On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 22:01:49 -0600, Steve Wertz
> wrote:

>On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 14:28:17 GMT, "Matthew L. Martin"
> wrote:
>
>>My $140 WSM from Amazon came in on the 3rd. I unpacked it this morning
>>to find that all three body sections were badly distorted. The body is
>>dented and the top and base are out of round. The porcelain is flaking
>>off all three pieces. There is no hope of ever getting a working smoker
>>out of those pieces.
>>
>>A call to Weber's customer service (which didn't sound like it was
>>India) took care of everything. They are shipping all three replacement
>>parts via Fed-Ex. I can expect them in seven to ten days.
>
>I notice that things in larger packages usuallyt get banged up the
>most since they're always at the bottom of the piles (supporting
>many smaller boxes). Rather than send one big package, I'll
>usually opt to send several smaller packages if there's any chance
>of breakage.
>
>I shipped all my belongings from SC to TX last spring and they
>sure did a bang-up job on all the boxes. Every box was ripped,
>crushed, and/or mutilated. They were all brand new boxes, too,
>packed by the UPS Store.
>
>When I asked the delivery driver to note all the damage, he kinda
>balked and asked "which one"? Well, duh - All 16 of them.
>
>$350 worth of shipping and $120 in claims.
>
>-sw
I was a part time supervisor for UPS for two year-we were taught, big
boxes of a certain size are the "cornerstone" that we base our load
walls on and build from there. The boxes get tossed on conveyor
belts, stuck in giant jams that get kicked apart and yes, lots of
things are damaged. I was in the 2nd biggest airhub (philly) and we
had a lot of damage and lots of people to repair it (badly). Its a
shame, but you are better off shipping in smaller boxes...and heavily
padded.

Jeanine and her lil smokin' joey!