Shipping Damage

Do any Astromart users have any horror stories about having equipment damaged or lost during shipping, by FedEx, UPS, and so on. Maybe their are a few Astro lawyers or insurance brothers among us, that understand the insurance claim process that may help our fellow Astro brothers and sisters from getting the run around from these companies after shipping accidents.

Worst feeling in the world, is when that Apo refractor or the Starmaster or even the AP 900 mount you have been waiting for two years, shows up at your door in a box that looks like it was dug out of an Afghani cave, after a US bombing. And then the shipping company says the sender did not pack it well enough, or some other “it not our fault nonsense”!! There must be allot of this going on, considering the volume of transactions.

Paul

Hi all:

Last year I sold a very nice Celestron-branded Vixen C102 OTA - I shipped via UPS from the Washington DC area to Texas. I have shipped quite a few scopes, so I thought I had packed it pretty well. It was packed in a long box (maybe 12" x 12" x 48") with lots of bubble wrap. Anyway, it was obviously dropped on end; the impact actually pushed the focuser draw tube too far into the focuser, destroying the pinon gear and rack. The impact also cracked the objective. The buyer immediately sent the tube back to me. I called UPS told them what had happened, and was sent the paperwork to make the claim.

I had paid UPS for the extra insurance (they will cover the first $100 without additional cost - then each $100 is another $00.35, if I remember correctly), so my claim was pretty straight forward. I filled out the paperwork, included a copy of the Astromart ad which showed exactly what I had sold the scope for, and included an explanation of why the scope couldn't be repaired for less money than my claim was for. UPS paid off within two weeks, then stopped by the house to pick up "their" OTA (minus, of course, the finder, focus knobs, rings and dew shield).

Bottom line - make sure you pay for the extra insurance (there's no way they would have settled if I hadn't), and simply show proof of your loss.

Needless to say, I now pack OTA with at least 8" of packing at the ends of the box. Also, in all the years I've used UPS (and USPS, Fed Ex), I've never had any other problems. Just pack your stuff like it's gonna be dropped off a truck, and hopefully it'll survive. Troy