Why i wont use Fedex

ChaosJunky135

So after a bit of thinking i went ahead and got a Bluesbreaker, I ordered it From GAK as a b stock knowing about a bit of damage that it already had. However when it arrived it had sadly not survived the terrible journey with fedex and was smashed to bits. The upside to this is that GAK could not be more helpful in allowing me to return this amp in person this time and replaced it no question with another at about £200 more than i paid originally. Even if i did give the staff a bit of a shock as i walked through the door with it tucked under one arm haha 

ICBM

The bad news is that all courier companies are the same.

ChaosJunky135

ICBM said:

The bad news is that all courier companies are the same.

I have been quite lucky in the past as this is the first time i have had something arrive to me broken 

merlin

FedEx are joining forces with UPS. The new company will be called FedUPS. 

ICBM

I couldn't see the pictures earlier...

Was it shipped in just that thin box, with no other packaging? If so that's the shop's fault not Fedex's.

It also has to be said that the Bluesbreaker is a very poor design structurally - the whole weight of the very heavy chassis is held only by those six woodscrews in the back. If the amp has been apart more than a few times it isn't unusual for the threads in the wood to be quite worn or even stripped completely - at the very least, they should be bolts with T-nuts behind the side rails.

Modulus_Amps

ICBM said:

I couldn't see the pictures earlier...

Was it shipped in just that thin box, with no other packaging? If so that's the shop's fault not Fedex's.

It also has to be said that the Bluesbreaker is a very poor design structurally - the whole weight of the very heavy chassis is held only by those six woodscrews in the back. If the amp has been apart more than a few times it isn't unusual for the threads in the wood to be quite worn or even stripped completely - at the very least, they should be bolts with T-nuts behind the side rails.

Wis awarded, that is one heavy amp mounted in a pretty poor way, T-nuts would be a good call

ChaosJunky135

ICBM said:

I couldn't see the pictures earlier...

Was it shipped in just that thin box, with no other packaging? If so that's the shop's fault not Fedex's.

It also has to be said that the Bluesbreaker is a very poor design structurally - the whole weight of the very heavy chassis is held only by those six woodscrews in the back. If the amp has been apart more than a few times it isn't unusual for the threads in the wood to be quite worn or even stripped completely - at the very least, they should be bolts with T-nuts behind the side rails.

No it was double boxed took it out whilst unpacking it, but i have to agree with the construction the 

 chassis is incredibly heavy for just a few screws 

kreggs

That must be why they call it the blues...ahem..breaker

jpfamps

ICBM said:

The bad news is that all courier companies are the same.

Yodel?

ICBM

jpfamps said:

ICBM said:

The bad news is that all courier companies are the same.

Yodel?

I haven't personally seen anything damaged by Yodel yet, nor had anything lost by them - although I don't doubt they do, from what other people say.

GoldenEraGuitars

My last 3 amp transactions..

To Belgium - DHL (Lonestar combo, damaged)
To England - DPD (jmp head, damaged)
From Scotland - UPS (Lonestar head, damaged)

All more than adequately packed with polystyrene, bubble wrap and heavy duty cardboard boxes.

Its worth noting that all the amps took at least an extra 24 hours to arrive from what was originally selected. I’d also add that I believe conveyor belt systems in sorting depots are to blame for a lot of damages. 

andyp

I’ve had two different Rocker 15 combos delivered from GAK to Aberdeen (and one of them sent back the other way) and fedex were absolutely fantastic.

gibsongretschfan

I’ve only ever had one amp damaged in transit and that was Parcelforce. It was a Marshall 100/100 Power amp shipped in a flight case. They had actually managed to break the flight case as well as the 100/100

apart from that I’ve shipped all over the world with a variety of couriers (including a Cornford Mk50 to Thailand) and never had anything damaged or received anything damaged

stickyfiddle

I've had a bunch of stuff shipped internationally (to and from) and always been happy with UPS and Fedex. 

The key things are that packing the item really really well is hugely important, and that all couriers are actually quite similar

Bygone_Tones

ChaosJunky135 said:

Clearly not the couriers fault based on that photo. Pack an amp in just cardboard - it is going to get damaged!

DrSpock

jpfamps said:

ICBM said:

The bad news is that all courier companies are the same.

Yodel?

I can give you a list of f***-ups from Yodel if you like - failed collections / deliveries / lost items / water damaged etc.