While UPS may claim to "professionally pack" your items for you, I don't know why you would trust someone making ten dollars an hour (who is probably overworked/underpaid and treated like crap) to package something this valuable. Surely the seller of the item, who is also aware of the item's intrinsic worth, would take a great amount of care, wouldn't they?

@xthexlanternx: Yeah. I agree with xthexlanternx. If it was that important I think you should have found another way to get it...yourself.

Once the seller has their money they are not as caring...and UPS well...I would not trust them with an 1 of a kind item like this.

If it was in a different state I would have taken a few off and drove there myself and then took it back home. At least whatever happens...I was there.

Maybe I'm a packing moron, but it looks like a pretty good job. I don't know how I could have packed it better. I think the problem here is "professional handling," not professional packing. You can pack something as well as you want, but it won't stand a chance if they delivery guy pitches it at your front door.

It's UPS what do you expect. Also increased weight, and increased travel distance, both incur greater damage. If you can get your insurance money you should be happy, for with UPS that can be a challenge.

Are you sure the seller actually had UPS do the packing? Maybe he just took the extra cash and did it himself?

That sucks, but it's really hard to tell from that picture what happened. I'd like to see the outside of the box. I don't see how the delivery guy could have thrown it. It looks kind of big, especially if they had to tape three boxes together.

Peanuts are EVIL. They don't work to cushion anything because they shift during handling, they static-cling to everything when they come out and if they are the plastic kind, you can't recycle them. It looks as if the car was wrapped mostly in bubble wrap, which, if there is enough, shouldn't move around too much. But a thin cardboard box around it won't help things stay put.

I pack stuff all the time at work and as long as the box is sturdy and the item won't move around inside and is cushioned properly all around, it shouldn't break.

It doesnt help that UPS slams each package around no less than 5 times in a normal shipment.

They have conveyor belts that actually drop the packages at least 10 feet in their processing facility. Go look for yourself, the doors are usually open.

A had a friend who worked their during christmas as seasonal help and he confirmed that they drop, kick, and throw around many packages and could care less.

Fedex, although a bit gentler, has their own issues like redirecting packages and denying it and not keeping records of it.

Usps will just throw your package away and tell you, too bad.

Not that DHL isn't in the residential delivery, UPS is the lesser of the 3 evils in my opinion.

For a fair price, ship with UPS direct, NOT the UPS Stores which rape you with packaging, handling, and other bs charges which double the cost.

I have my own account online and prep the package and pay online. All you do is drop it at any UPS direct or UPS store or give it to a driver. Its good to go!

Working for a big shipping company and having to pack on a regular bases let me explain a few things.

1. At my store (and it's supose to be company policy) we do not take taped togethor boxes this is the reason

2. Peanuts are no longer used for packaging they shift and do nothing for the item, stuffing it with paper adn then using foam would have been the best bet.

I wish I could use this as an example as to why we won't except some packages.

I personally have sold Waterford crystal on ebay (quite a bit of it) and I've shiped all over the world (austrilia to just a few towns away) and I've never had a single item break because I pack with Bubble and then stuff it with paper.

That's how you should ship items.

Furthermore, I would have used Frieght with a wooden crate. Less chances of breakage.

@embean: No they offer proffsional packaging as well. And this is a big no no as ar as packaging goes, you do not tape boxes togethor you create weak spots that are easy to bend.

You also don't fill it with peanuts as they shift to side to side causing the item inside to lay flush against a side of a box.

This could have been packaged better, but not by UPS this needed a custom wooden box for it to be safe.

@xthexlanternx: wow angry much? Blaming the OP and then bashing hard working employee's.

Good job.

@xthexlanternx: How about "I really care about this thing, it's worth paying someone to pack it."

What's the point of posting this article? You have no pictures of the box, and no pictures of how the item was before this guy bought it. For all he knows he got it in the original condition it was sent in..

I realize it's Saturday, might be kinda slow, but you guys have to stop with these articles that you always end up for casually apologizing for later.

No info, bad photos = not worth posting.

I have been told by the UPS Store, if THEY pack it, it's guaranteed.
Looks like there is an issue, hmm.

First time art shipment mistake. All art works should be shipped in a wooden box with excelsior as it provides the best and safest solution. If you love your art work never trust it to cheap shipping alternatives you will never forgive yourself. I learned this lesson the hard way with an expensive painting. Luckily only the frame was damaged.

In UPS's defense, they DO claim that they can pack "ALMOST" anything.
This apparently wasn't included in that statement.

@Skankingmike: @Skankingmike: I have worked with an independently owned/operated UPS store that would make custom wooden crates. Worked out pretty well the one time I needed it.

@embean: If you really want your item to survive, there should be something strong in the box that is longer/wider than the item to take the brunt of outside force. Like styrofoam, etc.

I do agree that a wooden crate would have been preferable to what they did, though.

@searonson: that's the problem they're all individual not corporate so you get different services at different places.

But yes Wooden Crate best bet for this.

So basically what we have here is the shipping equivalent of handing Geek Squad your one-of-a-kind prototype Commodore 64 to fix, getting it back with parts missing and wires cut off and then acting surprised when this happens.

Granted, there was a guaranteed "professional service" offered that was used, however even the best laid plans and protocols mean nothing without proper execution. As Mike pointed out using a freight service would have been a much more suitable choice. They are usually not under the same stresses as regular ground or express services and make only a handful of deliveries a day. There are also fewer people handling the package between A and B and rarely any automation involved aside from generating paperwork.

It's a shame that this happened, but I think a bit of common sense could have prevented it. I mean, if I saw a guy taping several boxes together to make a bigger box I'd probably stop him and ask if there was a better way. I also despise peanuts and wouldn't wish their use upon another human being for any reason (well, most any reason). However, some people aren't as savvy to what goes on behind the scenes once the package is on the truck, perhaps if they were a lot fewer incidents such as this one could have been avoided.

@FooSchnickens: I get asked to tape boxes together all the time by people and when I explain that I won't do it due to company policy they get mad.

Maybe I should post this picture and story up, not that people read....

You wouldn't ship an "Ancient Chinese Vase" in a cardboard box. You would ship it in a wooden crate or a wood-framed box. And that's how this heavy, fragile object should have been sent.

The OP claims that he insured it for what he paid, not what it's worth, then said that insurance will never recover the piece of art. First problem - what he paid is what its worth. If it was worth more, someone else would have paid more. Second, insurance will pay out what he paid - he's not going to lose anything. If he felt it was worth more than what he paid for he should have insured it for more.

The OP said that this was a plaster model which I would suspect (and it appears to be) hollow. Question for the OP...is the car open in the bottom where it could have been filled with custom foam or something? If not, then a custom wooden case that was designed for the car should have been made for it especially if it was "an American Version of a Ancient Chinese Vase".

I have packaged some very fragile things that were 4 feet tall. Wrap in bubble wrap, place in a small heavy duty cardboard box. Place that box inside a larger box that was 1 foot larger than the smaller box in every direction packed tightly with peanuts. The difference being that the things I have shipped were replacable, so going with double boxed heavy duty cardboard was not as risky as a one of a kind priceless antique.

Not quite sure where blame lies here. The Seller and the purchaser should have been aware of how fragile the model was and should have researched how similar antiques were packaged, in custom wooden crates lined with foam padding and the car surrounded by shredded packing material. UPS apparently did not have the correct materials to package this product, so they never should have agreed to package it.

@Rachacha: What do you mean you're not quite sure where blame lies???

UPS sold a service that was CLEARLY not provided.

Is the photo of the model stacked on the boxes a before or after shipping picture? There is not enough information provided here to even determine what damage was done. UPS would want to see pictures to validate the claim. After all, this thing is made of plaster and is 56 years old, I could certainly expect that it had some damage to start with.

I reread the post, these are the after pictures, lets see some before pictures then. Assuming you did not buy this in person, I'm assuming you had the seller e-mail you some pictures so you could evaluate the condition of the item. Lets see them so we can compare.

Of course it also says something about the care UPS puts into the shipping process.

If it was that valuable I would have had a wood box or something made to ship it in.

@FooSchnickens: I work for a shipping company (one of the big two) and we often build boxes for people when the item they are shipping is too big/is a strange size. Taping multiple boxes together isn't bad, it's how you package INSIDE the boxes that really matters.

@Skankingmike: Bashing hard working employee's what? Having worked a summer job packing and shipping for a warehouse way, way back when, I can tell you that we weren't very "hard working."

@GitEmHomerJay!: True but part of stating that should be being able to admit "Listen, man, we can't pack this."

Didn't there used to be a packing shop/mailbox store that used low-density expanding foam to "wrap" very special items?

@chrisgoh: The one on the top is the "after" photo and the one on the bottom is the "before" photo, without the damage to the windshield area, and it actually looks like the entire hood area has broken off. I agree that this could use some better explanation (just how expensive an item is this, for example?)

First of all UPS Stores are franchised out stores, like McDonalds. While, yes, their name is on the store, each store is ultimately owned by a different person. So blaming all of UPS is not necessarily correct (yes, I work for them, I'm biased).

Several things could have happened here, and it's all speculation as we don't see the outside of the box. The first thing that comes to my mind is that the package either fell off the shelf of the brownie or something fell from the shelf onto the box. Judging by the size of the car, I'm guessing the latter is more likely.

I would also have told the guy to pack it himself, and not have the store do it. C'mon, if it's as important as it sounds are you going to trust a giant company with it? Do you trust Wal*Mart? Bank of America? As I said, I work for UPS and I wouldn't trust anyone but myself to pack anything I ship with them.

As others have stated, packing this in wood would have had this go through a different conveyor system and processing than if it were in the claimed three cardboard boxes taped together, which you cannot tell from the pictures. The only exception would be if the package itself weighed over 70 pounds.

This sucks, and I'm sorry that it happened, however, would you rather it be shipped FedEx or USPS and not have a insurance policy?

@Skankingmike: I'd have left out the "blame the OP" part, but he has a point. Every time I go into my local UPS store it's staffed by a couple high school kids, or maybe a college kid and a high school kid.

While it probably doesn't take a rocket scientist to pack most items, low paid entry-level employees wouldn't by my personal first choice for packing a one of a kind, irreplaceable item.

On one hand, the OP does go on and on about the "priceless" nature of the item ("ancient Chinese vase" comparison), then on the other hand he says he had the seller have it packed at the corner store and shipped via standard UPS service?

Doesn't add up.

To be fair to UPS, while they claim to be able to "pack almost anything", most reasonable people also know that they can "destroy almost anything".

UPS often reminds me of the old samsonite commercials with the silverback gorilla acting as baggage handler...

@xthexlanternx: $10/hour? Maybe in NYC. Try $8.

@ponylegz:it's both

@Daniel Beahn: Same logic used here watch.

I goto the beach and there's a low paid highschool life guard on duty should I expect them to rescue me or just go "damn i dont' get paid enough to run into water."?? or they do rescue me but crush my chest punturing a lunch while performing CPR

seriously your logic is flawed

@wrjohnston91283:
THIS!
Since the piece is "priceless" the buyer seems to believe he is entitled to unlimited damages.

i'm not sure i understand why everyone has to hate on packing peanuts. they work when used properly, you can't just dump them in and tape it up, you have to settle them and allow them to tighten in the spaces. i run a shop, the advice i give to people like this guy, if you don't want it broken, DO NOT BITCH ABOUT THE COST TO PACK IT PROPERLY!

Since the topic here is the poor packing, it'd be nice to actually see some worthwhile pictures of the poor packing. I can't tell from that one photo that the packing was bad, i can only see that the car broke.

@chrisgoh:

Obviously there was some paint chipped off in the "before" photo, but a piece broke off in shipping.

UPS STORES are individual owned and operated by franchisees. Those individuals do not get the same training as people in the UPS facilities who REALLY know how to pack stuff.

I hate that UPS tells people that they do.

@HogwartsAlum: agree on peanuts. bad choice.
The piece should have been BAGGED in a couple of large clear drycleaning bags or large clear garbage bags (so you can still see what you are wrapping.

Then it should have been wrapped with that clear plastic stretchy wrap to hold the plastic against the model. Then bubble wrap all around to make a coffin-cushion.
THEN you start building the box.

They should have used 2" RIGID foam (aka: styrofoam) to line the bottom and sides of the box (even if it was 3 boxes put together) This adds a great deal structural rigidity to the box and helps tie the 3 boxes together.
Plop your pre-wrapped object in this and then fill with chunks of rigid foam and peanuts and paper to suit.
You should be packing so if it gets dropped off the back of a truck, the box will absorb the energy and not transfer it to the object.

As others have pointed out a larger, heavier object like this needs more care because it has more MASS and it has more stored kinetic energy that needs to be dispersed/absorbed. Basically you cannot pack it like you would pack a HotWheels car.

@microcars: Priceless is a matter of relevance. An antiquated car is worthless to me but priceless in the hands of a collector.

@Skankingmike: A punctured lunch.. what does one of those taste like?

@batsy I won't blame the OP, but I will blame UPS for doing a shit job on the packaging.

With UPS it is more the type of shipping than the type of packaging. If you send it ground it will be shaken so much that no amount a packing will save it. We use the 3 day express to ship artworks and antiques. I ship valuable items every week via UPS, they are the only shipper that will actually honor their insurance.

More photos here:

BEFORE:
[forums.aaca.org]

AFTER:
[www.sculpture.net]