Official Luthiers Forum!

The Narra Carp arrived at the clients home to day all busted up. Peghead broke off upper bout crushed the thing was shipped with bubble rap packing all around inside the case and a extra heavy cardboard box. The client said it looks like somthing heavy fell on the box. pictures tomorrow

OH MY G.... I am about to ship one next week - THATS a freakin SCARY thought .. you had to do this to me huh !!

So who, if anyone, paid any insurance ??? I dont, as I feel its the clients responsibility (as is shipping fees) Who did it ship with if I might ask ..

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Ah Man, that's awful news Michael, i hope your insured?

I insured for 10% over paid value. It shipped with FedEx. Now I have had both UPS and FedEx destroy an instrument. It was packed well It should have be able to have handeled more than common handeling abuse with no issue. My heart is in my throat right now. I shaking. I can't believe this.MichaelP39050.7052083333

Michael,
Oh man that stinks! So sorry. Isn't that one of our worst nightmares? All that work destroyed in one thoughtless/careless moment.    

I'm not sure you should post pictures without strong warning.

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

just what we all fear every time we pass one over into the hands of carriers.

must make you want to at least shed a few tears if not say a few well chosen words about the genealogical provenance and moral status of the carrier's staff which you can't voice here of course.

good luck fighting the battle over the insurance!!!

p.s. -- what shape was the case in? that much damage to the instrument must have mangled the case as well.crazymanmichael39050.7078125

Anyone had experiance dealing with FedEx on a claim. I know my time spent on the phone and in mail and faxes with UPS was not much fun and they tried every thing in the books to delay the claim. I hope things go better this time with FedEx.MichaelP39050.7087384259

Michael,

I am really sorry to hear about this! What kind of case was it in?

I sometimes insure for more tha double the customer's price, just in case. Please let us know how hard of a time you have collecting the insurance.

I feel for ya.

_________________
Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Access Small Body

That is just SICK Michael! I remember sending a weird shapped package to Brock, I took pictures before I sent it and posted pics of the package on the forum and wondered if it would arrive in one piece. It didn't but was insured and was covered for the most part. Having the pictures saved a bunch of hassle in getting the insurance. The lesson I learned is that if the package is quite valuable or in anyway atypical, take photos before you send it.

TONY!!! Insurance (no matter what it costs) is cheap!! I don't send a single order out without insurance and the cost of the insurance is in the shipping quote. It is just not worth not having it!

Shane

_________________
Canada

Michael,

Be sure to have your client keep the guitar until it is inspected by FedEx's agent. I had the unfortunate experience of having a damaged instrument sent back to me by a client. All the rules change once it leaves it's original destination. Mine was UPS, but I'm sure the same rules apply. Jimmy Caldwell39050.7205324074

_________________
Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

[QUOTE=MichaelP] Anyone had experience dealing with FedEx on a claim. I know my time spent on the phone and in mail and faxes with UPS was not much fun and they tried every thing in the books to delay the claim. I hope things go better this time with FedEx.[/QUOTE]

Please keep us posted. I know what you go through could make a difference in who we choose to ship with. I'll be listening.

I use a local UPS Store and let them pack it for me. I give them some instructions while I'm there, like keep the case 3" from any side. I figure if they pack it, they can't blame me for improper packaging. It costs more, but I think it is worth it.

Good luck with this.

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

OMG that is awful!!!!!
I have a guitar being shipped to me tomorrow. Now I am nervous.
USPS

Andy

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

UPS store and such usually charge quite a bit more for insurance... enough to make you want to pack it yourself. In one instance it doubled the cost of shipping, whereas regular UPS rates are quite reasonable.

Good advice from Jimmy Caldwell... I would not have thought of that.

And yes, always insure! If you insure for double, you'll make money off an instance like this. After all the work that goes into a guitar, a customer having his money back is simply not enough. You deserve a few grand for the turmoil.jfrench39050.7167939815

_________________
Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

My experience is that courier insurance will only refund the 'wholesale' cost of the goods. No matter what you insure the package for. So read the insurance fine print. You can work around this but just be careful what you say when they ask you for a value. Make the value WAY high that way you are at least covered. Joshua has it right, now you owe this guy a new guitar, he has been in the que for a while now. So now you have to decide if you will be bumping all of your other customers or making this one wait even longer. You need to be compensated for that!

Shane

_________________
Canada

Michael, i just want to say that i hurt with you, i'll be praying for a nice outcome for you, so sorry about this my friend, if there's anything i can do, even listen to a rant from you, i'm here and you can count on my full support.

YF Serge

G'day Michael,

This is just shocking news . I really feel for you.

If these things are sent to test us , this sure is a hell of a trial .

I'm very sorry this has happened to you Michael,but knowing the type of guy you are , you'll bounce back .

All my best wishes mate


Craig Lawrence

_________________
CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
_____________________________________________

That is just horrible. Just horrible.

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Ohhh M G !!! that just makes me sick, I dont know what happened to Your particular parcel, but I remember I had a girlfreind in the 80s and she worked in the office at UPS. I was shocked and disgusted the way the handlers would do thier jobs and I even heard from my gf that they would purposely destroy parcels sometimes for kicks when the supervisor wasnt around.
I really hope this works out well for you Michael- its just sickening to think of that beautiful guitar in such condition!
cheers
Charliewood

Michael,

That's just awful. I hope for the best possible outcome.

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Yea!!! I just have to look at it as a chance to build another one. I can not even think of what it looks like. Mark is sending me photos tonight. The thing that saved me on the other guitar that UPS tore up was the fact that I use a written contract and addendums to the contract when I accept a commission. UPS found it hard to dispute the cost.

Hang in there, Michael. My stomach is churning just thinking of what you're going through. Good luck and kep us posted.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Oh my God! That was such a sweet guitar too... That gorgeous zoot, that rosette...

That is just horrible horrible news!

Hang in there Michael, I'm rooting for you!

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Oh Michael, my heart sank when I read that...
I feel for you brother, I really do. I know how great that guitar came out and how much of yourself you put into it. I'm glad you had the forethought to insure it. I insure everything that goes out of here, even a single set of mahogany.

As sucky as this is, know that we're all here for you. I hope you can take some small comfort in our support for you here.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."