UPS just destroyed my new BM-59

[trbon8r]

Sorry foob, didn't mean to jump on you.

I do feel that the factory packaging was adequate to prevent any damage short of that caused by outright abuse which should not occur in the first place (but obviously does).

As I mentioned though, if I had it to do over with again, yes I would have used a hard case to ship the rifle. I'm still not sure it would have helped, since it appears that some sort of extreme crushing force was applied.

 

[NCLivingBrit]

I used to work for Wal Mart in the receiving department and one of the things I had to check in was guns.

I once got a Ruger 10/22 that looked like the letter U. Not only had UPS shattered the stock, but they had managed to bend most of the barrel and kink the action.

When I asked if he really expected me to sign for that, I got a shrug and a grunt.

As far as I can tell, any box longer than about 24" can get jammed in the feed of their box squasher (the big hydraulic ram thing) and literally bent to fit in the gap. We had no problems with cases smaller than that, but anything larger was at -least- scuffed and often just plain smashed.

Fedex are better for damages I think, but they have a tendency to just plain lose your stuff. I'm USPS all the way these days. Better service, less loss and breakage and the staff are just way friendlier in the two or three offices I use.

 

[Ash]

I had a Mossberg rifle I shipped get shattered at the wrist, and another rifle badly gouged. Still haven't been paid, even though they said I would.

Ash

 

[plexreticle]

Sounds like the package sorter is specially designed to crunch long guns.

 

[dmftoy1]

If they give you alot of grief about the insurance, after escalating it with them, make sure you raise a complaint with your state insurance commissioner. These companies make ALOT of money on insurance and that is the one guy who can shut them down pretty quickly. They will listen if his office starts calling and complaining to them, and if they get enough complaints about a given operator they'll start fining them.

Just my .02 (that and 5 years working for State Farm)

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[trbon8r]

Thanks dfmtoy1, that is definitely some news you can use!

I will keep that in mind during the conversation with UPS if things start to go south.

Currently, I'm still waiting for someone from UPS to get out there to look at my rifle and inspect it. They were supposed to show up on Tuesday, then Wednesday, then today, etc.

The two ladies at Springfield I've spoken to have been helpful. They have been in contact with UPS, and are trying to get the rifle inspected. The part that is killing me is that I can't get any clarification on exactly what the rifle looks like. All I know is that I've been told the stock is "broken" and the op rod ripped through the box, which leads me to believe the op rod handle is probably chewed up.

The bad news is I've been searching the net for BM-59 parts, and as expected, things are thin. My worst fear is that even after SA repairs the rifle, it still won't be as good as it was when I sent it in, if for no other reason than a lack of quality parts to repair the rifle with.

Damn, I wish I could invent a time machine and go backwards about two weeks. I would have ordered up another spare bolt stop, and taken the rifle to my local smith and paid out of pocket to have him look at it, instead of shipping it to SA. What a heartache this is.

Yes I'm still pissed.

 

[JCF]

Years ago, I shipped a new condition Remington 600 in .350 Rem Mag (with a laminate stock) via UPS. They managed to BREAK the laminate stock. A laminate stock. Not damaged, not scuffed, etc... broken. Explain that.

 

[trbon8r]

broken. Explain that.

You probably "packaged it improperly".......... :banghead:

 

[kart racer]

If ya'll think it's different with almost any kind of trucking company you could be mistaken.My family used to be an agent for a big moving van line and you would not believe what some of the stuff went thru,especially when it was insured by the pound.

If you have someone move you buy the additional insurance.

 

[stolivar]

drakejake

You are funny. Postal system delivers more packages in a month than UPS does in a whole year. UPS, FEDEX, DHL all pull up to our docks daily for us to deliver their packages for them...

I have a brother that worked for the Post office and then for UPS. He stated that UPS was a nightmare and a train wreck.


steve the mailman

 

[trbon8r]

We are now a week and a half into this mess, and UPS still has not been out to inspect my rifle!!!! What a bunch of losers.

At least the lady from Springfield has been nice and took the time to give me a call.

 

[W.E.G.]

Neo-Luddite
If it's going and coming back--you can always just ship it in an airline-approved hardcase that's taped up. The case will get beat up pretty bad but the weapon should be OK.

Don't count on it.

I had UPS refuse to accept a taped-up Pelican case. They insisted that it had to be in "a box." Like duh. WTH is a Pelican case if it isn't a box? I argued with them for quite a while about this. They still told me to pound sand, it had to be in a CARDBOARD BOX.

I finally researched it, and sure enough, their regs do say CARDBOARD BOX. Now, I realize that some UPS terminals will accept anything that has a label on it. But, the one I was dealing with got onto the fact that it was a gun, and they were dead-set on screwing me to the letter. And that they did.

 

[ralphtt]

You could have packed the Pelican case in a cardboard box. In this case, what they don't know really won't hurt them.

 

[HankB]

Last year I shipped a computer monitor back to the manufacturer via UPS for warranty repair. I used the original shipping box with original, form-fitting styrofoam liners, and sealed it all up with packing tape.

The online UPS tracking function showed it was "out for delivery" on schedule, but it wasn't delivered . . . so it was "rescheduled" for delivery the following day.

This happened several times, on several consecutive days.

So I contacted UPS, who admitted that they'd "lost" the package.

A week later, they "found" it and delivered it.

DIFFERENT box, NO liners or padding . . . screen and case both shattered.

It took a couple of months for those bozos to pay off on the insurance . . . fortunately, I'd insured it for close to what I originally paid for the monitor, and was able to buy a newer, better one with money left over . . . but I really don't think it was worth the aggravation.

 

[csspecs]

We had two items broken by UPS, one was a cast iron sewing machine packed in a crate, and the other was some sort of electronic gizmo that we packed a crate made of 3/4 cabinet plywood and wrapped in foam and then put in a card board box.

UPS says that every item must be packed to be able to fall 5 feet and to have a 250# item fall on it from five feet. So short of thick crates or steel everything in incorrectly packed.

 

[Hollywood_Heat]

I worked a Christmas at UPS. It's an eye opening experiance, to say the least. I've been trying to get back in there ever since. It was a sweet job. If they let me back in long enough to get seniority, they'll promptly be told to pound sand any time they remotely try to mess with me.

From what I know, first hand and such, we don't explicitly try to mess with boxes that might have guns in them. It's just one more heavy box. That's all. Drivers might be different, but in the hub, everything get's equally manhandled. That's all.

I've sent guns UPS without a problem. I had it packed, squared away(anticipating what was likely to happen to it along it's journey), and labeled. They don't say a word, even at a UPS Store. I walked in with it labeled, they verified the weight I paid for, and it's gone. If they ask what it is, tell them it's a rolled up rug. Easy as that.

 

[joplinsks]

You won't need to take them to small claims court. Just be persistent and they will pay...

Being a shipping / receiving clerk for quite a few years, I've faced the "wrath" of UPS Claims many times... probably 4-6 times a year.

You need to keep calling UPS Claims daily until they come out and inspect the rifle / packaging. I'll almost guarantee you they'll deny your claim the first time around saying it was "improperly packaged" no matter how carefully you packed it. You'll get an official letter from "Crawford & Company", their insurance claims administrator, denying your claim and have some contact info with the name and phone number of the agent assigned to your claim. They're hoping you'll accept their response and go away, but call them immediately and tell them you're disputing their resolution. Just saying it was packed exactly like you received it from the factory via UPS is enough for a defense at this point. I'll almost guarantee you they'll accept it the second time around no matter how it was packed or damaged. I've never had UPS not pay an insurance claim, but rarely have they paid during the first round.

Keep in mind that UPS has the right to take possession of your rifle if you're seeking full reimbursement, but rarely will UPS actually do this. You very well may end up keeping the rifle and receiving full replacement value for it.