Lesser of 2 Evils....UPS or FedEx???

[robotoid]

Well, I was going to try UPS, just because their hub is closer to my house than FedEX. I went in to get boxes and asked the desk clerk how much it would cost to ship a handgun. He says I have to bring the gun in UNBOXED with a "hard case" (which I'll have to buy, since all I have is the old tupperware style box) because they have to "check it" and then box it up. I don't like that idea at all! I was going to triple box and super tape it to keep the thieving employees out of it. I guess I'll try FedEx. I'm also none to pleased with the cost ($45), and will have to get them to send out a warranty call tag.

 

[Rule3]

Can't you just take it to your local FFL gunshop guy? They can mail it USPS priority mail.

 

[robotoid]

Can't you just take it to your local FFL gunshop guy? They can mail it USPS priority mail.

I tried, he said it would "cheaper" for me to send it myself, since it was going to a manufacturer. I'm thinking not.

 

[Joni_Lynn]

If your dealer told you it would be cheaper for you to do it then he either ships by UPS/FedEx or he's just too lazy to ship it for you through USPS.
I have a great dealer that takes care of most of my shipping needs.

 

[robotoid]

If your dealer told you it would be cheaper for you to do it then he either ships by UPS/FedEx or he's just too lazy to ship it for you through USPS.

This would be my guess, 50/50 combo of shiping service and general laziness. I see the UPS and FedEx trucks at his place regularly. I doubt he (or one of his employees) wants to stand in line at the Post Office when he has someone who comes to his door. It is peculiar in that I had this shop ship a gun to another dealer about 9-10 months ago and it was only like $20. I may have to go back and talk with another one of the owners. I'm going to call the manufacturer back tommorrow and ask for a LE service rep to hopefully get some better customer service and a call tag.

 

[Rule3]

Go to the post office get a box, or you can even have them sent to your home online(free) and get a flat rate shipping box, probably medium costs $10 to ship. Bring it to the shop and hand him the box and $10. How tough can that be?( for the gun shop, not you)

Got to be more than one dealer in town. Did you buy guns and stuff there??

 

[ref441]

I have shipped and received well over 1500 guns. USPS Priority Mail is the cheapest; but their insurance rates are out-of-whack, about 1.5% of the stated value. Having never had a loss, I started a year ago only insuring for about 60% of the value. By now, I am ahead of the game and doing better each time. The Delivery Confirmation they now have for 75 cents (I think) is quite a bargain. It is not true daily tracking, but proves to the Buyer that I shipped it and proves to me that he received it...both on the Internet.

On the subject of tracking, why are some people obsessed with having the Tracking Number? If it gets there on the stated date, as mine always do, what difference does it make where it is each night along the way?

My primary wholesaler ships handguns by UPS with two-day delivery and it costs me $4.86 everytime...hard to beat.

Have never had a loss by UPS or FedEx. Once, a week before Christmas, I ordered a S&W 1911Sc from a wholesaler in Connecticut. I received it 23 hours later in rural Colorado with 6" of snow on the ground and more falling...with the UPS driver 20 miles from his depot. It's hard to imagine how many "handoffs" had to be crisply made for that to happen. But it did cost me $53.

 

[robotoid]

What a sickening feeling, having to hand your gun to some hood rat working the counter at FedEx and HAVING to tell them its a gun in the box. I only went with FedEx because UPS wanted me to bring the gun in UNBOXED so they could "inspect" it. Yeah, right. NOT!! I will not rest easy until I call tommorrow and get assurance it has safely arrived. Oh, yeah $52 bucks shipping, and I'll bet a get major hassle with the insurance claim if one of their employees does boost it.

 

[Joni_Lynn]

Shipping isn't a happy experience anymore. My dealer ships for me through the USPS but if I can't do it that way then my next choice is FedX and last choice is UPS. UPS has been gracious enough to all but destroy a couple things I shipped and the USPS has tried a time or so themselves. On guns that can't be easily replaced or that have sentimental value, I just won't ship them. If possible I deliver them myself and pick them up when finished. (usually not possible though)

 

[robotoid]

Not really wanting to do this, I finally said to myself, it's just a nothing special "G Perfection"???. If it's lost/stolen, no biggy, I can run down to the local pusher and get another just like it tommorrow. It would just morally bother me to no end that one of MY guns ended up in the hands of some street gremlin or goblin. That and I'm sure it will be no end of hassle to get them to pay off an insurance claim.

 

[Joni_Lynn]

I cringe at the thought of any of my guns in the hands of someone that is going to use it in a crime. Bad enough if stolen but even worse to find out what was done with it.

 

[ref441]

Shipping

I have shipped and received hundreds of guns by USPS, FedEx, UPS, and a few by DHL...have never had a loss other than once when the deliveryman left the package with a neighbor when I was gone and they failed to tell me it arrived...and I got it, albeit a month later.