From: kim39@husc8.harvard.edu (John Kim)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Re: Hiding your bike to avoid airline charges
Date: 9 Apr 92 01:56:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Apr8.215605.10867
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

lally@beta.lanl.gov (Bryan R. Lally) writes:
>My experience with UPS doesn't bode well ...  I sent my bike from
>case (a PedalPack).  It took 3 days (OK so far).  UPS was able to tear
>off and lose the ~3" seatbelt webbing straps that surround the case to
>completely unwilling to do anything about it, even to look for the
>They beat the case up quite a bit.  Multiple airlines have not been
>able to inflict this much damage, including several overseas flights.
>More recently (last week), I received a new frame sent UPS from
>Pennsylvania to New Mexico.  Yup, you guessed it.  UPS dropped it,
>crushed the box, and crushed the head tube.  Think I want to trust
>these guys with any more bikes?
>	- bryan lally

Well, I ship and receive most things by UPS, and while I like
their speed and efficiency, I have seen many experiences 
in which they seem to damage goods.  I know that the UPS
drivers and loaders are paid well to work FAST FAST FAST,
and also trained to try to avoid lower back injury.  This
often means they don't handle large, heavy or awkward packages
in the most careful way.  The big trucks have no ramp or
lift on back and they have to load and unload boxes up to 70lbs
which often are too large to grab easily, especially while
standing in that narrow aisle in the back of the truck.  Some
general experiences:
1) UPS has never lost anything of mine, but when my roommate sold
	his macintosh COD, they lost the check.  After 1 month
	of wrangling, they are picking up a new check from the
	purchaser tomorrow.
2) UPS has never broken anything of mine, though they have punctured
	my boxes and dented box corners.
3) THey seem to be cheaper than the USPS Priority Mail rates, but
	almost always more expensive than the 3rd class Parcel POst
	rates (however they are faster than PP)
4) I know of 6 Harvard students who have had their computer equipment` 
	damaged in transit by UPS.  1 never made a claim; 1 was
	unable to claim because the computer had not been protected
	adequately with styrofoam; 1 received payment for a new
	hard drive (my old roommate);  2 received cost of repair
	within one month; and the 6th computer, being shipped
	to my ex-girlfriend by her sister, was inspected about
	7 weeks after being damaged, after lots of telephone tag
	witht eh local UPS rep.  Turned out the video board just
	needed to be re-seated and repairs were $24, which were
	promptly paid for by UPS after the repair was done, but
	the inspectino still took 7 weeks  for $24 of damage.
5) UPS now will not take computers from private shippers unless
	they are packed in original cardboard boxes with original
	styrofoam  (or so they said to the woman who's shipping
	her mac to my other roommate--we're used computer central
	these days)
6) I have never heard of UPS damaging any major stuff which was
	new, insured, shipped in standard-sized original company boxes
	by a big client of UPS and obviously fragile and/or
	valuable.
7) sometimes when they unload boxes form the trucks, the UPS guys
	will just drop them from chest height onto the ground.
	once in a while they drop the stuff which seems non-fragile
	to the ground while standing in the truck (bending over
	with heavy loads is bad for the back!).
8) IF you ship UPS, pack carefully, write FRAGILE in inch-high
letters on three sides, use styrofoam or popcorn in abundence,
and insure it!  
-CAse
From: budn@hpmwtd.HP.COM (Bud Noren)
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 15:25:25 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: Race results: Tour of Flanders
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (NMD MTA MWTD). - Santa Rosa, Ca.