Really ticked off at ups and their incompetence in handling packages had a custom sage 3 piece build for a retired professor I know he requested the best of the best so I completed the rod and had a 3/16wall x 2 inch od aluminum tube machined with threaded end caps so for shipping I placed it in a flannel sock and wraooed that in bl wrap to boot put it in a piece of 3 inch pvc tube and glued one end cap bbl wrapped the aluminum tube also and set screwed the other end wrapped that end with black duct tape it arrived on Friday to him and was broken he said it looked like it was used as a pry bar broke the pvc ,bent the aluminum tube about 12 inches from the glued end rod was shattered now have to deal with them for the insurance claim, had it insured for 900.00.
Just proof that they can and do break anything even if you the shipper thinks it id pretty much bullet proofed.
Careful with shipping with them and over insure any thing

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

You will have to prove value (they don't just pay for whatever the insured amount is) but this can usually be done via a bill of sale with the customer.

....................

Can't believe UPS actually delivered it with that much obvious damage , what a nightmare indeed .

Good luck on the collecting I never made out on that type of stuff , they are tuft to collect from

William Sidney
AK

Of all the major shippers Fedex is the only company that has NEVER broke a rod I have shipped. USPS is the worst.

Tom

Matthew Paul Wrote:
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> Careful with shipping with them and over insure
> any thing

Good advice and practice, but I will add put it in a square box no matter what. If it can be stacked and thus less likely to roll around, less likely to get damaged.

Kinda sounds like you tried to ship a tube package...not a good idea and never really has been around my parts. Ironically, UPS will DELIVER a tube to me (sometimes a bit crunched) yet the local offices will not allow me to SHIP one anywhere. I must use a box which is stackable whether it's my own or bought from them on the spot.

I'm guessing load shift in transport is what gets the tube everytime, tubes might also incur possible damage on loading conveyers. Box the tubes.

Long tubes on conveyors is mostly the problem. They don't make the turns and the anvil coming behind it does the number !!

Matthew,
Don't be too upset.
You have insurance and that is what insurance is for.

You have done an excellent job in packaging job in packing the rod.
But, unfortunately, accidents happen. Most likely the rod got caught in one of the conveyors. When nearly anything gets trapped in a conveyor the object will lose every time.

I realize that this does not help you feel any better, but UPS, Fedex and USPS deliver millions of packages with 0 defects.

Unfortunately, due to no part on your own, an accident did happen to your parcel.

But, when accidents happen, time to put your shoulder to the wheel and move on - so to speak.

Over the years, I have shipped many many rods to many many places all over the world. I have had a few incidents, either with receiving a blank, or having an accident with a rod being shipped.

But, I collect the insurance money and depending on the circumstance, do a new build or not and move on.

Particularly, with works of art, as is the typical case with a custom fishing rod, the implied value is the value placed on the object for insurance purposes. I have never had any issue in collecting the value of the insurance policy when an accident occurs and an object is broken. The implication, when an insurance policy is purchased and the insurance carrier accepts payment for that policy value, that they agree that the object is worth the value of the insurance.

Otherwise, if the insurance carrier were to charge $$$ for an insurance policy of a given value, but was only willing to pay out a value of a lesser $$, the carrier would essentially be committing insurance fraud. I believe that if an insurance company was not willing to pay out the full value of the insuraded value, then they should have been unwilling to insure the parcel for the requested value.

But, others may have had different experiences, but full value payment has always been the case for the very few times that such as object has happened to my and my shipment experiences over the years.

Sorry about your loss, but hitch up your slacks and move on with a happy smile. After all, the sun is shining somewhere and the winds are calm.

Be safe