Author Topic: I'm cursed (Read 5375 times)

LazyNinja · « **on:** November 09, 2007, 09:58:39 PM »

Bought a beautiful tobaccoburst Washburn Wi66pro on ebay. I was looking forward to posting a new guitar thread but then what happens? Bloody parcelforce makes a chip on the side. I'm angry at the seller too because his packing was a guitar box but the internal packing was minimal. If you guys remember I bought a guitar a while back (Tokai PRS) which was damaged on delivery and the seller used Parcel force then. I was wary of PF so I asked the seller to ship it by DHL but he refused to do so.

Now I gotta go through the claim process and what's more, I have to trust the seller to fill out the form and do everything for me. I bet he couldn't care less.

I HATE YOU PARCELFORCE!!! :x :x :x

Will · « **Reply #1 on:** November 09, 2007, 10:24:45 PM »

Oh shitee. bad luck there! that looks mean.
How on earth would they do that... throwing it in the van?

WezV · « **Reply #2 on:** November 09, 2007, 10:35:11 PM »

Nasty!! - the packaging is poor though so i am not sure what parcelforce will do

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #3 on:** November 09, 2007, 10:40:08 PM »

That is way too little packaging to ship a guitar.....even just in the UK
It needed to be in another box/carton on top of the one it was in with some padding between the two boxes.

Some people have no idea

Philly Q · « **Reply #4 on:** November 09, 2007, 10:54:00 PM »

Bugger! It's not just a tiny bit of damage either, it looks pretty awful (sorry :oops: ).

Must admit, I did once ship a guitar in a box like that, but with a heavily-padded gig bag inside. Those triangular boxes fit the guitar too closely for adequate protection, much better to have a big rectangular box with plenty of room for extra padding.

ParcelForce are useless tossers, but I think it's just as much the seller's fault. I can't understand why he wouldn't ship by DHL if you were prepared to pay for it - it's just as easy to arrange, and really no more expensive either.

opprobrium_9 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 10, 2007, 01:50:08 AM »

thats no guitar box, thats a shitebox :?

bloody mail services :shock:

blue · « **Reply #6 on:** November 10, 2007, 06:16:18 AM »

i've been very lucky, i've had a couple packed like that which that turned out okay, but i still felt mad at the seller for putting such flimsy protection on the guitar! you gotta assume this is someone that doesn't really care: any of us would want a guitar to be looked after like a baby, even one we didn't want!

GGGRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

sorry, anger overload!

honestly, i feel really bad for you. i can imagine the building excitement waiting for the guitar to arrive, then this busted up box appears at the door. it's enough to make you cry!

horsehead · « **Reply #7 on:** November 10, 2007, 09:07:23 AM »

See this is what's wrong with most of the carriers in england...they can't give a stuff..."chuck it in mate, it's not my problem" seems to be their standard response.
I once ordered a lakewood guitar & was told that it would be delivered by the following tuesday, tuesday comes & I'm like a little kid at christmas. I come home to find...nothing. I ring the shop,"well it should have been delivered, let me get ontot them". He calls me back "he delivered this morning at 10:30".
"No he bloody never, I was at work. Did he deliver it to another address?"
"No to yours" he says.
"Well he'll have a signature won't he, what name is on the docket?"
"Errrr he didn't get one...he left it on your doorstep"
"What! Well it's not bloody here now."
Turns out he couldn't be arsed to come back again so he left it on the doorstep & buggered off!

Philly Q · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2007, 10:34:10 AM »

Quote from: horsehead

Turns out he couldn't be arsed to come back again so he left it on the doorstep & buggered off!

:o Never had that, fortunately, except occasionally with small parcels - I assume you never saw the Lakewood again? :(

What amazes me is that they don't bother to leave cards - how difficult can it be, FFS? I ordered an Orange TT over a month ago, apparently ParcelForce attempted delivery - twice - then returned it. So the dealer sent it back to me - 2 more delivery attempts (allegedly), and this time they left a card - with no tracking number. So 1 card out of 4 attempts - am I supposed to be psychic, to know they've been?

Last week I had a similar experience with an item I'd sold on eBay - the courier (City Link) attempted delivery 3 times, then returned it to me a week later. The guy said they never left a card. Fortunately he was in London, so I took a 3.5 hour round trip (straight after being up all night :roll: ) and delivered it personally.

LazyNinja · « **Reply #9 on:** November 10, 2007, 10:52:25 AM »

Well the seller hasn't replied yet. He's not a shop seller so I can't send it back either. It's so annoying that I can't handle the insurance claim myself. Also he said he insured it for £200 but for those that didn't know this already, I found that

-----Parcel Force only compensates up to £150 for musical instruments no matter the damage-------

:x

WTF? So I strongly recommend against using parcel force for sending guitars or ANYTHING. I'd use DHL everytime. I don't use City Link as my drummer used to work for them and to be honest if people like him were handling my stuff I wouldn't use their service!! :lol:

Is there any way to fix this damage (Feline/Wez/Bob?) Fortunately the guitar didn't cost me much and if I get compensation I might decide to fix it. How much would a nitro re-finish cost?

Another option I guess is to make it look relic'd.... The damage is where they normally do that arm-rest-wear thing. Does anyone know what happens if you try to sand a poly finish? Would it start to peel away from the crack and become a total mess? Also this thing is a veneer on maple cap design so I'm afraid of the veneer peeling off.

any suggestions are appreciated!

Philly Q · « **Reply #10 on:** November 10, 2007, 11:59:05 AM »

If it's any consolation (misery loves company), I'm now a fellow sufferer.

It looks like my Tiny Terror is well and truly lost. I asked for it to be delivered to a local Post Office, and although the ParcelForce website says it's been delivered and signed for, I've just been there and the guy says he hasn't got it. What next?

Woogie · « **Reply #11 on:** November 10, 2007, 12:06:24 PM »

I`m so glad I purchased my JCM800 100w from a local shop now!! My Legra got posted in a hardcase inside a big cardboard box with padding round the outside and it was fine. I think these courier companies should treat our expensive equipment with more respect!!

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #12 on:** November 10, 2007, 12:07:19 PM »

THE ORIGINAL FINISH LOOKS TO BE POLYESTER
You are much more likely to get a good fix if you use poly again

Frustration is that the finishing can take time and that equals money when you are paying some one to do stuff so I dont know how much someone might charge to redo the paint
It may be that a paint tech can remove the chipped and cracked sections , re-tint the area and drop some polyester in and flat and polish it back level with the old paint in way that will blend and not be noticeable.
That would probably be the cheapest option.

Actually looking at it - I reckon that a "superglue fix would work well
Retint the wood , drop som superglue in and let it dry slowly , adding more glue to build it up till you can flat it back and polish it
Not easy peasy but do-able

To be fair some of the problem with shipping stuff via Parcelforce (or amy other carrier) is that stuff gets crushed in the back of the van or at the depot when it goes round the conveyor. I have had the same problems with TNT or DHL when the person sending something has not taken care to pack it well

It really is all in the packing and taking care to ensure your item is well cushioned and packed - in a case is always a good idea too.

I know that there is a general feeling that the BRITISH employee or worker takes no pride or care in what they do - maybe unless they are self employed (like myself/Tim /Bob Johnson etc etc) and to some extent it s true.

This is however the curse of buying online and not supporting local shops.
You may get a discount but so much can go wrong.

OK - cant really do much about buying secondhand

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #13 on:** November 10, 2007, 01:53:28 PM »

Parcelforce in other parts of the country may suck but I've had no problem with them here in the North East - I always get a card if they've been and always get a card if they've left the parcel with a neighbour.

The problem in this case is the seller - the packaging is nowhere near sufficient to protect the guitar and theres a chance Parcelforce might not pay up because of this.

I once had a guy send me a Laney Supergroup for some mods and he just sent the amp with the pvc cover and a address label stuck on the top. I was amazed it got here undamaged.

:twisted:

Jonesy76 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 10, 2007, 03:17:05 PM »

I've always used Parcel Force when I've sold a guitar to someone on either eBay or a music ad, because I can drop the parcel off with them. DHL, UPS, FedEx and co all insist on arranging a pickup which usually is during working hours when - guess what? - I'm working

.

To be fair I've only sold a couple of cheapo guitars that didn't have hardcases to protect them inside their cardboard boxes, but I wrapped those within an inch of their lives in bubble wrap. ParcelForce has always got them to where they were supposed to be, and around here in Norfolk anything I have delivered to me always has a card left. Anything I have sold has always turned up in good nick at the other end too.

The absolute worst things are packages from the US. If they're sent via one of the big carriers (UPS, DHL, FedEx) they get picked up and delivered by the same company in both countries. Everything - and I mean everything - I've ever had delivered via USPS has always turned up in an utterly shite state

This is because once it hits these shores it no longer becomes a USPS parcel and becomes a ParcelForce one instead. USPS don't give a shite because any damage they simply blame on ParcelForce our end, and ParcelForce don't give a shite because any damage they'll blame on USPS beforehand. Moral of the story.....don't buy from the States if the seller wants to use USPS. Pay more for one of the big 3 couriers, or don't buy at all.