14 Jun
2003
14 Jun
'03
9:12 a.m.
As others have mentioned, Fedex Ground is usually
cheaper.
Just watch it on the FedEx Ground pick ups. They charge an $11 weekly fee
for each week a pickup occurs in (one fee, as many pickups and packages
in the week as you want). If you send rarely, this can very easily negate
the price savings over other carriers like UPS since you can't spread the
fee across multiple packages.
Of course, you can do what I do and just drop the package off at a FedEx
depot and then they don't charge you the fee.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
14 Jun
14 Jun
9:38 a.m.
My wife, who sells a lot more on ebay than I do, has a daily pickup
account with UPS. Actually since I tend to overpack, I have had almost
no trouble with UPS. The only damaged stuff I have shipped UPS was
packed by MBE and arrived totally crushed. The only thing I have
recieved the past two years that was damaged in shipment was a Daystar
Genesis that was shipped via FedEx Ground. It looked like it had been
dropped at least 10-12 feet. Every piece of plastic was totally
crushed, the motherboard was actually cracked from the torsional forces
and the frame of the case which is 14 guage steel was warped almost
beyond recovery. I had paid for insurance for a stated value of $450
but FedEx Ground gave me the run around for three months. I finally
told them to shove it up their a** and I paid the $225 to replace all of
the bezels and motherboard myself.
Ronda was using Priority Mail but the good ole USPS however has lost 2-3
packages a week that she has shipped in this calender year. She sends
around 20-40 week so that is a large percentage of loss. She would
rather refund someone who didn't get the deliver rather than fight
through the headache of tracing and insurance recovery. Since the USPS
tracking system sucks so bad, we switched to UPS. It's not only
cheaper, it's been a lot more reliable. As UPS makes a daily run by our
house anyway, I just include my few boxes in with her's. She sells kids
party kits. Since it's all paper we don't have to worry about breakage.
James
http://webpages.charter.net/jrice54/classiccomp2.html
1:47 p.m.
James Rice wrote:
The only thing I have
received the past two years that was damaged in shipment was a Daystar
Genesis that was shipped via FedEx Ground. It looked like it had been
dropped at least 10-12 feet. Every piece of plastic was totally
crushed, the motherboard was actually cracked from the torsional forces
and the frame of the case which is 14 guage steel was warped almost
beyond recovery.
I received an old Intel PC based server that had been dropped by UPS. I
figure it must have fallen off one of there conveyors. It wasn't as bad
as your sounds, Though. I ended up taking a few parts from it, and
scrapping the rest. The seller refunded my money. Since he was the
shipper, not the receiver, he was the one that had to fight with "Brown" :-)
I won out in the end, because the server ended up being only a similar
model, not the exact model, that I expected.
I had a big rack mount Intel PPro bare bones server that got damaged on
it's way too me, too. UPS came and picked that one up. I don't recall
how that one was settled. I only had the $100 included insurance on it,
and I had paid more than that. I think the seller.... a larger Ebay
outfit, refunded the whole amount. I think they ate the difference.
I like shipping USPS, but only on light things now. I used them for
most things until they raised there prices.
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
3:10 p.m.
Chad Fernandez wrote:
I like shipping USPS, but only on light things now. I
used them for
most things until they raised there prices.
Jerome Fine replies:
Just to confirm the USPS experience mentioned earlier,
I have send a number of packages of CDs to the US
from Canada. I don't know exactly where they go
astray, but about 20% of them did not arrive. These
are usually packages of less than 100 grams, so they
can be sent as "thick" letters. Even the ones which
arrive usually take a few weeks - even though as
letters they are sent via AIRMAIL.
As mentioned earlier, the difficulty of collecting on
insurance PLUS the extra cost does not seem to
be worth while. My suggestion is to increase the
funds received by about 20% to cover the extra
shipments. OR ask the person receiving the package
if they want insurance and in that case it is usually
less expensive to send the packages without any
tracking/insurance for the 20% that do not arrive.
Usually, I am asked to send 3 Freeware CDs and
since the amount is only about $ US 12 to $ US 15,
anything but normal mail would increase the total
by more than 50% - not worth while at this level
with a missing rate of less than 20%.
What I don't understand is why such a low percentage
of letters go astray, but a much larger percentage of
packages?????????????
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
3:27 p.m.
pehaps it's because the USPS is commited to using freeware (linux) on some of
there systems and this is how they stay up to date.... :)
or the postal sorters think they are music or cool software and pocket a few
packages...
On Saturday 14 June 2003 10:04 pm, Jerome H. Fine wrote:
Chad Fernandez wrote:
I like shipping USPS, but only on light things
now. I used them for
most things until they raised there prices.
Jerome Fine replies:
Just to confirm the USPS experience mentioned earlier,
I have send a number of packages of CDs to the US
from Canada. I don't know exactly where they go
astray, but about 20% of them did not arrive. These
are usually packages of less than 100 grams, so they
can be sent as "thick" letters. Even the ones which
arrive usually take a few weeks - even though as
letters they are sent via AIRMAIL.
As mentioned earlier, the difficulty of collecting on
insurance PLUS the extra cost does not seem to
be worth while. My suggestion is to increase the
funds received by about 20% to cover the extra
shipments. OR ask the person receiving the package
if they want insurance and in that case it is usually
less expensive to send the packages without any
tracking/insurance for the 20% that do not arrive.
Usually, I am asked to send 3 Freeware CDs and
since the amount is only about $ US 12 to $ US 15,
anything but normal mail would increase the total
by more than 50% - not worth while at this level
with a missing rate of less than 20%.
What I don't understand is why such a low percentage
of letters go astray, but a much larger percentage of
packages?????????????
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
5:18 p.m.
jamesd wrote:
pehaps it's because the USPS is commited to using
freeware (linux) on some of
there systems and this is how they stay up to date.... :)
They use Linux? Or are you kidding? The counters always have IBM or
Unisys hardware, that I've seen. I guess IBM is doing Linux now though.
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
4:47 p.m.
On Sat, 14 Jun 2003, James Rice wrote:
My wife, who sells a lot more on ebay than I do, has a
daily pickup
account with UPS. Actually since I tend to overpack, I have had almost
no trouble with UPS. The only damaged stuff I have shipped UPS was
packed by MBE and arrived totally crushed. The only thing I have
MBE folks are a bunch of monkeys. I've never received any packages that
were packed by them that didn't come crushed. They don't pack enough foam
in the box, and they don't understand basic packing techniques, especially
for heavy stuff.
The next person that sends me something packed by MBE is going to receive
the package back marked "refused".
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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6 comments
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participants (6)
-
cb＠mythtech.net -
fernande＠internet1.net -
jdickens＠ameritech.net -
jhfinexgs2＠compsys.to -
jrice54＠charter.net -
vcf＠siconic.com