7 Nov
2000
7 Nov
'00
1:20 p.m.
Rick,
I recommend the USPS. They cost a fraction of UPS and the others and I've
had good luck with them. However the british postal service has a
reputation for damaging packages so I'd try to have the item taken to a
main post office or some place similar in order to minimize the time that
the package is in their hands.
But be carefull of the weight. I tried to ship a 60 pound package to
Japan and found out that it was going to cost $280 because they would only
ship it by priority mail. I broke it up into two packages that weighed 35
and 23 pounds and the shipping was only about $80. For japan, anything that
weighs more than 40 pounds has to be shipped by priority mail.
FWIW a friend of mine shipped a very expensive oscilloscope to Japan at
the same time by UPS and they completely destroyed it! Then UPS tried to
claim that it was improperly packed, had the wrong address and a bunch of
other excuses. He finally had to have the regional manager come out and see
his packing setup (all new heavy duty boxs, a $5,000 foam in place machine,
etc) before they would pay the claim.
Joe
At 04:47 PM 11/7/00 -0800, you wrote:
I'm sure that some of you have had to deal with
this before, and I've seen
some opinions stated here about various shipping providers, so I figure
I'll get some of the collective brains here to give me some pointers.
It's a little off-topic, but applicable to anyone who collects old
electronics. Europe is a great source for stuff like this.
I've got someone in the UK that has a piece of vintage electronic
equipment that I need shipped to me. I'm not in a particular hurry to get
it...it doesn't need to be a 'next day', or even 'next week' type
shipment.
The major priorities are finding a carrier that:
A) Isn't likely to lose the item
B) Won't destroy it in handling (assuming it is very well packed)
C) Won't cost me an arm and a leg
D) Can deliver the parcel to my home
E) Can handle a parcel weighing about 40 pounds
Given these parameters, any suggestions of a carrier? I've heard
some say that DHL is a good way to go, but I've also recently seem
some very sour comments regarding DHL here.
Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
Thanks,
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Web Museum
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators