Things that happen in shipping...

[Tango Yankee]

I recently won a Stetson 3-way hat box on eBay. I don't have a Stetson 3-way hat, but figured I could get the box and the hat would come later. The hat that came with this box is a wool Wormser houndstooth type hat.

Here's the eBay photos:

And here is how it arrived:

I could have cried.

It appears that something heavy was put on top of the box the Stetson box was in, and the top flaps gave way. Both were torn in the middle and everything was taped back up. I've sent a note to the seller so she can contact DHL about it.

At least there wasn't a Stetson 3-way hat in the box as well!

Bummed,
Tom

 

[majormoore]

I spend the extra money and buy the heavy duty box ( 275lb) and put the hat inside a box inside that box, and place stickers all over the outside , "Do Not Double Stack" seems to be working, have not had a hat come back due to doing it this way.

Glad the hat was not in there, why in the devil do the handlers have to get so rough with the boxes, then the driver brings it and leaves it torn all up, like you will never notice all the damage.

Good luck next time, but the seller should have done better.

Mike Moore

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Tango Yankee, I could cry with you. I don't even like to have things sent by way of "Brown." After your experience, I'll definitely want to avoid DHL.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Wow, that stinks! I've never even seen a box like that.

 

[majormoore]

I ship by DHL all the time, you just have to spend a little and little more time and pack the items for shipping , no matter who you ship.

Mike

 

[DOUGLAS]

Wow,Sorry to see that TY. That is just wrong

 

[John in Covina]

Keep the box it came in

In order to make a claim you have to keep the box it came in for examination.

 

[DanielJones]

Holy Shinto!! I just got a cramp in my gut just looking at that. My condolences Tom. I know UPS can be bad but DHL. Eek!

Cheers!

Dan

 

[bolthead]

Wow...

That really sucks Tom. I thought you said there was a Wormser in it though?

 

[indycop]

I feel your pain! I won't say any names but I have been waiting almost a month for 2 panamas to come in. I got them off of OFAS to hold me over until my hat comes in from Panama Bob. Just so its clear these did not come from him. He told me in advance that he was gonna have to make one for my size.(He has also put up with my annoying emails!) I just don't want to say who it is since I have emailed them first to give a chance to fix it. Anyway I received the box today from ecuador and was definitely excited! 2 new hats in one day! Or so I thought. Upon opening the box there was the one for my wife, Size 55cm bow on the right fit good. Then under that one was the one that I thought should be mine. I'm a 61cm, this thing had to be 2 sizes smaller than hers. My 7 year old can't even wear it! :rage:

 

[apipeguy]

There's a silver lining somwhere! ok, you'll get that hat soon and you'll love it so much and wear it everyday you won't need a box. Now, file that claim and buy that hat!

 

[Tango Yankee]

Thanks for the condolences, everyone!

I've heard from the seller. She asked for the photos and said she'd reimburse me and get reimbursed from DHL. I do plan on keeping everything until resolved (good tip, John!)

Funny thing, but the first time I heard of DHL was when I was in Saudi for the buildup before IRAQI FREEDOM. My office was using them to ship comm and computer parts and equipment from the states to various countries in the Gulf. They were reliable, and able to get things through customs quickly. (Yup, even when we were building up for war, everything still had to clear customs.)

Here's some photos of the box without the bubblewrap:

And Bolthead, somewhere in that mess is a Wormser that looked like this:

Not my cup of tea, but my wife seems to like them. I figured if she didn't want it I'd sell it. Have no clue what it looks like now, but I suppose the crown is much lower now!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Tango Yankee]

I'm a 61cm, this thing had to be 2 sizes smaller than hers. My 7 year old can't even wear it! :rage:

Hey, Indycop, if you wind up stuck with that hat I may know someone who can wear it! My daughter-in-law's grandfather wears about a 6 1/2.

You know, I had another box come in crushed and at least four lately that were shipped in old hat boxes without an outer box! I think this is due to the higher postage the USPS is charging on light but large boxes. The sellers are stuffing hats into smaller boxes or not properly packing hat boxes inside of shipping boxes so they don't scare off customers with high shipping costs. I'd rather pay a bit more for shipping to get it in a proper box.

Regards,
Tom

 

[nulty]

That's rough luck Tom but I'm glad the seller is making good. I had seen that wormser and box myself. The hat ..eh..but the box did look cool.......

I know it's easy to shred DHL in this case but more important is the packaging. These types of items go ground shipping. If you don't use the shippers own box you're taking a chance . These boxes get tossed, thrown, flipped, stacked and land knows what else. Ground is brutal. Mistakes happen but that dosen't make the box good again... UPS and the USPS are no different.

You know the thing with the bay, if you didn't get what you want another one like it will come along...........

Good Luck

 

[RBH]

That is just too sad.

 

[homergeg]

Tom,

That is such a sad sight. It's good to hear that the seller is making good and willing to reimburse you and then be the one to deal with DHL, but the refund won't bring back the box. It's not like a broken George Foreman grill that you can just go back to the warehouse and pop out another.

I'm sitting here looking at an infamous grey stratoliner in a cut down box that I thought was ready to send out and cringing thinking about what can happen to light items in larger boxes. Time to put some reinforcements in that box.

 

[thunderw21]

It breaks the heart.

 

[cooncatbob]

I bought a 40 inch LCD TV and it was shipped by DHL. When it was delivered and I signed for it the driver just took off even though a corner of the box was crunched. I opened the box and the foam block in that corner was broken in half but luckily the TV was fine. So I'm not impressed with DHL.

 

[Babydoll]

I spend the extra money and buy the heavy duty box ( 275lb) and put the hat inside a box inside that box, and place stickers all over the outside , "Do Not Double Stack" seems to be working, have not had a hat come back due to doing it this way.

This is fantastic advice. I work for one of the major shipping companies, and we suggest shipping fragile items via the box-in-box method. It allows extra cushioning on all sides of the inner box to protect whatever fragile item you are sending. It makes me sick to think that someone so carelessly packaged your item so that it arrived in that condition. (Thankfully, that wasn't my company!) It may cost a bit more for shipping, but I'd rather pay for that than not have the item I wanted arrive intact, IMHO.

By all means, be sure to keep all of the "evidence" of this package. It will help with the claims process.

(Also, the stickers, while a good idea, may not always be adhered to. The systems are automated, so YMMV.)

I hope you reach a speedy resolution to this problem (sounds like you are on your way already).

 

[John in Covina]

How to pack!

Basically, you need to pack any object as if it was going to be handled like a football during a high school footbal game. Think of Ace Ventura kicking the box down the hall in the begining of the movie and you have an idea as to what goes on. It is also the belts that the stuff moves along in their distribution centers that crushes stuff too. The speed at which stuff gets shifted, loaded and unloaded is amazing. I doubt much destruction is deliberate but I have received things that look like they were dragged behind the truck not placed on the truck.