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Courier Con


la bam

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The last time I sent a guitar I went to my local Mailbox Etc, and I have to say they offer a great service.  They asked what i was sending, found the cheapest courier, knew what exclusions there were on the couriers own insurance (I think it was £200 for musical instruments and i was sending one worth £650) and offered me separate insurance that would cover the guitar.  As I recall (it was a few years ago) it worked out at about £20-30 more than if I'd gone to  the courier direct so not the cheapest cover but not an unreasonable extra cost.

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I would think that the courier, acting as an agent selling insurance accepts the insurance liability if they 1.know what they are insuring (whether it is on a list of prohibited items or not) and 2. They accept the premium. In my simple way it’s like saying to a company I need travel insurance to go to Vietnam, and the company say fine that’s £60, then my case goes missing, they can’t then say that Vietnam is excluded, if I had told them I was going there and they accepted a premium to insure me to go there.  Whether the insurance company pays out or not is between the courier and the insurer.

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When I saw the title of this thread I wondered if it was a new phenomenon. Courier Con, like ComicCon, or a convention trade show.. 

Couriers meet to swap, buy and sell dented van doors. Have competitions to see who can rev the most amount of black smoke out of their engines. Then see who has the noisiest door slam or who can shout the longest meaningless abuse at passing motorists in a single breath. 

Prizes for who can throw a parcel the farthest without looking and best excuse for not actually showing up at an address.

 

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Is it just me... a courier company has one job to do. Take your stuff and get it there safely. However, they have managed to con us into thinking it's perfectly ok for us to pay extra insurance for them to do their job properly. 

I work in IT. It would be like me saying, "it's just your luck if the software I write works. I recommend you take out insurance against me screwing up but the small print lets me off all the same if I do".  I'm not going to be in business very long...

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Any idea how Wal etc. insure their shipments for the full amount - would that be possible with a business account, for example?

And I guess it's possible to buy 3rd party insurance (i.e. not the courier's own insurance) up to the full value, although I've not tried that - anyone with experience of that...?

 

 

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14 hours ago, thepurpleblob said:

Is it just me... a courier company has one job to do. Take your stuff and get it there safely. However, they have managed to con us into thinking it's perfectly ok for us to pay extra insurance for them to do their job properly. 

I work in IT. It would be like me saying, "it's just your luck if the software I write works. I recommend you take out insurance against me screwing up but the small print lets me off all the same if I do".  I'm not going to be in business very long...

Err, isn't that exactly what happens in any major Government Public IT  Project...? New NHS IT, Universal Credit, all crap and junked as unsuitable after spending millions! 🙄

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2 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

Err, isn't that exactly what happens in any major Government Public IT  Project...? New NHS IT, Universal Credit, all crap and junked as unsuitable after spending millions! 🙄

I have a theory about this. Possible not the time or the place but briefly. It's tendering. Tenders are written by tendering departments that know absolutely nothing about the technology they are writing a specification for. The tenders are bid for by companies who have no idea how they will complete the specification (which doesn't make any sense anyway) but think they'll build something that matches the spec enough to get paid if they get it. Disaster ensues...

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23 hours ago, thepurpleblob said:

Some courier companies will happily send musical instruments up to their full value. However, the insurance is *very* expensive. If you're sending a bass with a value of over a grand expect to be paying the large end of a hundred quid. 

Which at £100+ and the actual costs of delivering it for you puts it firmly into "I can take it their and deliver it personally" category! I prefer to meet in person if at all possible which does these courier firms out of work, work I assume they don't really want!

We went to Billy Idol at Brixton Academy last night, cost for the 5 of us by train well over £100 and limited return availability suggested as well, cost for me to drive to North London and take the tube £20.00 in fuel and underground tickets = money to BP not the greedy railway! Another example of a greedy business pricing itself out of the market! 

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On 20/06/2018 at 10:03, ped said:

Similar problems over on a watch forum I use - basically nobody covers a watch above £1000 - the only way around it is to have a business to business 'ParcelPro' account. 

Personally, when shifting gear, I prefer to meet halfway or pick up item if I can. Good excuse for a weekend away. Whilst I've not had any really bad experiences with couriers they normally call when I'm out walking Sybil or when I'm firmly glued to the lavatory

You have a watch worth more than £1000. :lol:

I'm in the wrong business :D

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If its an amp, cab or bass i will always try to meet or pick up only. I've driven round trips of up to 500miles to pick up gear. If the price is right and its what you want.

I just treat it as a wee day out with my wife. She gets a day out and a lunch and dinner thrown in.

Dave

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I'm surprised that many posters here are surprised.

 

This has been the case for years. The big couriers even stated why several years ago - poorly packed instruments leading to massively increased claims. Shops negotiate their own deals, or use their business insurance to cover any courier based losses. Shops are also less likely to put in a dodgy claim when compared to an ebay deal.

There are couriers out there who will insure properly but most of them require a phone call and not just a web form.

IIRC ParcelFlight are used by Bass Gear for Foderas and the like, and I think UPS will do full insurance if you get a bespoke quite over the telephone.

 

And for those complaining about them taking the money and then you discovering this.... you know that little "I HAVE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND AGREE THEM" tick box that you had to tick before the payment was taken.... the details were all in there. You just didn't read it. That is not their fault.

 

 

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That's not correct. 

It says click to say you have read and understand the prohibited items list.

Basses and cabs are NOT on that list, so its fair to assume that theyre ok to send and fully insured. It even pops up to says 'we recommend you insure your item for its full amount.' and 'click here to insure your item for its full amount'. THAT is misleading.

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