Some Unusual Shipping Damage - your opinion?

[Denny]

Hi guys - i sent back a customers Vintage Gibson L6S and he received it like this. A little history - I put the old frets in the string compartment of his case which is directly under (and touching) the back of the neck - then placed bubble wrap over the headstock. Everything was secure. Put the case into his box - which was a nearly new Anderson Guitar box - used his old shipping material and included about 20 egg cartons and packed them all around the case. I've never seen anything like it:











I've filed a claim but can't figure out how the fret had enough room inside the closed case to stand up and go through the top of it???!!! there's not that much room in there!!! I value your opinions and suggestions - never seen anything like this - and the guy is understandably pissed!!!!

D.

[Luke]

First off, why return the old frets at all?

Secondly, if you feel the need, obviously having them floating around loose is a bad idea. Perhaps placing them in a ziplock baggie or a AX-7 box would be advised.

[sinner]

Poltergeist.

Seriously, that is plain weirdness, like how during a hurricane a paper straw can go through a thick tree trunk.

Shipping Storm?

[Denny]

I always return the parts I remove from a guitar - just my best practice - most people are happy to get them back. THAT's not the issue.

[John Ward]

Looks like a fret got out of the compartment, bounced around and then got jammed through the case. Doesn't look like a problem the carrier would be responsible for. At least that scratch can be drop filled easily.

[Denny]

The force it took to push it through the case had to be pretty hard - That's not cardboard. AND - like I said - their is no room for the fret to stand up inside the case when the guitar is in there - the top almost touches the top of the guitar.

[Zim]

Maybe they thought a vampire/werewolf was in there and staked it?

[BigPapiFan]

That is one for the books. I don't mean to go "Mythbuster" on you, but I don't see how that could have happened during shipping. It looks from the picture that the fret wire penetrated the case top from the inside outwards because the tolex and fabric seem to be folded outwards. Also there appears to be a small amount of red lining fabric on the exterior top part of the wire. Considering that the fret wire seems to be protruding perpendicularly from the case, it is difficult to imagine how that might have happened. It is also hard to see how that might have happened from the outside, e.g. as if you had inadvertantly dropped a piece of the wire inside the box while packaging it. The wooden frame of the case material should be harder than the cardboard box, therefore I would think that had sufficient force had been applied to drive it through the HSC, then it would seem likely that it would have punctured the box or he egg cartons. Does the inside wire end appear to have been struck with sufficient force to have the wire penetrate the case?
Oh, well, fortunately that is one very miniscule ding, for this you are fortunate.

[Denny]

I've been trying to figure it out too!!!! I'd hate to think that someone opened up the box and actually did that!!!

[Jahn]

How the heck did a fret wiggle between the top of the guitar and the case lining, then stand itself up perpedicular with enough force to penetrate the hardshell case? That's just Freaky.

[Loop-Master]

USPS bent one of my strips into an L shape. I got it in and tried to bend it even more with my knee and I couldn't move it. (They're tough as hell)

This baffled me. They must have run over it with a fork lift while it was leaned up against something. They do weird shit. Someone needs to go undercover.

[Denny]

My concern is that the "shipper" won't honor the insurance claim and I have to pay it. if that happens - then it's either the owner or me that did it - which doesn't look very good.

[atquinn]

Why ask why? If it was me, I would have put the parts in a ziploc bag, then bubble wrapped the ziploc bag (and taped the bubble wrap down), then put that in the compartment. That's how I ship loose parts with guitars. Otherwise, things can and do work their way loose en route. I certainly wouldn't expect you to have better than a snowball's chance in hell of getting any money out of the shipper on this one (assuming the "the shipper" is UPS, Fedex or the like). Could there have been foul play involved? Certainly, but since there's no proof either way, you'll end up being out money for the repair.

-Austin

[Denny]

Hindsight is always 20/20 and NOW I can kick myself for just putting them in there - however - IF the shipper had handled the package correctly, the frets wouldn't have come out of the box, and this wouldn't have happened. It's like saying ..."if Kennedy didn't go to Dallas - he wouldn't have been killed" or....."if Lee Harvey Oswald hadn't gotten that rifel, he wouldn't have been arrested". Putting the frets in the case is not the issue - I've returned parts in there for years - and NEVER have they come out. If the package was handled correctly - even if I just threw the frets in the guitar compartment - all that might have happened was a few scratches. It was the WAY the box was handled.

[EelEye]

Originally Posted by Denny

Hindsight is always 20/20 and NOW I can kick myself for just putting them in there - however - IF the shipper had handled the package correctly, the frets wouldn't have come out of the box, and this wouldn't have happened. It's like saying ..."if Kennedy didn't go to Dallas - he wouldn't have been killed" or....."if Lee Harvey Oswald hadn't gotten that rifel, he wouldn't have been arrested". Putting the frets in the case is not the issue - I've returned parts in there for years - and NEVER have they come out. If the package was handled correctly - even if I just threw the frets in the guitar compartment - all that might have happened was a few scratches. It was the WAY the box was handled.

No offense, but this is wrong thinking. ALWAYS assume your package is going to take big hits, ALWAYS assume the guitar will be shipped upside down (even with arrows pointing the other way), and ALWAYS assume that the shippers "thinking" on how to handle a package is materially different from yours. Putting loose things in the case pocket IS the biggest issue here and is negligent IMHO.

Always put loose parts in a ziploc, and NEVER, EVER use egg cartons to pack something (regardless of "it's always worked fine in the past"). High impact styrofoam and bubble wrap are acceptable, but egg cartons are simply a joke.