I feel for you Pat. Fortunately the Extreme you just sent me got here just fine!
As a shipper of quite a few models a year I have used all the shipping services and have had problems with each of them at one time or another. The bummer is that it was usually my fault for not packing the planes so that a gorilla could step on, toss and otherwise mangle the package while still protecting the contents. Then, when there is a problem, the services are loathe to pay out. SOP has them deny every claim and you have to fight for payment. This can take hours of time. Too much hassle. So, a year and a half or so ago, I decided to cut my risk significantly. I use the services of a local Mail n More to ship all my new planes as well as any bigger, expensive used ship. I had them get me custom made, 300lb test double wall tray style boxes. This kind of box gives you 4 layers of corrugated material on the sides of the box. The shipper also lines the sides and top with Styrofoam. It would be REALLY hard to bend one of these boxes. They cost about $25 bucks but the protection is well worth it. The plane is packed in a way that it is completely immobile in the box. This effectively has them shipping a solid piece. I'd be real surprised if any plane they pack ever gets damaged. I think anyone out there who got an Opus or Wizard from me over the past year or more can attest to the excellent job of packing these guys do. The other benefit of using a professional service is that it is their baby if something goes wrong. They get to spend the time dealing with damage claims and I'll bet they get better treatment than an average Joe shipping a plane himself. The only downside to using a professional is cost. It costs me between $80 and $90 to ship an Opus including the box, packing materials, packing labor and shipping cost. I eat about $30 per shipment so I can remain competitive with some of the other guys out there but I think the cost is well worth the excellent job and the fact that if there is ever a claim to be made I won't have to spend my time trying to get paid. Besides when you are sending a $700 to $1400 airplane this is really not too much to pay for getting the model to the buyer intact! -- Greg Smith Slope Soaring Resource http://www.slopeflyer.com US distributor for Wizard Compact II, Opus DS V, Airtech models and Leos Svoboda models. > From: Pat McCleave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 11:48:42 -0400 > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [RCSE] "What Can Brown Do For You?" > > Hi Guys, > > I just wanted to let everyone know what Brown really can do for you. I > shipped a plane on Monday to Al Nephew in Duluth and even though they only had > the plane for two days managed to impact the box in such a way as to break the > plane in two. I also found out today from our local UPS Driver that UPS has > restructured their employees salaries and there is probably going to be > several disgruntled package handlers for the next little while. I can assure > you I will not be using UPS or the USPS (they broke my last plane in two)any > time in the near future. > > See Ya, > > Pat McCleave > Wichita, KS RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
