracking through their system. USPS is much better at that.

[Brian Dudley]

They all have their issues.

[CraigThompson]

They all have their issues.

Yes they do , but sin been my experience that Fedex is the worst 😕

[Bill Zachow]

It all depends. Well packed and high insurance seems to make a difference. I shipped a nice Parker from Syracuse, NY to the St. Louis, Missouri area on a Monday and had the recipient unpacking it the very next day. You get what you pay for. This was Fed Ex.

[Michael Kitterman]

My experiences with UPS have mostly been bad, they consistently deliver to the wrong house. Our house numbers are clearly set into the brick and house numbers are also on the mail box. Have filed complaints with the management twice, but usually end up walking up and down my street and checking any packages left at other houses. My wife has had many items she has ordered never show up, tracking says delivered so they were probably delivered to the wrong house and the occupants there just kept them.

[Rick Losey]

My experiences with UPS have mostly been bad, they consistently deliver to the wrong house. Our house numbers are clearly set into the brick and house numbers are also on the mail box. Have filed complaints with the management twice, but usually end up walking up and down my street and checking any packages left at other houses. My wife has had many items she has ordered never show up, tracking says delivered so they were probably delivered to the wrong house and the occupants there just kept them.

i expect this is why the opinions differ - the last place I lived - the UPS guy was incredibly careless- items were often broken or otherwise damaged - and often delivered to the wrong address. I avoided having things shipped by UPS if I could, and used Fed Ex if it was an option

since we moved here, The UPS guy is a nice guy, quite friendly - we have had no issues at all with deliveries, not one damaged package. the Fed Ex guy is ok but often just leaves the package in front of the garage door.


It leaves me to wonder how many packages are damaged in shipping Vs while out for delivery. We have all seen the you tube videos with the guys thrown the package over a fence or kicking one down the driveway

BTW- USPS - at the last house, a package was delivered to the door with a biscuit for the dogs, here if I am expecting a package -I go out to meet the mail truck- even then, with me on the way down the driveway, the truck will drive off leaving one of those tried to deliver notes and I have to go to the post office the next day to get it. last time i yelled as they drove off and they backed up and I had to wait while they filled out the form- so they were not even going to leave that


so-- I wonder how much is the company and how often it is the person

[Eric Eis]

BTW- USPS - at the last house, a package was delivered to the door with a biscuit for the dogs, here if I am expecting a package -I go out to meet the mail truck- even then, with me on the way down the driveway, the truck will drive off leaving one of those tried to deliver notes and I have to go to the post office the next day to get it. last time i yelled as they drove off and they backed up and I had to wait while they filled out the form- so they were not even going to leave that


so-- I wonder how much is the company and how often it is the person

Rick, I wonder the same thing, my mail guy would not drive up the driveway to deliver a package just a note in the mailbox saying "tried to deliver" I caught him twice doing it and got a cell phone photo of him stopping at the box and then driving by (nice to have that time/date stamp :) ) showed it to the post master at my post office, now all my packages get delivered to the door or the sticker is placed on the door if I happen not to be home.

[Bill Murphy]

Other than the mailman who took out my mailbox and post in fair weather, I have had nothing but postitive experience with UPS and USPS. I once located a UPS driver on his route and talked him into giving me a package addressed to my FFL guy.

[tom tutwiler]

Other than the mailman who took out my mailbox and post in fair weather, I have had nothing but postitive experience with UPS and USPS. I once located a UPS driver on his route and talked him into giving me a package addressed to my FFL.

Bill you have a certain charm to you so I could see how that would happen. :)

PS, the issue I have with our local USPS is they seem to have a new route person every other month and english is not their primary language it seems.

[ForrestArmstrong]

I have traded a lot of guns & antiques/collectibles thru the mail over the last 30 years. I avoid UPS at all costs, mainly due to breakage. 2nd day USPS or FedEx, but don't expect delivery in 2 days, and make sure items are well packed, secure & insured.

[wayne goerres]

UPS destroys packages and USPS seems to loose them. Haven't had many dealings with Fedex.

[Patrick Butler]

I use United States Postal "Service" Registered Mail. The insurance limit is $25,000, unlike all other options. You can ship multi-million dollar items if you indicate value on shipment. The Hope Diamond was shipped this way.

They take about a week coast to coast, but the insurance is very low-priced (vs. tracked mail) because each person who transfers the package signs off and all such mail are kept in a secure area.

The other downside is that you must use paper tape so the Post office can stamp it every six inches.

However, as anyone received/ sent an Registered Mail package that was damaged? I am sure it happens, but I would also bet the damage rate is far less than Priority Mail, Fedex,
UPS, et.

Patrick

[Stephen Hodges]

I have the best luck with either UPS or FedEx, and I have never had a damaged firearm with them or USPS. My bone with the Postal Service is that the clerks, at least in my area, are usually not aware that an individual can ship a firearm. I usually stand at the counter while he/she get the supervisor, who at times has to look it up.:whistle: My UPS depot is great, fast and efficient, at least a far as I am concerned, and the tracking, unlike the USPS, is usually spot on. I think the Postal Service tracking is terrible, usually not indicating an update until the package is actually out for delivery.

[Frank Srebro]

Just my experience, registered mail is a good option when shipping items worth > $5K which is the limit for Priority Mail. But unless something has changed in the last year or so, the box goes subsurface once shipped and there's no way to track it, check on progress etc. Zero, nada. Also, delivery is exceedingly slow possibly because everyone that handles the box while in the USPS system has to sign for it. And the combo of the two often gets the consignee nervous. I have used it twice for shipping expensive C&R guns. One went from PA to CT and it took about 15 days and the consignee was emailing and then calling me every day, thinking she got cheated. Another C&R gun went to CA and that one took almost 3 weeks and the same thing happened with the consignee. If I ever use Registered Mail again I will make it triple clear to the buyer how it works and get his repeated assurance that's how he wants me to ship. The other option is for the buyer to agree to the $5K limit when using Priority Mail and to take the hit if the item is damaged or lost. So far no one has agreed to that and I wouldn't either if the situation were reversed. Realistically that leaves Registered Mail as the only option if an individual is shipping a gun worth > 5K to a FFL, or even if an "occasional shipper" FFL is shipping such a gun to another FFL. Sure, UPS etc will honor insurance claims by their large shippers like CSMC, etc. - but if anyone thinks the same thing will happen with Mr XYZ who is an individual or small dealer, I really doubt that. And especailly so if the gent shipping it doesn't specifically state it's a firearm when getting the insurance coverage. Often gents will show it's machinery, an antique, etc and that could be a problem if damage/loss is incurred while in transit. Again gents, this is just my take on it.

[Russ Jackson]

I don't suppose I will ever forget the feeling I had when I opened the little rectangular package and found my new Once High Condition ,O Frame ,PH Grade 20 Gauge with the stock snapped in half :crying: !!!!!!!!! UPS !!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only good thing I will say there was no question to value and the insurance paid within two weeks but it still couldn't replace the stock !!!!!!!!!!

[greg conomos]

The problem with insurance is....let's say you insured the gun for $3000 and the break the stock in half. They might well pay you the $3000 but then they also take the gun. You aren't out any money...but the whole point of your endeavor was to have the gun, not the money.

[Russ Jackson]

Greg ,They didn't take the gun in my case ,but although I paid for the insurance to the seller when I bought the gun ,the seller actually had the receipt from the purchase of the insurance from when he shipped the gun and the insurance check was sent to him and the fellow I was buying the gun from didn't want to send me MY CHECK !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did finally get the money and the gun but what a hassle ! :banghead:

[Bill Murphy]

I can't see why a "buyer" would get miffed at the seller when he can clearly read the tracking information that indicates exactly where the package is and when.

[Frank Srebro]

As written earlier, there is NO tracking of USPS registered mail. Period.

Just want to share a UPS story here. Recently a UPS gun shipment from the west coast took 11 days to get to me here in PA. There were two unexplained stops at intermediate terminals with no tracking info except after the fact when it got to the next location. Gun wasn't as advertised and I returned it by Priority Mail = shipped late on a Tuesday just before my local PO closed the window, and delivered back out west at 9-ish on Friday morning. Three days, not too shabby.

[Rich Anderson]

I have had no problems with either USPS or UPS, Fed EX is a different story. I have waited for the Fed EX truck and seen three pass by the house only to have the package delivered later by yet another truck. They don't have their routs figured out very well.

I await the UPS truck and the long box residing inside today.

[Patrick Butler]

[QUOTE=Frank Srebro;168432]As written earlier, there is NO tracking of USPS registered mail. Period.

Registered mail will provide you with tracking if enter the RM number on your slip into the USPS tracking web site. The tracking looks to be a bit slow, as a package will be at one location for several days, but it does work.

Perhaps this is a new service, as the office of well-known gunsmith (who sends all his guns back by USPS RM) just last year insisted to me that USPS does not track. I sent them a copy of the screen showing my Parker on the way to his shop by RM. I have sent several other long guns in the past year and watched them make their way to the destination, with delivery confirmation.

[Bill Holcombe]

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input

Most any way you ship usps provides tracking. The biggest issue like other services is them properly scanning the item. Pickups are bad all the way around on any service for never being properly scanned in.

[Frank Srebro]

[QUOTE=;168432]As written earlier, there is NO tracking of USPS registered mail. Period.

Registered mail will provide you with tracking if enter the RM number on your slip into the USPS tracking web site. The tracking looks to be a bit slow, as a package will be at one location for several days, but it does work.

Perhaps this is a new service, as the office of well-known gunsmith (who sends all his guns back by USPS RM) just last year insisted to me that USPS does not track. I sent them a copy of the screen showing my Parker on the way to his shop by RM. I have sent several other long guns in the past year and watched them make their way to the destination, with delivery confirmation.

Thank you Patrick, that must be a new feature implemented since I last used RM for a shipment maybe two years ago. I tried using the USPS website back then and it wouldn't work for RM. Even checked with the postmistress here at the local PO and she concurred that's just the way it was at that time. Thanks again for your new info.

[wayne goerres]

Shipping a firearm will give you gray hair. (Providing you have hair).

[Bruce Parham]

I bought a 12Ga Trojan shooter from a fellow in NE Maine last Feb. He shipped it on a Monday USPS two day priority to my FFL in CA and provided a tracking number. No show on Wednesday and no tracking update. Thursday, still no update and I began to fear my gun was gone for good. Friday late, the truck made it to the next stop - must have been the snow. Following Tuesday it was delivered to my FFL.

That sweetheart is quickly becoming my favorite skeet gun!

[Bobby Cash]

Is it half as crappy or twice as crappy if they lose a pistol?
MIA for a week.

http://www.toledonewsnow.com/clip/11468977/man-in-tiffin-orders-comic-books-gets-gun

[Mike McKinney]

What is the receivers responsibility or liability if /when they open the package and the gun is damaged? I've wondered but don't want to find the answer after receipt of a gun.

[Dean Romig]

If there is obvious damage to the exterior of the package you need to insist the delivery person make note on his delivery receipt of the damage. Then open the package in the presence of the driver so that if the contents are damaged he can verify it.

This is the ONLY way to substantiate damaged goods on your damage claim.

If however, there is no visible damage of any kind to the package, you sign for it, and subsequently discover the contents to be damaged, you must still file a damage claim with the carrier in order to document the damage and initiate the claim process. In such cases you will likely be reimbursed and the carrier will settle with the shipper..... but it doesn't always work this way and the recipient of damaged goods, through no fault of his own or the carrier's.... is sometimes left holding the bag.

[Rick Losey]

and tracking can add so much excitement

bought what looks like a very nice Red Head leg-o-lamb :rotf: (well lamb is sort of mutton) case off fleabay a few days ago - it was supposed to be delivered today - so I just checked the tracking -

it says it arrived at the post office and is out for delivery today

the only problem--

it arrived at a post office and is out for delivery in a town on the other side of the county

wonder who will get it - and will he have a gun to fit it

[Angel Cruz]

When I ship stuff via USPS I always send it priority mail and insure it for twice the value.
The one time I did not about two years ago, I sent Dave a nice case I was giving away.
Well, to this date he still has not received it. it's like they were teaching me a lesson for skimping out on shipping.

[Rich Anderson]

I believe a handgun HAS to be shipped overnight. My gun came as expected on time and in perfect condition. This time there was an adult signature required (they still let me sign for it:rotf:) usually it's left on the porch.

[Mike Koneski]

I've never had a lick of trouble from UPS or FedEx. USPS, however, is a different story. They broke a stock on a 20g hammer gun and fought paying the insurance. Had to involve our lawyer and they paid up. Sad it has to come to that.

[Rick Losey]

Well. They said my redirected case would be here Tuesday. But it arrived yesterday.

I will say it was better packed than most breakable items and in better condition than I had hoped. Now to wait for the shipping saga of something to go in it.