I hate the UPS gorillas

[aiptasia]

Third shipping box smashed to smithereens by UPS. Never again. I individually wrapped two hunahpus and two extras and packed them in ziplocks, then rolled each bottle in bubble wrap. I inserted those into an inner styro shipping box and filled all the void space with packing peanuts.

Didn't matter. I might as well had slapped labels on the naked bottles and shipped those.

Last night, the box was on the truck and ready for delivery. Ten minutes ago, I check the tracking number and up pops the "exception" notice. It says they will attempt delivery of remaining items but if that box was opened by anyone that knows anything about craft beer, it'll never see it's intended target.

Sayonara to two bottles of 2014 Hunahpu, a bottle of BA Gentleman's club and a bottle of Terrapin Pineapple Express.

 

[Beer-lord]

Thats a big bummer. I trade beer about twice a month for the last 2 years and knock on wood, never a broken bottle. Just 1 leaked a bit.
I can say that neither UPS or FedEx give a damn about the packages. All they care about are numbers. They know it's better to just get the numbers and whatever losses are incurred, so be it.

 

[indianajns]

I had 9 beers sent to a comp in Oregon. Got the exception notice "UNAUTHORIZED ALCOHOL SHIPMENT WAS DISCOVERED... blah blah blah." DOn't know if a bottle broke or what but they said they couldnt deliver any of it or return any of it. I had a **** ton of bubble wrap and each bottle individually wrapped so someone would have to throw it or drop somthing on it for one of those bottles to break. So not happy...

 

[agrazela]

Did you put "fragile" labels on the boxes? 'Cause that's like an invitation to punt that box around like a football.

 

[Paps]

If one wanted to go to extremes you could build a small frame out of scrap wood to help protect your bottles from all the bouncing/throwing around of them by shippers.

 

[indianajns]

I put "fragile" 5-6 times on the box so I'm guessing you are right that they used it for a pick up ball game. Although what could have happened is the competition I sent the beers to had the participants send the beers to a homebrew shop with HOMEBREW in the name of the shop plus attn: HOMEBREW COMPETITION. So, I'm guessing that maybe one of the warehouse guys saw it, flagged it as "unauthorized alcohol" and promptly shared 9 of my best homebrews I've ever made with his/her buddies.....

 

[Jim_Holmes]

ive used ups and fed-ex both recieving and sending and have had horrible experiences with both. i started ordering supplies from ritebrew and they use spee-dee services for delivery. every package i have recieved from them has been in excellent condition. i think if i send anything to comps or the like i will look into theyre services. has anyone used them for bottle deliveries?

 

[coyote68]

i just ahd the same thing happen. the good news is that my beer got delivered unopened undamaged and in excellent shape.
my neighbor works for UPS and she said that the drivers use that code if they are running late on the routes and want to get home early, (it gives them an extra day from the estimated delivery and doesn't count against them), then they simply deliver the package the next day. if it says unauthorized alchohol... then a bottle broke and someone is really happy to get whats left.
let us know if it actually gets delivered.

 

[insanim8er]

If one wanted to go to extremes you could build a small frame out of scrap wood to help protect your bottles from all the bouncing/throwing around of them by shippers.

This could be like the science experiment where you have to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from a second story window.

 

[DrunkleJon]

My packages always seems to get abused the most when they are delivered by USPS. I swear they must have organized tournaments of forklift soccer at the centers around me because not one of my packages has been delivered by them with the box unbreached or not crushed into an oblong shape.

Luckily my first experience in a beer trade actually delivered to me unscathed and everything arrived from me in good shape using UPS. I never really expect anything to ever arrive looking how it should. It is sad

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I always wrap each bottle/can in bubble wrap & put them into large Ziploc bags, that way, even if 1 breaks, it probably won't leak; as long as they don't open it, they have no idea what it is. Fill the empty space with packing peanuts & be sure you have at least 1-2 inches of crushable space on all 6 sides. Never had a problem related to packing or contents.
Regards, GF.

 

[b-boy]

A little off topic, but I ordered some grooming spray online from a pet supply store. I ordered 3 spray bottles. They shipped USPS.

I got the first package, opened it, and 2 of the bottles were damaged and leaking.

Called the site and they sent another 2 bottles. Got those and the bottles were frozen solid. The bottles ruptured during transit. Everything was wet.

Called again and got more bottles shipped. This time I got a sealed plastic bag from the post office with about 1 quart of brown goo in the bottom. The tops of the bottles were completely sheared off.

Called the vendor 1 more time. I was told that if they sent me another shipment, and it was damaged, they would not replace the items. I told them to either should do a better job of packing the items, or ship using someone other than USPS. They said they couldn't do either, so they refunded all my money.

In the end they were down 6 bottles of $10 per bottle grooming spray and I got a full refund. They probably won't stay in business long with those margins.

 

[TheMan]

The ups/fed ex/whatever shipping company doesnt drink your beer. I always read this and chuckle.

Ive got more friends at ups than I can count. They have zero time to find a way to hide a bottle of beer from their supervisor. Not to mention the repercussions of trying to withhold it.

They know the boxes are abused. But like said before, they are just focused on processing as many boxes as possible. So if tossing your box gets the job done quicker, thats what they do.

And fragile means nothing to them. They dont even take the time to read for it.

More than likely op, a perfectly fine and sealed bottle of huna was tossed in the garbage. Sad but true.

 

[DrunkleJon]

The ups/fed ex/whatever shipping company doesnt drink your beer. I always read this and chuckle.

Ive got more friends at ups than I can count. They have zero time to find a way to hide a bottle of beer from their supervisor. Not to mention the repercussions of trying to withhold it.

They know the boxes are abused. But like said before, they are just focused on processing as many boxes as possible. So if tossing your box gets the job done quicker, thats what they do.

And fragile means nothing to them. They dont even take the time to read for it.

More than likely op, a perfectly fine and sealed bottle of huna was tossed in the garbage. Sad but true.

Reminds me of my time working as a baggage handler at the airport. The bigger, heavier, and more awkward the bag, the worse it got abused. If you saw how badly abused most bags are you would never check anything again, especially something fragile. I can only imagine it is far worse when it is nothing but boxes.

 

[krenshaw]

when i send to competitions, i always choose them based on the address that they are being sent to.. if it is a homebrew shop with a name that refers to alcohol or something like that, i'll usually email the coordinator to see if i can ship it to that address but just put somebody's name on it.. i've also shortened the name of some businesses to remove the pertaining words to make it sound like alcohol would be involved.. i never put anything on the package indicating it is fragile, just make sure nothing shakes or rattles..

 

[aiptasia]

Did you put "fragile" labels on the boxes? 'Cause that's like an invitation to punt that box around like a football.

Of course. The box was a plain white shipping box with big red "Fragile" pre-printed onto the box along with "do not belly load." Those words are pretty much universally ignored. I listed on the shipping information that the box contained ceramics.

if it says unauthorized alchohol... then a bottle broke and someone is really happy to get whats left.
let us know if it actually gets delivered.

Well, to UPS's credit, they did deliver what was left. Three out of four bottles made it but the smashed bottle was one of the 2014 hunahpu's.

ive used ups and fed-ex both recieving and sending and have had horrible experiences with both. i started ordering supplies from ritebrew and they use spee-dee services for delivery. every package i have recieved from them has been in excellent condition. i think if i send anything to comps or the like i will look into theyre services. has anyone used them for bottle deliveries?

That's a regional delivery service in the upper midwest. I wish we all had the option to use something like that for national shipping.

I always wrap each bottle/can in bubble wrap & put them into large Ziploc bags, that way, even if 1 breaks, it probably won't leak; as long as they don't open it, they have no idea what it is. Fill the empty space with packing peanuts & be sure you have at least 1-2 inches of crushable space on all 6 sides. Never had a problem related to packing or contents.
Regards, GF.

This is exactly how my box was packaged. First, I tape down the caps with electrical tape in case they get cold. Next, the bottles get wrapped in quart ziplocks and then rolled up like a beer burrito in bubble wrap with the ends folded over and taped shut. Then, they went into a styrofoam insulated inner box with the void space filled with packing peanuts. The inner styro box was left over from an aquarium fish shipment and provided a good 2" of styro insulation all the way around the bottles. Then, everything was taped shut. My boxes are always rock solid and the bottles have no opportunity to bounce around or slide back and forth. They're individually wrapped like a bubble wrap mummy and suspended in zero gravity styro space.

I've had USPS, UPS and Fedex shatter bottles on me, so no matter how you look at it, there's some ******** that just don't give a crap and will sling boxes around like a 900 lb. gorilla. I think they hire directly from airport luggage handlers and champion dwarf tossers.