UPS won't ship gun parts?

[dogtown tom]

nwilliams I ship guns or anything gun related via FedEx only. I've had problems in the past trying to ship firearm related stuff through UPS but have never had a single issue with FedEx.

As the for the UPS Store forget it! The UPS Store won't touch anything firearms related and the prices they charge in general are outrageous. I seriously don't understand why anyone in their right mind would use the UPS Store for anything

You do realize the the UPS Store is a franchised business where you can also ship FedEx and USPS?

The reason their prices are high is because they offer convenience- for those too lazy or unwilling to package items on their own. You pay for them to box and pack your item.

1. Pack your item at home.
2. Pay shipping and insurance fees online at UPS.com, fedex or usps.com. AT NO TIME WILL YOU BE ASKED WHAT YOU ARE SHIPPING.
3. Print a UPS/FedEx/USPS label on your home printer.
4. Tape label to your box.
5. Drop package at UPS/FedEx/USPS.
ALL three have firearms shipping policies- violate UPS/FedEx and at most your insurance claim will be denied. If you are not a licensed dealer or manufacturer you can go to jail for mailing anything other than a rifle or shotgun through the USPS.

You get a discount at all three for paying and printing your postage and shipping fees online. You also do not give a clerk the opportunity to tell you that they can't ship a holster, etc.

 

[Tom488]

Always go to the UPS hub itself with anything firearms-related. I shipped a barrel out to get a muzzle brake installed, and had no issues, except for slightly terrifying the counter clerk:

Counter Clerk: (reading my description of 'rifle barrel') "It's just a barrel, right?"
Me: Yep, just a barrel... essentially a very expensive pipe
CC: Yeah.. a KILLER pipe
Me: Well, if you don't hurt it, it won't hurt you
CC: You know, I've never fired a gun in my entire life
Me: That's the saddest thing I've heard all day

And that was that...

 

[John Wayne]

You guys are correct, this was shipped at a "UPS Store" not at a hub or distrubitor or whatever.

I had no idea that they were a seperate entity apart from UPS. You'd think with a name like "UPS Store" that they would have to be the same company and operate under the same regulations.

Yes, I realize it is often better to pack up an item at home but I did not have the packing materials and I was already frustrated at buying a brand new gun, spending time to mount a scope, then finding out it had to be sent back. I was trying to get the barrel in the mail as soon as possible on my way out of town. I am not "too lazy" to pack up my items at home, I simply did not have the materials or time. Also, there ought to be nothing wrong with shipping any legal item through any carrier. Why should I have to go to extra trouble just because the person at the counter doesn't like gun parts? That's not a good line of reasoning.

Once I was told that the barrel would have to go USPS, I specifically asked for Delivery Confirmation and was told that it was only available at the Post Office. For what it cost me to ship the thing, I could have just about driven to the factory and dropped it off myself!

 

[Tim from WA]

UPS will touch anything gun related here in the Seattle area unless both parties have an FFL. So if you buy a brand new Stoeger shotgun and attempt to ship it to Stoeger in MD they will not do so. Furthermore if you provide both FFLs and the gun isn't going to the business office where the FFL is addressed and say it is going to a companies repair center in a separate location they still will not ship it. Doesn't matter if it is a UPS store or a central dispatch. Central dispatch here has Xray so you can't use the machine parts b.s. They tell me it is their internal policies and that their internal policies are more stringent than federal law. @ 550 Andover W Blvd Tukwila WA they will even quote the federal law and their policy; and acknowledge the discrepancy. I have tried numerous times to ship newly purchased defective firearms as they are not returnable by federal law through UPS and they will not do it because I do not have an FFL.

Fedex here on the other hand follows the law and will ship it any way you like as long as it is disassembled and does not contain ammunition in the same box.

Just tried today after purchasing a Stoeger M2000 SA 12 ga that never cycled and the bolt split in two within 150 rds of purchase. Fedex scored my $157.87 and UPS can suck ass for the rest of my life. I also encourage the companies I send my firearms to, to return ship fedex for this reason.

When I email UPS regarding this issue I get an automated response. I've read this forum for a long time and never felt the need to comment but this issue gets me fired up as I have had this occur on three separate occasions now.

 

[CraigC]

Then both FedEx and UPS are disregarding the law and their own policies. For there is nothing in either law or their respective policies that requires disassembly or that an FFL is the shipper. Furthermore, you should've been able to ship your long gun by UPS Ground or USPS for that matter for a fraction of that $157 charge. You're being screwed all the way around.

 

[John Wayne]

Fedex scored my $157.87

Damn, and I thought I had it bad! Will Stoeger reimburse you for shipping costs?

Also, as an update, I still have not recieved a replacement barrel. I did call CVA to make sure that it arrived, and was told it would take several weeks before they'd even look at it. IMO that is a lousy policy on both the part of the UPS store and CVA. Are there any companies out there that actually do what they're supposed to anymore?

 

[zxcvbob]

Tim, why didn't you send it via the Post Office?

 

[Tim from WA]

Many a bad experience with loss with the post office plus I have to have it there overnight or per Stoeger/USA Benelli they may not be able to have it back to me in time for my hunt that I leave for on 9/18. Plus in my area that wait at the post office can be more than an hour.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Quote:
Be VERY careful; in sending ammo via UPS as it is considered both an explosive and a hazardous substance. UPS does not like "hazardous substances".

This is simply not true. Loaded ammo is ORM-D and UPS ships it all the time

I shipped a rifle the other day for a hunt in another state. Descriptrion of goods was "hunting rifle". Lady at the UPS hub asked if there was ammo in the case. I said yes. She said it was not allowed in the same case as the rifle and to put it in the other box. I did, and that was all there was to it.

 

[Tim from WA]

Love to know where you live ZeroJunk things just aren't that way here South of Seattle. I invite you to attempt the same thing at the Tukwila UPS Customer Center Staffed location. Oddly enough they'll leave one unattended in plain sight on my front porch coming back from a manufacturer.

 

[Lakeshore]

Best answer to the "what's in the box?" question at a UPS counter that I ever read - believe it was here on THR- was "high speed hole punch".

 

[ZeroJunk]

Love to know where you live ZeroJunk things just aren't that way here South of Seattle. I invite you to attempt the same thing at the Tukwila UPS Customer Center Staffed location. Oddly enough they'll leave one unattended in plain sight on my front porch coming back from a manufacturer

I live in Browns Summit NC.

LOL They even gave me a box cutter and tape to open and tape the boxes back up.

I sell a lot of guns and have to say that I have never had a problem with UPS or USPS. Never tried FedEx.

It must be some Washington state law as UPS's policy is available on their website. Adult signature requirement was the only thing special that was required other than what is mandated by federal law.

 

[Tirod]

All that quoting of regs. What's funny about some of the generalizations is that during the Ruger LCP recall they mailed UPS labels to the owners. I boxed mine up and took it to a UPS store - not hub, where they accepted it as is. Ruger then UPS'd it right back ten days later to my house.

Obviously the clerk at the store had no clue what was in the box. And Ruger did NOT spell out their full name on the label. Work with the system as required and things will turn out just fine.

They ALL accept firearms shipments from the factories and distributors. It's the locals who like to jerk Joe Citizen around.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

sent my m&p's back to s&w through UPS. you just happened to get an overzealous super-lifer that's ignorant of company policy. i would've asked for her boss at that point. hopefully he would know what he's talking about.

 

[Zen21Tao]

When I was building my FAL (922r compliant) a few years back I shipped the barrel from my parts kit to DSA to have them fit and tune it to their US made upper. I used UPS, at a USP Store no less, and didn't have a problem with them. In fact, I actually took the barrel into the store and packaged it there in front of them. I guess it really is up to the discretion, and in some cases intelligence, of the counter person/manager/owner.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Then both FedEx and UPS are disregarding the law and their own policies.

They are not -disregarding- them. Nothing says their policy can't be -more- restrictive than the law .. it just must be -as- restrictive as the law.

Now, as it seems that UPS has different policies in different parts of the country ... that -could- be because of STATE laws ... which could be more restrictive than Federal law. But if that is the case ... funny we don't have the Feds suing them over that like they are suing AZ on the illegal immigrant thing ... but that is a discussion for another day ...