UPS says Guitar Destroyed, GC says For Sale!

[mickey]

[tonebender]

I purchased a rather sizeable Randall 4x10 Combo Amp back in the day from a seller in California. I tracked it across the country to Jacksonville. Then I tracked it from Jacksonville back to California, then from California back to Jacksonville. Finally it went from Jacksonville to my office in Lakeland. When the UPS driver rolled it in on the handtruck, it looked like it had tumbled all the way down a steep mountain slope. I think I said something to the effect of "you have to be shitting me". I asked him to remain so he could see the damage, if any existed as I suspected, but he refused and hurried out.

Miraculously the only damage was dents in the corner metal protector plates and the little lath across the back was loose because the two pieces it screwed down on were broken. I replaced those easy enough and I just let the dents in the metal corners remain for character. The amp worked fine. It was an unusual amp and when I called Randall to inquire about it they had no idea they even made it. It was like a Bassman Reissue but with a drive channel and all kinds of buttons and switches. It was amazing but heavy as a Volkswagen, just like a Bassman Reissue.

[golem]

I once bought a guitar that someone later said was lost/stolen by UPS when I posted it online. I don't doubt it happens. In my case, the person who contacted me about it might've been trying to scam me or at least gave me the impression. He certainly didn't come right out and tell me directly. He asked me all sorts of weird questions about who I bought it from first. And he didn't give me any sort of reference # about the case with UPS so I could independently verify that this was lost or stolen and that he had or hadn't been compensated and for how much. He told me UPS would be in contact with me in a way that sounded kind of like a threat.

My takeway from my experience was that you should insure a guitar for what it's worth and be prepared to get compensation from the shipper if it's lost, stolen, or destroyed. And, if you ever want it back from a future owner, you should probably be polite and up front about what happened, what outcome you're seeking, and give them a way to easily verify what you said is true. Not just a picture of your friend once playing the guitar live (that's all they gave me!).

I've had an amp I shipped get destroyed after I double-boxed it at the request of the buyer. I had it fully insured as Reverb required, and Reverb made him whole. He was very nice and understanding throughout the whole thing.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I had an experience very much like the one in the Lehto video, but with FedEx instead of UPS. I was home when a guitar was "delivered", but it wasn't. I was on the phone to FedEx and escalating the call quickly because they had it marked as delivered. It was not a mis-delivery, but FedEx was acting like I was a bad guy. So I filed a police report, and the police found the guitar at a pawn shop, pawned by my FedEx driver, and the police found his pawn ticket in his FedEx truck. He pawned it the day after he was supposed to have delivered it. The police gave me a letter to provide to the pawn shop and I still had to pay $200 to buy it out of pawn. I named that guitar Pawnee. FedEx never did anything to make the situation right, or even admit they were at fault. They are literally the worst.

[tonebender]

I have never had anything lost or stolen. I am sure it happens a lot.

[honyock]

FedEx home delivery has some of the sketchiest drivers here since they are just independent contractors. They used to mess up car part deliveries regularly. I had switched to pick up at the nearest FedEx location any time I got any guitars via FedEx from Rondo and that worked well enough.