QTH.COM Swap Chat

Ok, here's the deal, most of which we don't know. You agree to purchase an item from another ham, get the weight and dimensions of the package. Ask the seller to get it packed, when it is packed, contact UPS or FED-EX and arrange to have the item picked up at his/her residence, PAY FOR IT WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD! And if you insure the item, it comes damaged, and YOU get the insurance money, not the seller. If the seller does not like this method, then don't buy from him. Recap it, you pay the shipper for the shipping, and a few extra bucks for insurance, and if the package is delivered damaged, the item goes back to the shipper and he has to inspect the item, and then file a claim. Then he/she gets the check, now hopefully he/she sends you the money, but if they are crooked, they get the item, the insurance money, and you have no recourse, and you don't get to call UPS and ask any questions. Trust me, I found out the hard way. Good Luck.

Mathew

Matthew, thanks for sharing this. This is a great idea, especially for larger, expensive items. I had never thought of doing it this way, but it sounds like a winner!

Well Matt:That works great if you can get UPS to pay.I have been waiting for my money for over a month,keep having to jump through hoops.Not one person from UPS has cotacted me.I have to do all the calling
I have all records of the phone calls and shipping info.I test ham gear and just sent to Indiana via UPS a 6 month old FT920.It looked like it was smashed by a wrecking ball.Was insured for $1000.00 plus.Still waiting.Any help would be appreciated.It might be noted that the FT920 was shipped to me via USPS with no damage.......CAUTION STAY AWAY FROM UPS.......................

One of the ramifications of this approach is the fact that by paying the shipping fees at the point of origin, in reality, you are accepting the equipment, unseen, BEFORE it is shipped, same as FOB.

This means that, if the equipment is already damaged or is poorly packed and is damaged becaused of improper packing, you eat the loss since you are the shipper and not the seller. From the carrier's viewpoint, YOU, the customer, are responsible for packing and no one else. If they can show it was not properly packed, they will not pay for any loss.

Frankly, I don't beleive the risk is worth it. But, don't take my word for it. Check the laws in your state and determine if this type of risk is real or not.

Don't accept UPS's insurance carriers initial denial of claims. I had a radio that was clearly destroyed by a forklift.

UPS's insurance carrier claimed it was improperly packed. Baloney!

If UPS accepts your package for shipment either by carrier pickup or if you drop at a UPS counter, (UPS Stores don't count) unless they open the package, inspect it and reject it, they are agreeing that it is packed properly.

I got this from a UPS employee. When the insurance company was presented with this fact, they paid the claim immediately.

Mathew Quaife wrote:Ok, here's the deal, most of which we don't know. You agree to purchase an item from another ham, get the weight and dimensions of the package. Ask the seller to get it packed, when it is packed, contact UPS or FED-EX and arrange to have the item picked up at his/her residence, PAY FOR IT WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD! And if you insure the item, it comes damaged, and YOU get the insurance money, not the seller. If the seller does not like this method, then don't buy from him. Recap it, you pay the shipper for the shipping, and a few extra bucks for insurance, and if the package is delivered damaged, the item goes back to the shipper and he has to inspect the item, and then file a claim. Then he/she gets the check, now hopefully he/she sends you the money, but if they are crooked, they get the item, the insurance money, and you have no recourse, and you don't get to call UPS and ask any questions. Trust me, I found out the hard way. Good Luck.

Mathew

Mathew's Idea is a perfect one, you can also go to ups.com and set up your own ups account, its free. once you pay for item you can go to your ups .com account and schedule a pick. ups will email you when the item is picked up. then you can track it from there. you can have up two email address for ups to send to.If you dont like ups, fedex has same service online. I dont know about DHL i dont use them.

to open your own personal ups account
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/index.html

okay some of you are saying about packing, there is one way around this. If you have a up account, you can have the seller pack the item up. then ask the seller to go to any ups store, (which most of us do in order to ship these items)
the usp store can then just type in your account number in and see that you have scheduled this item to be shipped, they will then print out the label and ship. when you are doing the shipping, just ask them to put it in a box and ship it out. they then assume all responsibilities in the packing. since they packed your box. this actually happened to me, with an item i sold on ebay not to long ago. but because the ups store put my box inside another ups box. they had to pay for it. plus i got the item back it still works after some har dwork on it but it stll has dents on the case and the back is cracked. but still revieves...i might not be so lucky next time , but hey it works for now!!