Any trouble with shipping instruments?

[Chuck's Committee]

I sold a 1961 Martin Committee Deluxe #3 bore on eBay this past February 12th. I shipped it Fedex with $4500 insurance from NC to OR to the buyer on Feb 15. Today I filed an insurance claim for the $4500 plus shipping cost itself. The Fedex insurance claim department told me that they searched for it and could not find it. They assume that it is lost. They assured me that they would honor my insurance claim. It is a shame to have that horn disappear like that. No harm and no foul if Fedex pays my claim. I will pay the buyer back as well. This is the second time that Fedex has purchased a shipment from me through insurance recently. They are my biggest buyer! Anyone have similar experiences?
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Chuck Cox
1949 Martin Committee Deluxe #2 bore
1951 Martin Committee Deluxe #3 bore
1953 Martin Committee Cornet #2 bore
Do something with every note you play. Sometimes the rests are more important than the notes

[THE BD]

I've never had a horn get lost, but I did have a tuba receive extensive bell trauma. USPS paid for the repairs so no harm no foul in the long run, buyer was happy with the result as well!
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Martin D Williams

Yeah, I did that!

[ECLtmpt2]

I've been buying and selling instruments using UPS and FedEx for years. Really, back to the pre-web '1-800' days of WWBW. Besides trumpets there were flugelhorns, euphoniums, a number of 66-key and 88-key keyboards, amps/PA's, etc. and no real issues. One minor claim with UPS that was handled very well. FedEx has always been exceptional with my stuff, in and out going, but there is a premium.

If you remember the large wreck in Ft. Worth Texas a few weeks ago there were a lot of trucks (UPS and FedEx) involved. I had a pair of hiking boots on the way to me and the tracking number went dormant and then removed from the tracking site altogether. Zappos refunded me the money and said if they show up keep them. A week later I got a slightly banged up box with a great pair of boots. That makes the next pair 50% off!

My point: The horn might show up eventually but I would go through the insurance actions ASAP. You do photo all your packages during packing and after fully boxed just in case (no pun intended), I do.

[A.N.A.Mendez]

I sold a nice Olds trumpet to someone in Spain last year. After a month or so they contacted me saying it had not arrived ( not unusual, customs) I assured them it would most likely arrive after customs did their thing. Of course with all the madness going on this past year.......
That was in March 2020. Last week, I got a very worn, beat up box on my doorstep. It looked like Louis Armstrongs' case with stickers and notices from 4 different countries all over it. I had no way of finding the buyer aside from looking at my emails from that time period. I sent several messages but no response. I fear something must have happened to them......
I stand ready to send a refund or the horn again as they wish.
Strange times we live in........
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"There is no necessity for deadly strife" A. Lincoln 1860

☛ "No matter how cynical you get, it's never enough to keep up" Lily Tomlin☚

[ayryq]

I've been sending horns back and forth to Osmun via UPS with no problems.

For now, I wouldn't send anything via USPS. More than half of the packages I've sent or been sent in the last 6 months have been delayed or lost, and I'm having mixed results with first class mail as well.

I used to be a mail carrier for the USPS and I would try to use them whenever possible, but they have some catching up to do at the moment.

Insurance is great but it takes a while to work and usually you'd rather have the thing you were shipping!
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Yamaha YTR6345HGS Bb
Bach "Philly" C
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[gregplo]