HP 9100B shipping horror story

[dfnr2]

Hi All,

Here's a horror story:

I recently picked up a nice looking, working HP9100B with printer, and almost immediately got notice that it shipped. I figured that probably only the paperwork was created, so I sent the following email:

Hi There,

I saw you are sending using USPS. Are you confident that they will deliver as reliably and carefully as UPS or Fedex ground?

Just to make sure--this is a very fragile item. In particular, the CRT is very susceptible to knocks and vibration during shipping, so if possible, could you pack the printer and calculator separately, and use at least 4" of bubble wrap on every side, in addition to something soft (like paper, or backs of styrofoam peanuts) to fill in any gaps so there is no shifting at all. If you do use styrofoam peanuts to fill space, I would be grateful if you put them in plastic garbage bags, so there are no loose peanuts to foul the electronics or my living room ;-) Also, it would help to clearly mark the box as FRAGILE, and clearly indicate which side is up. I hope that doesn't sound too pushy, but it's a lot of money for me, and I would love to see this make the trip safely!!

Many thanks!

Dave​

Several hours later I received the following:

She assured me package would be handled with care. It had already been shipped before I got your message. Printer is attached to unit. Sorry it took so long to respond back, I'm having phone problems​

UPS left the package in my driveway today. The CRT is rattling around, and the machine is non-functional. I emailed the seller to see what arrangement he would like to make, but if he doesn't offer a substantial percentage refund, I'm sending it back.

I now realized there's an excellent page on packing on this site. In the future, I'll be making liberal use of that link.

Pictures below

 

[dfnr2]

And the rest of the pictures.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Take heart--work through eBay's procedures (I'm assuming that this was eBay)--the seller has to pay return shipping and may not want to bother with that. It could end up that it's yours to keep.

 

[vwestlife]

On eBay, items that get damaged during shipping are the seller's fault*, and eBay may force them to either take it back (with return shipping paid by them) or give you a full or partial refund without needing to return it. You can open a case against them and upload those photos as proof of the damage.

* the only exception is for items sold through eBay's Global Shipping Program. If the damage occurs between eBay's Pitney Bowes shipping center in Kentucky and the destination, then it is eBay's fault, not the seller's.

 

[KC9UDX]

USPS or UPS?

My PET arrived like that via USPS, but there was absolutely no damage. From the best I could tell, it was like that when it was packaged up.

I've had packages show up in better shape from UPS with the contents damaged.

 

[dfnr2]

In my experience, USPS is just about as good as UPS or Fedex.

However, USPS is often selected by individuals who haven't given any thought to shipping. Also, with USPS it's guaranteed that the shipper self-packed the item with little guidance. UPS and Fedex stores offer advice (and with insurance have certain standards) for packing, and offer packing services.

So, with no other information, the odds are slightly better that a package shipped UPS or FedEx will be better packed.

Dave

 

[dfnr2]

Take heart--work through eBay's procedures (I'm assuming that this was eBay)--the seller has to pay return shipping and may not want to bother with that. It could end up that it's yours to keep.

Perhaps, but I'm much happier if the calculator survives and the seller gets to keep his reward for recognizing the value in the calculator and putting it into appreciative hands. He messed up, but I think it was out of lack of experience and lack of common sense, not a lack of good will.

If he agrees, I will open up the calculator and see if it's something simple (like poorly seated boards, which I've seen before after shipping). Maybe, with luck, there will be no need for a refund or return.

Dave

 

[glitch]

Sellers are good at mis-packing items. I recently received a hardened military/police tablet with a shattered screen -- the seller managed to pack it *that* poorly. Fortunately he had more and sent another along as a replacement, but I'm pretty sure that one only survived because it was a hardened piece of equipment, one wrap of the thin bubble wrap in one of those "board game" size flat rate boxes.

 

[KC9UDX]

So, with no other information, the odds are slightly better that a package shipped UPS or FedEx will be better packed.

I agree. But in my experience, something marginally packed is much more likely to survive intact by USPS and FedEx than UPS. I've had things packed well get demolished by UPS.

 

[vwestlife]

I agree. But in my experience, something marginally packed is much more likely to survive intact by USPS and FedEx than UPS. I've had things packed well get demolished by UPS.

UPS = United Parcel Smashers

 

[dfnr2]

This weekend, I opened up the machine to see if re-seating the cards would help, since in the past it has helped in a similar situation. No luck.

However, I did see a kind of chunky insect, resembling a stink bug, lodged between two caps on a register board. I brushed it into the wastebasket and was surprised to see it start to crawl out. I rushed the wastebasket to the door and chucked it outside rather than let this sucker loose in the house. I was afraid to crush it because, as I said, it looked like a stinkbug. However, in retrospect, I wish I had killed it rather than introduce a potentially new kind of stinkbug into our local ecosystem.

I inspected the rest of the unit as well as possible without a full disassembly, and tried to flush out any other critters from the high voltage, keyboard, and logic sections using compressed air (from a can). Nothing else emerged.

Ugh.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Never, ever ship anything in the month before Christmas. All the shippers are in panic mode, particularly with online shopping getting to be dominant over B&M purchases. Toss that box, kick that crate, seems to be the rule.

 

[KC9UDX]

Hold that line! Block that kick! Toss that box! Kick that crate! (Number nine.)

I expect what you call stink bugs and the things we have here that we call stink bugs are totally different. I don't ever fear killing our stink bugs because they only stink when they die naturally, for some reason. Frankly, we have them everywhere, but I never smell the stink anymore. Perhaps I've acclimated.