Shipping older radios & insurance claims

[Rinkie & Ron Pollack]

Interesting thread.  My experience with FedEx (Home delivery):

I shipped a scanner, very light and solid state, and packed in a single box
with padding and I think peanuts.  The sale price was about $115, so extra
insurance wasn't indicated.  It arrived smashed to bits (only damage in
dozens of shipments by them.)  Filed a claim. Within a few days, they went
to the recipient and picked up the broken item and packaging.  They sent me
a check for $100 (insurance amount) plus the shipping charge, and returned
the unit to me.  I refunded the entire amount to the purchaser.  Later, I
sold the broken one for parts at a hamfest, and came out ahead a few bux!
Admittedly, it was a small claim, but there was no attempt to weasel out by
claiming indadequate packaging, for which they could have made a case!  I
cannot fault them at all!

As far as the disclaimer for unusual old and valuable items:  A couple of
posters made the comment that they accepted the higher premium for the
insurance.  However, I don't think that FedEx asks about nature of the
contents when insurance is purchased, but perhaps they should!  Could be
wrong about this, tho!

My personal philosophy:  In general, I don't ship very heavy or delicate
equipment at all.  I wait until I find something (or a buyer) within a
reasonable distance, and go get it or meet the other party half way.  This
also has the advantage of seeing the item to get an idea if it's as
represented.  Of course, I live in densely populated Southern California
with 15 million folk within a couple hour drive!  If I were in the middle of
South Dakota, I might have a different policy!

Ron K2RP

-----Original Message-----
From: Boat Anchor Owners and Collectors List
[mailto:BOATANCHORS at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV]On Behalf Of Greg Gore; WA1KBQ
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 3:59 PM
To: BOATANCHORS at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Subject: Re: Shipping older radios & insurance claims


A box resizer is used to make a smaller box of any size from a larger one.
It is actually an inexpensive hand held guided tool that scores the side of
a
box along a straight line in order to create a new fold line. You would
score
the sides you want reduced in length and slit the ends with a utility knife
which actually lengthens flaps you started with and fold over on the new
crease  line. The longer flaps will also add strength to the box and when
glued
with a  hot glue gun your new box gets even stronger. I use it with a
utility
knife, hot glue gun and gummed shipping tape machine to quickly change the
size
of a box to more closely fit the item being shipping. The hot glued flaps
really  strengthen a box and I feel I can do a better job making custom fit
boxes
for  better protection and less filler that just swims around and migrates
all over  the place anyway. I make the primary box an exact fit for the
equipment with  styrofoam corner protectors and I make the secondary box 2"
larger
overall and  pad in between the two boxes. Hot glue on the primary box and
gummed
reinforced  shipping tape on the outer. This is without bubble wrap; bubble
wrap  is so expensive most folks just give you a couple of layers anyway,
if
that! I think bubble wrap does have a place however, particularly on
smaller
items but I think with large radio equipment it is inviting trouble  because
all drops are directly applied to the flat surfaces of the equipment  rather
than the stronger corners. I have seen a lot of dial glasses broken and
bent
tuning reduction geartrains because the those large MT and BS knobs stick
out
and transfer a direct hit to the geartrain when the shippers drop the  box.
Another thing to watch out for is make sure the chassis screws are in place
and
not just the front panel screws. The front panel will be buckled when the
shippers drop the box upside down without the screws in the rear. Screws are
often put aside and eventually forgotten as it is more convenient to take
the
unit out of the case next time; they usually end up getting lost. I see lots
of
NC-300's, 303's, HQ-140's and 150'S, etc., with no rear screws on  that "E"
place. Another thing to watch out for is when shipping old National  sliding
catacomb receivers such as NC-100, 101 and NC-2-40D, etc. National  provided
a
drilled tapped hole in the side to secure the coil tray when  shipping.
Install
a #10-32 x 3/4" machine screw or the coil tray will run  back and forth for
a
few days in the back of the UPS truck.

Regards, Greg



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