UPS Sucks

delroy666

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I'm currently restoring my Scramble upright cab and have been looking for a bezel for a while, since the paint on the original one is flaking off like crazy. Last month I found a nice original glass bezel on eBay. I asked the seller for a shipping quote to Canada, and he said he'd "take it to the post office to find out how much it will cost". He wrote back later saying it would be $40. Not bad for international shipping, so I bid and won the auction for $11.

A few days later I get a tracking number for UPS, not USPS. :004_smad: I assumed when the seller wrote "post office" he meant USPS. Oh well, my fault, I should have confirmed the shipping method, and even if I have to pay UPS's stupid brokerage fees, at least I'll finally have the last part I need for my restoration.

Here's how the bezel showed up:

H8imG.jpg


UPS discovered the damage themselves during shipping and started the claims process automatically, so at least I didn't have to return the package or send pictures, etc. I finally did get a full refund from the seller, but only after multiple failed PayPal refund transactions and lots of emails. I'll probably still get a bill in the mail from UPS for the brokerage fees.

So the search continues for a bezel. At this point, I'm also open to getting a repro. classicarcadegrafix.com is the only place I've found that sells a Scramble repro. Can anyone comment on the quality of these, or is there anywhere else I might have missed that sells them?
 
UPS or no UPS, it's pretty hard to convince a seller to properly package a glass bezel/marquee. Wrapping it in a piece of cardboard is *not* sufficient. Hard to say how that was packaged from the picture, but it does look suspiciously inadequate.

-Ian
 
Ouch, i feel your pain. Don't know that USPS would have been any better. They recently lost a package of mine and boy where they a hassle to deal with. The seller resent the package at his expense and was told by USPS that the would have to have the package to make a claim. But they didn't know where the package was! Then they told him they have up to a year to find the package.

Have you tried Krylon Tripple Thick on the one you got from UPS?
 
I feel your pain as well. It took me 3 tries before I was able to have a glass Dig Dug marquee shipped to me in one piece.

What you would get from classicarcadegrafix would be simply an underlay. You would still need to get some plexi or glass cut to size.
 
You need to save all the packing materials, so that the insurance adjustor will have something to inspect. This could get even worse, if UPS finds the packing was insufficient and it sure looks like it was, the shipper will not get his money back from UPS.
So the Canadian post office does not charge "broker" or customs fees in for packages from USA?
 
I don't understand why anybody would be surprised that a large piece of glass arrives broken when it was not taken to someone to have it custom packed before shipment.

And why would anyone buy one if they are not insisting on it and offering to pay what it costs?
 
You need to save all the packing materials, so that the insurance adjustor will have something to inspect. This could get even worse, if UPS finds the packing was insufficient and it sure looks like it was, the shipper will not get his money back from UPS.
So the Canadian post office does not charge "broker" or customs fees in for packages from USA?

Actually, I believe the shipper did get his money back and I didn't have to send the broken package back. I did get my full refund from the seller, so that's all I really care about. It's been 7 months now and I never did get a bill for duty/brokerage from UPS either, thankfully.

If a USPS package gets flagged for duty owing, Canada Post charges only $5 for customs/brokerage. This rarely happens though; it's kind of random but is usually only with high value items. The vast majority of the time I just pick up my package from the post office and don't pay anything.
 
I don't understand why anybody would be surprised that a large piece of glass arrives broken when it was not taken to someone to have it custom packed before shipment.

And why would anyone buy one if they are not insisting on it and offering to pay what it costs?

kinda like buyers who defraud paypal out of legitimate fees by lying and saying a purchase was a gift, and then they are amazed when paypal is unwilling to get their money back when they get ripped off...
 
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