Shipping Disaster - Rectified

[wojo]

I’m not much on social media as my number of posts might show.  But I wanted to share what happened and the thumbs up to one of our suppliers and a thumbs down to a major delivery company.

 

I’ve owned my ’74 (4227595, on the registry) since 11/78.  In the early 80’s the heater fan quit so the box had to be pulled it out to replace it.  Fast forward to today while doing restoration, knowing the seals were shot and the fan wasn’t working real well it was time to deal with it.

 

When I pulled it out, saw the condition and started looking into refurbishing the box, it seemed that the solution was to send it off to PRDesign to be completely rebuilt by someone who knew what they were doing better than me.

 

The shipping box was needless to say big.  I went old school and wrote the sender and recipient information on the box with a magic marker and put all of that information in the box as well.  

 

I’ve shipped and received thousands of boxes over my career and don’t ever remember one being totally lost until this one.  Fortunately, out of concern that this isn’t an everyday item, I put significant value on it.  The tracking information from FedEx Ground said they delivered it but when I call PRDesign to make sure, they said it never arrived.  This news caused a near panic.  

 

There begins the rest of the story.  I had numerous calls with Fed EX Ground and PRDesign.  Ground said it was delivered and had a signature, so when a claim was filed they said too bad as they had delivered the box and denied the claim. From both ends we tried to get information as to where Ground had delivered the box, but that was never answered.  I was able to get a direct number to the Ground office here in Columbia and learned the signature for the delivery was illegible and all they could provide were GPS coordinates for the delivery.  Digging more revealed that the box was delivered somewhere on the block where PRDesign is but not which address.  The office here also provided the direct number for the San Francisco Ground office, but they never answered the phone or returned a call.

 

So after numerous calls with PRDesign, they were able to put together a heater box for me.  I wish it was the original box but that’s not to be.  The good news is a nicely refurbished heater box is waiting for the point in the restoration when it can be installed in my car.  

 

Just because curiosity got the better of me, we hooked it up to power to see how much better it is. What a difference from the old fan and leaking seals!  

 

I don’t know what the answer is for shipping our rare and valuable parts but I’ll use someone else in the future.  By the way, PRDesign used USPS to ship the refurbished box.

[John_in_VA]

I love a happy ending.  Only Steve/Conserv would hunt for a number/marking  on the box to ding you at a car show! 

I guess the block where your box was delivered to is too big or PRDesign too busy to hunt it down. I'm not familiar with them.

[Spyke]

I really hate everyone in the shipping industry besides 3 that have never failed me

 

Golden State Overnight

DHL

On Trac

 

How these places are able to take ZERO responsibility for anything that they take responsibility for is just beyond my comprehension...

[2002iii]

I like the fact that my packages can make it across the whole country fine and get broken when the delivery man rolls them down my stairs because it's too hard to walk up and down 20 steps. Also once I received a note from the USPS saying they couldn't find my front door, it is literally a straight stair case from the street to my front door (I think Ray Charles could have found it lol).

[TobyB]

This is what small claims court is for.  

 

t

had a REAL disaster on a ship, once:

"oh, I pulled the plug to let the water out!"

[resra]

I have used Fedex for the last 20 years but in the last 1 year or so im seeing some really disappointing delivery practices. I never liked UPS but im tilting more towards USPS now.

What I have found is that the Fedex delivery drivers have some sort of target delivery numbers a day and they rush to deliver stuff even if no ones there. Similar thing happened to me when my office was closed and I was expecting a delivery, despite placing a request put on for a hold they simply delivered it to a different office in the complex. Luckily, they knew who I was and brought it over the next day. Then recently they damaged two of my boxes very heavily. So, i'm not sure what to think of them anymore. I also noticed that their 1st rule of thumb is to decline any claim as soon as you submit all your evidence and paperwork, photos etc. 

They hope you just keep quiet and shy away but you have to keep fighting if you are not in the wrong to begin with and you had insurance. In which instance I did but was surprised when they damaged my package and declined my claim as soon as I submitted all the necessary documents.

 

 

[wojo]

From everything I learned, Fed Ex now uses GPS coordinates for delivery notification.  One of the managers that I've know for years said it's driving them crazy.  

 

As for this package, PRDesign is part of Auto Dynamik, Inc in downtown San Fransisco.  On the map it looks to be on a street with some shops, apartment buildings and this garage.  PRDesign said they were told a substitute driver was on the route the day it was supposedly delivered so a delivery location couldn't be determined.  They also said that someone possibly saw the size of the package and grabbed it thinking it was something of value.  (A '74 BMW heater box isn't going to be worth much to someone outside of this group)  When seeing it, it would have been trashed.  

 

As for Fed Ex, I've both called and sent in forms for the claim.  No response.  

 

But as said before, PRDesign did put a box together for me.

[coloincaalpine RIP 2021]

FedEx = The Worst