Missing Soprano

Timbuck

Timbuck

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One of my Soprano's is missing ..collected by the courier service on its way to Spain more than 2 weeks ago...Last tracking location was The airport at Hounslow where it disappeared from the radar...The courier service have been searching for it for 5 days with no luck up to now...it looks as if I'll have to send a replacement to the customer..

signing off ... KEN TIMMS pissed off with courier companies :mad:
 
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you have my sympathy (fat lot of use it is but hey).
My experience with couriers is that when something "goes missing" they never bother to look very hard for it ... if at all.
Don't let the bastards get you down...
 
better make it more incognito next time. I hear your fans are hanging around fedex offices now
 
No, they've looked on a computer screen and probably seen as much information as you have. Afraid no search parties have been sent out.
There's still a chance it will turn up but that chance becomes a touch less after each passing day.
 
Pete Howlett said:
Fully insure every time - no cost to you if the couriers screw up!
Click to expand...

Courior companies don't cover musical instruments they are on the excluded list.... see here https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html all the couriors do this in the UK.....In fact just about everything that you want to ship.

Further to this when you book the shipping service, the company will recommend that you fully cover the item to it's full value..even tho its on the excluded list, so they can scam some extra cash.:(
 
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Ken,
your claim is not for damage, but loss of the package whilst in their care, possibly negligence.
Have you tried that approach?
h
 
Ken is correct. The couriers started placing musical instruments on the excluded list around 10 years ago. At the time I enquired why they had started doing this. 'Too many very badly packed Ebay instruments being claimed on' was the reply. Given some of the packing I've seen at my local Post Office and I must admit that they have a point. They damage or misplace well packed items though.
One of the few couriers that do give cover is UPS. In fact I was shocked that they did, to the point that I've phoned them a couple of times just to clarify. I'm still not 100% convinced though!
One of the quickest overseas deliveries I've had was UK to Austria. Collected 2 pm, signed for at the other end at 12:30 pm in Graz the very next day. That's fast but boy did it cost him a lot to get that service!
You can get separate cover through insurance companies but you'll need to be sending enough instruments to justify the annual fee.
 
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Hms said:
Ken,
your claim is not for damage, but loss of the package whilst in their care, possibly negligence.
Have you tried that approach?
h
Click to expand...
The've got that one covered as well Howard Excluded items are goods which Hermes will carry but, are sent at your own risk. Hermes will not compensate you for loss, damage or late delivery of Excluded Items.
 
Not that I am encouraging people to tell porkies ... but ... When specifying the contents can you not list it as a "wooden toy". Firstly people who don't know much about ukuleles see one and say "oh is that for your kid?" and secondly a toy is "played" and so is a ukulele. It's not going to cover you for damage but if it is lost in transit then how are they to know what it is? The added advantage of using "wooden toy" is that nobody in the courier's warehouse is going to pinch it.
Not saying I'd do it but...
 
Perhaps there is an airport handler who's locked himself (or herself) in an airport cupboard, Uke in hand, warbling away blissfully.
Stranger things have happened.
 
Andyk said:
Not that I am encouraging people to tell porkies ... but ... When specifying the contents can you not list it as a "wooden toy". Firstly people who don't know much about ukuleles see one and say "oh is that for your kid?" and secondly a toy is "played" and so is a ukulele. It's not going to cover you for damage but if it is lost in transit then how are they to know what it is? The added advantage of using "wooden toy" is that nobody in the courier's warehouse is going to pinch it.
Not saying I'd do it but...
Click to expand...

It wouldn't work on damaged items, they usually want to see some evidence. On missing items. . . . there is no evidence, it has gone missing!
 
mind you ... The insurance value of one of Ken's ukes is very reasonable ... might have to explain why a wooden toy is insurred for several hundred quid. However anyone who has ever spoken to someone at a courier company about a lost item will probably know that they are not the brightest/motivated people on earth (yes, sweeping generalisations is my speciality).
 
Andyk said:
mind you ... The insurance value of one of Ken's ukes is very reasonable ... might have to explain why a wooden toy is insurred for several hundred quid. However anyone who has ever spoken to someone at a courier company about a lost item will probably know that they are not the brightest/motivated people on earth (yes, sweeping generalisations is my speciality).
Click to expand...
When you have to go to the depot to pay the import duty on an item, then you can see where the brightest/motivated poeple work.
 
Timbuck said:
The've got that one covered as well Howard Excluded items are goods which Hermes will carry but, are sent at your own risk. Hermes will not compensate you for loss, damage or late delivery of Excluded Items.
Click to expand...

I'd still have a go at it Ken, at least get you costs back, then use a proper courier next time. Hermes do not have a good reputation! They can say you are not covered, but that does not absolve them from their duty of care for you item. You cannot insure for negligence! If you get no joy, keep escalating, send an email to the MD, this may help:

http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9539

Mya Moe ship using UPS, costs $110 but worth it, insured and trackable. Gordon ships using a local UPS store, in the UK they are known as Mail Boxes Etc., Contact you local store and see if you can cut a deal to get a better rate for international shipments. Or even just talk to them about the best way of shipping. (Take the size and weight of the shipment for them to work out rates.)

With your ukes being in demand, I don't think you should have any issues with having to charge more for shipping.

h
 
I really feel for you brother.................I don't have an answer, but if it was me, I would keep the heat on them. Don't let them off the hook.....facebook , twitter, any similar on line group, .........a bad review takes years to overcome.
 
That won't do much good. Hermes have already got a few million bad reviews. Everyone still uses them though.
 
I've been looking at the UPS site and they do ship musical instruments overseas ..But! It costs approx £50 with compensation up to £100 for damage or £1000 for lost items...but the instrument must be in a hard case prior to packing...
This means adding about another 100 quid on the price .:uhoh:

I've got to give credit tho' to Hermes they did supply tracking to the given address Asendia courior service at Hounslow..Asendia were then supposed to ship it on to Portugal.
 
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It costs me £200 to ship a guitar to the states. That does not include the packaging or the hard case, just the packaging adds another £25 to it. There are cheaper ways but I'm not going to wait around for a week or so worrying about whether it's got there safely.
I'd never ship an instrument without a hard case anyway. Seems to me that is asking for trouble. A cheaper way might be to line the inside of a stout cardboard box with thin plywood and send the uke in a foam case. You can get sheets of thin ply pretty cheaply. At the end of the day the customer has to pay, there's no two ways about it. Either that or you continue to take the risk. At least if you send a hardcase it's not like they are getting nothing for the extra £50, they are getting a hard case. You can (but should not) charge cost price. I shouldn't tell you about the £450 Kingham case that I ordered and accidently put a small scratch in the outer cover. That scratch cost me £150, which is probably why you should charge a little more than cost price.
 
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