Mailboxes Etc. and The UPS Store

I was involved in several court battles with Mail Boxes Etc. When I was in Connecticut. I won both cases but I really lost when you figure the time it took.

BTW  The UPS store is Mailboxes etc,  under a new name !!!!   They have no legal affiliation with UPS itself.

The actual cardboard boxes, I have seen at the local mailing services, in Las Vegas are highly overpriced & very light duty cardboard. They will do very little to protect your guitar.

If you ever plan to ship a guitar or anything to anyone.   Don't use Mystic Mailboxes !!!

Never, Use A Mail Service Like, Mystic Mailboxes, in Mystic CT.
These Nice People Win The Overcharge Of The Century Award

My good friend & Customer Matt Miller of Mystic CT. was in the process of buying a custom made Prince Symbol guitar from me. He had a trade in guitar, that he wanted to ship out to me, so that I could allow him trade in value towards his new guitar.  (We Always Love To Do Trade In's)  After All We Love Guitars More than We Love Money.)

Unsuspecting Matt goes down to his local mail service to ship me the guitar & gets ripped off tremendously. The Maggot at this sleazy little gyp joint had the unmitigated gall to charge my friend $340.00 Dollars to ship a smaller sized guitar From Connecticut To Las Vegas. The box only weighed about 6 lbs.  They put it in a slightly larger box.  I measured the box It was less than the the 102 inches UPS calls oversize.  To add insult to injury the shipment arrived on Thursday the 20th of September 2007.  Eight days when he supposedly paid for two day Blue Label.

I have calculated a fair price to ship this guitar should have been under $55.00 including all charges. That's a rip off of $285.00 overcharge.  I can ship a car coast to coast for $800.00  shhhheeeeeesh.    (Remember Folks that's,  Mystic Mailboxes in Mystic Ct.)

After Matt told me the cost he paid I simply didn't believe anyone could be such a blatant thief.  I actually called Mystic Mailboxes on the off chance that something might have been wrong or there were mitigating circumstances etc. When I spoke to the lady she said her name was Stacy and she identified herself as the owner. I asked her in a polite and non foreboding manner if she remembered the situation and asked her nicely to give me a breakdown of the charges. She became almost immediately defensive, she said she "couldn't remember the situation at all."  With a tiny bit of polite prodding of her memory she remembered the situation. I asked her again why the charges were so high. She replied that the customer (Matt) didn't seem to mind the charges. She was becoming more disheveled by the moment, she started to get slightly hostile with me.  I told her quietly & politely that I planned to print this on my website! I told her that I had close to three million readers. I offered to give her my website address so that she could see what I was printing. She became increasingly agitated & hostile.  Then she hung up on me before I even had a chance to be the least bit impolite, or tell her what I thought of her.

I certainly hope that none of my customers will frequent this type of business again. I rely on UPS, Fedex and the US Postal Service. When  these opportunistic snakes & maggots get involved in the shipping process it creates undo & unfair hardship to my customers.  I have found that UPS is actually a pretty good company. They strive to do things right. Remember,  I usually hate big corporations, I always mistrust them. However UPS has been fair with claims, they have been fair with me on almost every dealing. Even the damage inspectors seem fair & equitable.  Fedex is a lot harder to get a claim through with. They bury you in red tape & hope you will get tired and give up. They plainly don't care if you are happy or not. Still they are far better than dealing with a mailing service. The post office is an absolute last resort. They are the cheapest for real small shipments & foreign shipments. The lines are long, The attitudes are bureaucratic and as most of readers know, I have no patience for those Squidbillies.

How to Pack a Guitar

Did you know ?? 
If you ship to a business it actually costs more than if you ship to a residence.

Did you know that it costs more for a business to ship something than a private person. Unless the business is set up for volume business. Then there is up to a 40% discount. (One more reason why you are being ripped off at The UPS Store which has no real affiliation with UPS except that they paid UPS to use the name in their franchise)  These companies pay less and always charge more. Charging more in today's economy is acceptable, After all there are bills to pay. Charging much much much more is a rip-off and it reminds me of a guitar company whose name starts with the letter G.

People are always asking me how to pack a guitar.   The four biggest mistakes that most people make are below.

1. MAKE SURE THE TREMOLO BAR IS SECURELY WRAPPED in a small amount of bubble pack or newspaper. If you don't do this the tremolo bar will fall out of the compartment during shipping and scrape up the guitar.  Also it's a good idea to make sure there are no tools or itsy bitsy screws anywhere in the case.
2. DO NOT LOOSEN ALL THE STRINGS!!! This is always a major hassle. I get an average of 5 used guitars shipped to me daily. It is a lot easier for me to check the guitar out if I don't have to do a setup first. By loosening the strings as much as people do they usually blow the setup. Sometimes even bridge saddles fall out and cause damage to the guitar. Gibson, Fender, PRS, Hamer, Ibanez, Heritage, Washburn, Jackson and all the other companies ship guitars to me perfectly in tune right out of the case.    Any dealer who sends you a guitar with loose strings only does that because he is too lazy to set the guitar up correctly before he ships it.
3. DO NOT TRUST LOOSE STYROFOAM SHIPPING BEANS.  Loose Styrofoam beans are useless for shipping anything delicate. They always settle to the bottom and basically offer very little protection against anything.  Bubble pack is the best bet.   Even wadded up newspaper is better than beans.
4. BUBBLE PACK ON A HOT DAY CAN MELT INTO THE FINISH OF A GUITAR. Especially Gibson Guitars because the use that Nitrocellulose finish on top of a polyester finish to give the illusion of an old style finish.  Make sure the bubble pack is insulated from the guitar with something like a towel or T shirt or soft quilt  etc etc
    
5. IT'S A FACT OF LIFE, GIBSON LES PAUL GUITARS BREAK WAY TOO EASILY. In fact, I have said for years, Gibson should just break every Les Paul before they ship it in the first place. They should then repair it before it even leaves the factory. Glue is far stronger than the wood they use. So make sure you insure the living $hit out of it before you ship it. Also pack it well or they won't honor the insurance anyway.
   BTW it's damn near impossible to break a Fender, BC Rich, Jackson, PRS, Quicksilver, Pearlcaster neck in shipping. You have to be careful of guitars with heavy bodies and tilt back headstocks. Hamer's, Baker's Turner's & Dean's all appear to look like Les Paul necks but I can't remember ever seeing one break in shipping or elsewhere. They are all basically the same design with set neck construction etc etc.  Why is it that only the Gibson's break repeatedly over and over again.  In fact, I have repaired 5 times more Les Paul headstocks, than all other brands of guitars put together.
    

            Ed Roman

Occasionally I will have to purchase a guitar from another dealer, usually when it arrives the strings will all be loose.  I HATE THAT !!!!!!!!

• It's good to make sure the guitar cannot move inside the case.  Usually a little bubble pack at the headstock area will solve any movement problems.
• Make sure the case does not flop around inside the shipping box. That will cause a real lot of damage.
• If you are shipping a guitar without a case (No Problem)  just MAKE SURE you use a lot of Bubble pack taped securely around the instrument. 3 layers at least and maybe a little cardboard in between the layers on sharp corners or at the headstock.
• Usually most music stores have boxes they are throwing out or have to get rid of. So that's a good place to go get a box.  I always advise my customers to always keep a couple of good boxes around for when they need to ship something.  With all the no personality superstores opening up all over.  Shipping guitars has become a required way of life for anyone who wants to own any guitar that may be even slightly out of the norm.
• Always Insure the guitar for more than it's worth in case it gets broken or lost. Be careful because UPS and FedEx won't pay claims when they deem the guitar was packed incorrectly.  So make sure you use plenty of  bubble pack.

Shipping a guitar is easy as long as you use common sense and a lot of bubble pack.

Please Buy a Case

I strongly suggest that a case or a gig bag is purchased with your instrument. Here are several reasons why I believe it to be the prudent thing to do.

• The case is usually less expensive if purchased with the guitar.
• I usually charge an additional packing fee because I have to use so much extra bubble pack to make sure the guitar is shipped safely.
• UPS Insurance will only cover the unit if it is stolen. If the unit gets damaged UPS may elect to give you a hard time about paying the claim.
• I never accept returns on guitars that have left the premises without a case!!! (no exceptions).
• We are providing real Road Cases for less than anyone else I have seen. Check out this link to see what I mean