USPS has a similar free service, called Informed Delivery. It also lets you see photos of mail pieces (non-packages) heading your way. Fedex has something similar as well. One thing that's great about these services is they tell you what's coming to your address even if you don't have a tracking number. It's definitely worth signing up for these free accounts. You also get the ability to prepay for shipping and print labels. That saves time at the P.O. and sometimes I can get UPS or Fedex to pick up the package for fee when they're delivering one.
I agree that any one of these services can and will damage goods that are not packed well. That's on the shipper. Most of the horror stories I've heard were due to the shipper not packing the goods adequately (though sometimes that can be undone on an international shipment by customs inspectors.) That said, I've seen some instances where the box itself was penetrated or crushed, which is on the carrier. I believe custom foam inserts and double-boxing are the best way to protect electronic equipment, though double boxing almost always involves the dreaded peanuts. I live at the end of an 1100' gravel driveway, so the carriers can leave packages on the front porch with little or no danger that they'll be stolen. Even so, for something as expensive as a KPA1500 I would opt for a signature being required. I suspect that if you don't do that you could have trouble collecting the full insurance. Also, several times UPS has delivered our packages to the wrong address. We were able to get them back, but that might not be the case with something really expensive. Sometimes a substitute driver will refuse to venture down our driveway for fear of not being able to turn around (the turn-around isn't visible from the road) or fear of getting stuck in snow, ice or mud. So they leave the package in the mailbox (which I believe is illegal) or they put it in a plastic bag tied to the mailbox post. The mailbox is right on the highway in front of our driveway, so the package could be stolen easily. A couple of times they just dumped the box in the snow at head of the driveway. I usually call to let UPS know so they can tell the drivers not to do that. Again, requiring a signature gets around that problem but also requires that we hang around all day. I recently had a signature-required shipment where the estimated delivery times were off by many hours so I missed it twice and had to pick it up at the UPS depot 20 minutes away. My least favorite delivery method is SurePost. UPS picks up the package, sends it to your region, then hands it off to USPS for the last part of the trip. That always adds at least one day, if not several days. All this said, it amazes me how much stuff we're buying online these days and how cheap the shipping has become. 73, Dick WC1M -----Original Message----- From: j...@kk9a.com <j...@kk9a.com> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 12:37 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] UPS Practice? was:Re: KPA1500 Caution Sign up for UPS My Choice https://www.ups.com/mobile/deliveryplanner?loc=en_US and you will be aware of every package coming to your residence. You can redirect packages if they require a signature and you will not be home. John KK9A N4ZR wrote: Yes, I know. The problem is that they did not warn me when tracking the package that I would have to be there, and despite claiming they would do so, their web site also gave me no inkling of when during the day I could expect delivery. For a company that designs its deliveryroutes to minimize left turns, you'd think this would be child's play. 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now spotting RTTY activity worldwide. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
