Fastenal experiences

lgsteelers

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Has anyone shipped games using Fastenal?

Just curious what your experience has been, do you have pictures of how you have to prep the game to qualify for their insurance coverage?

Thanks!
 
I have shipped several. It can be very hit and miss. I don't have pics, but a few layers of plastic wrap, followed by a card board wrap, then corner protectors, another cardboard wrap and then pallet straps/do not stack stickers. If you can sandwich some moving blankets in between the cardboard even better. That will protect a good amount of damage, but the reality is, nothing is going to protect a cab from a yahoo with a forklift.
 
do you do all that on site? dont they need to see the item before they accept for insurance coverage?

where do you get pallet straps? what is "do not stack stickers"? lol

thanks
 
Honestly, it has been so long, I can't remember the order. It's all a blur. I do recall doing a lot of work on their parking lots.

Pallet straps are just tie downs, "do not stack" stickers are just that. Stickers that tell the warehouse people not to put anything on top of your pallet. More necessary with pins and cocktail cabinets.
 
thanks @TheYeti @nerdygrrl, never shipped a game, just looking into the process, not familiar with the lingo, lol
anyone have any pictures of what this all looks like?

I'd be leery of being responsible for prepping a game like this, I guess that's why beltman charges the big bucks
 
thanks @TheYeti @nerdygrrl, never shipped a game, just looking into the process, not familiar with the lingo, lol
anyone have any pictures of what this all looks like?

I'd be leery of being responsible for prepping a game like this, I guess that's why beltman charges the big bucks
I sometimes wonder how many people think like this. I've been stretch wrapping, cardboarding, blanket wrapping, stretch wrapping again, strapping, palletizing, etc. games in preparation for shipping for years and I just thought that's what everybody did. But over the years I found that not to be true. Most people rely on the shipping company to protect their games. I've gotten a couple games shipped to me and it was like there was little to no prep or wrapping and maybe a shoe string tied to one corner of the game and that's about it. No real protection, bunch of shit is busted up, glass broken, leg levelers tore off, parts missing, dropped, etc. It's like common sense doesn't apply to normal humans anymore. Did a game swap with a guy about three years back. I spent well over 2 hours prepping and packing his game, and it looked like he spent about 3 minutes on his end. The game I shipped to him showed up perfectly. The game he shipped to me had been dropped and a bunch of the parts had fallen off of the cabinet from the jarring. And now I've also got monitor issues because of it. I have zero issues shipping games out, but I'm very leery about having anyone ship games to me anymore.
 
@Phetishboy I suppose anyone that has never shipped a game thinks like this, including me! lol.
And NO, not everyone thinks the same way when it comes to taking care of and ensuring items survive the trip. See this prior thread of mine as a perfect example

OR the klov'er that sent me two working pcbs (galaga & ms pac) with just a couple sheets of thin bubble wrap between them in a USPS flat rate box and the boards arrived with broken parts because they took absolutely no care in packaging them. then they ghosted me when i reached out about it.

this is why i posted because I've never done it, not to mention that the other shippers do all the work and accept the responsibility but Fastenal requires you to do the prepping, packing, pallet-strapping, etc... egads! Wanting to make sure the game ends up as near condition to when it leaves my hands upon delivery is my foremost concern.

I've only had one game shipped to me using Beltman and it arrived safely. There was a lil bit of a scruff, pulled cabinet at the bottom front, exactly where you wouldnt want it (couldnt have been on any of the other three sides right?) but otherwise it made the trip from texas without issue.

thanks again for any suggestions, feedback, etc on how to safely prep a game using Fastenal
 
And certainly no offense meant to you. I'm just realizing as time goes on that people don't really give it much thought. They figure they'll just have the game ready for the shipping company and that the shippers will take care of the rest. While that's kind of true with Beltman/NAVL, it still depends on the individual picking the game up. Some of them prep in your driveway, some of them prep on the truck, some of them prep it back at the warehouse, some of them don't prep at all, but in each case, if you're gonna leave it up to the shipping company to do it, it really depends on the person or persons that pick up and transport the game. That's why I always just prep it myself. I guess I knew what to expect so I gave it a lot of thought right out of the gate.
 
thanks @TheYeti @nerdygrrl, never shipped a game, just looking into the process, not familiar with the lingo, lol
anyone have any pictures of what this all looks like?

I'd be leery of being responsible for prepping a game like this, I guess that's why beltman charges the big bucks


Here's a decent video.

 
And certainly no offense meant to you. I'm just realizing as time goes on that people don't really give it much thought. They figure they'll just have the game ready for the shipping company and that the shippers will take care of the rest. While that's kind of true with Beltman/NAVL, it still depends on the individual picking the game up. Some of them prep in your driveway, some of them prep on the truck, some of them prep it back at the warehouse, some of them don't prep at all, but in each case, if you're gonna leave it up to the shipping company to do it, it really depends on the person or persons that pick up and transport the game. That's why I always just prep it myself. I guess I knew what to expect so I gave it a lot of thought right out of the gate.
absolutely no offense taken, I just wanted to stress that it was my concern about making sure the game arrived safely that i posted asking for advice. i think i have arcade ptsd from looking at that roadblasters thread and pictures again. it was just so unnecessary, just plain carelessness and the nerve to blame it on the post office, just sickening.
 
I suppose I should also ask if anyone has used Bob C to ship games?

I've seen some posts where the games are just in a truck many times packed game to game without any protection but that may be in the initial moving of games from the purchase site to his warehouses. Once they are sold on his FB As Found page, does he also wrap, protect the games when delivering to their final destination so that what you see when you buy a game is what you get upon delivery? just aksin for a friend :)

thanks
 
I suppose I should also ask if anyone has used Bob C to ship games?

I've seen some posts where the games are just in a truck many times packed game to game without any protection but that may be in the initial moving of games from the purchase site to his warehouses. Once they are sold on his FB As Found page, does he also wrap, protect the games when delivering to their final destination so that what you see when you buy a game is what you get upon delivery? just aksin for a friend :)

thanks

I think Bob C has slowed down a bit re shipping. I bid on a 720 conversion he had listed FS last weekend and he stated shipping was up to me. I think he's only doing super local deliveries now.

Where is this game getting picked up/delivered?
 
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Big difference between one guy moving games who has experience doing it, and having control over point A to point B versus some yahoos loading stuff on and off of trucks at depots, final mile carriers, etc. Those guys DGAF about what they are moving and time is money. The faster they move, the sooner they are done.

I have a small shipping company, we handle a good amount of freight. You should see the way some of these boxes come in.
 
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