Tears of Sorrow - How To Kill Speakers Via Courier!!!

[denom]

As many of you all are aware from another thread, I had been in temporary possession of Telome BT-300 Floor Standers, for a 'Burn-In' Period on behalf of my friend who resides in bangalore.

With a 'Burn-in' of about 100 hours completed, my friend became very anxious to get his speakers & hence decided to get them transported from mumbai to bangalore via courier service.

Blue Dart was finalised for the pick-up & they arranged to get them collected from my place & off they went to bangalore...

They left for bangalore on the 22nd evening from mumbai & arrived at bangalore on the 23rd morning, so far so good!!!

My friend excitedly opened the packings & discovered 1 of his speakers cabinet's outer veneer cracked & to make matters worse heard a cling clang sound from the very same speaker, as he removed it from its carton.

On connecting the speakers he finds that the damaged speaker is not working. He gets his neighbour (an electrical engineer) to have a look & they decide to remove one of the drivers, on doing they find that the coil of the cross-over has been knocked off its soldering & is lying at the bottom of the cabinet.

I shudder to think how badly the speakers were man-handled to achieve the said damages...

Now comes the kicker,

Since this was a FOC job (thanks to my friend having contacts in the courier company) he finds but himself to be blamed for the sad scenario he is in....

Moral of the story,

Transporting speakers availing the services of the courier companies (paid or otherwise) is a sure fire recipe for disaster :sad:

 

[Dushie]

This is a great eye opener, learning from this is not to transport speakers through couriers every as safety can not be guaranteed,

 

[esanthosh]

Really sad. I can only imagine how terribly upset your friend would be.

So, if not courier, what is the best mode of transporting speakers safely in situations like this?

 

[denom]

Really sad. I can only imagine how terribly upset your friend would be.

So, if not courier, what is the best mode of transporting speakers safely in situations like this?

Just spoke to him, naturally he is terribly depressed & pissed. Asked him to contact our ever helpful member (soundsgreat - AKA Shreekanth), who readily agreed to come over to his place tomorrow, to have a look & remedy the situation. God Bless Shreekanth:clapping:

As for transporting, only way would be to be under your personal supervision, that way you can moniter at every step. I feel this is only possible if you carry the speakers yourself & transport them by car/pick-up....

 

[ajinkya]

Really sorry to hear about your friend's situation. I hope helpful Sreekanth can undo the damage caused by this mishap. However, I'd like to add that courier companies do transport speakers, amps, and audio items quite frequently. If the items are well-packed, then the damage you describe should not occur. Packing fragile items is sometimes an art. How were the speakers packed - did you pack them yourself or leave that to the courier? Was foam used to cover the top and base and were corners reinforced? Was filling used to prevent the boxes from caving in from dents or sharp objects during transit?

Another point for future reference to all members. Sometimes it is useful to pay for the service rather than getting it free/through contacts. If you pay, you're a customer, and then you can file a claim for negligence and reimbursement. Also remember to always take pictures of the equipment in the condition it arrived in, before you start trying to repair it. Otherwise you will have no proof that the item arrived in the damaged condition before you intervened.

 

[malvai]

Denom, my condolences on the speaker...

really heartbreaking to hear this. . . If I put myself in your shoes, it becomes quite unbearbly sad....

But, I guess we can learn from it and ensure such a thing does not happen to us again...

 

[moktan]

of course this sad and unfortunate ...but perhaps the speaker could have been better packed...i remember receiving my Callisto FS from Audire in Coimbatore through Pafex...the speaker had been encased in a packing that was almost bomb proof..(besides the usual packing material the entire thing was housed in a box made of 1.5inch thick wood..it took me a friend and a crow bar almost half and hour to work ourselves through all that wood)..of course the entire thing weighed about 200kgs but at least the speakers came home without a scratch..

 

[denom]

Really sorry to hear about your friend's situation. I hope helpful Sreekanth can undo the damage caused by this mishap. However, I'd like to add that courier companies do transport speakers, amps, and audio items quite frequently. If the items are well-packed, then the damage you describe should not occur. Packing fragile items is sometimes an art. How were the speakers packed - did you pack them yourself or leave that to the courier? Was foam used to cover the top and base and were corners reinforced? Was filling used to prevent the boxes from caving in from dents or sharp objects during transit?

Another point for future reference to all members. Sometimes it is useful to pay for the service rather than getting it free/through contacts. If you pay, you're a customer, and then you can file a claim for negligence and reimbursement. Also remember to always take pictures of the equipment in the condition it arrived in, before you start trying to repair it. Otherwise you will have no proof that the item arrived in the damaged condition before you intervened.

Yes, the speakers were packed by myself, with all sorts of packing materials used to absorb the shock, protect & reinforce from all sides. It took me an hour to do so with no effort spared at all. Just goes to show that inspite of all this protection, one speaker was damaged. More than an art, packing delicate equipment a science!!! Maybe the courier guys dropped the damaged speaker box from a telling distance

As for the point you made on the payment for services, you are absolutely right, but then we as Indians have this mentality to avail of 'free services' wherever possible, which most of the times lands us in trouble!:sad:

Will update on Shreekanth's efforts to remedy the situation once I hear from my friend tomorrow.

 

[denom]

Denom, my condolences on the speaker...

really heartbreaking to hear this. . . If I put myself in your shoes, it becomes quite unbearbly sad....

But, I guess we can learn from it and ensure such a thing does not happen to us again...

Exactly Malvai, I feel so responsible & guilty. I can feel what my dear friend is going through, coz he & i are like blood brothers, having chased the dream of setting up a stereo set-up for so many years, which due to some or the other reason/constraints did not happen earlier. Finally he gets there & yet he cannot enjoy the fruits of his hard work.:sad:

 

[rallynut]

denom,this really sucks .to think that something like this could happen,even in an extreme circumstance,is really sad.what ever happened to the insurance liabilty for couriers???

on another note,u have one of the best persons in my knowledge base on 'doctor' duty.sreekanth is an absolute gem,am sure he'll fix the issue.cheers

 

[denom]

of course this sad and unfortunate ...but perhaps the speaker could have been better packed...i remember receiving my Callisto FS from Audire in Coimbatore through Pafex...the speaker had been encased in a packing that was almost bomb proof..(besides the usual packing material the entire thing was housed in a box made of 1.5inch thick wood..it took me a friend and a crow bar almost half and hour to work ourselves through all that wood)..of course the entire thing weighed about 200kgs but at least the speakers came home without a scratch..

Wow, that is some kind of packing!!! But then if such is the packing then the contents just cannot get damaged!!! Not everyone will got to such lengths, due to cost factor involved.

PS: what did you do with the wooden enclosures??? Make cabinets???

 

[vinay]

It is quite a shame for blue dart that in spite of their good repute they have not been able to handle the fragile shipment. :sad:

It is rightly said by a member that photographs should be taken and furthermore such fragile and expensive items, there should be a regulation that a digital photograph should be taken in the presence of courier guys at the time of booking the article and at the place of delivery the package should be opened in the presence of the courier guys, if there is a problem then the courier is caught red handed that they are delivering the damaged goods.

V.

 

[malvai]

Wow, that is some kind of packing!!! But then if such is the packing then the contents just cannot get damaged!!! Not everyone will got to such lengths, due to cost factor involved.

PS: what did you do with the wooden enclosures??? Make cabinets???

Bro, that's the exact same way i got my Krell FPB 200 amp packed! despite the fact that I carted it back with me from Vellur all the way to Mumbai...

Never ever take the slightest chance with your gear!

 

[denom]

Best Part is that they covered the 2 boxes with the customary 'Fragile' stickers, 4 per box. Plus I had put up the 'This Side Up' & 'Handle with Care' Stickers again 4 on the sides of each box.
I had clearly mentioned in the Cover Letter the contents & that they should be extra careful in shipping them to their destination.

They were delivered in the morning, my friend was away at work, hence was not present to do the unpacking on the spot.

 

[denom]

Never ever take the slightest chance with your gear!

What can i say??? Lesson learnt the HARD WAY!!!:sad:

 

[vinay]

I know of a member who has had few good experience in transporting audio video equipments via courier so it could be a case of bad luck also.

If at times we do not pack the good properly then it is the job of courier company to guide us in how to pack and moreover a courier should not accept the fragile items if they are not packed properly.

In-fact branded courier's are known to handle so much of fragile items and there success rate could be quite good, one of the important reasons being that companies would be recovering money from courier's if they did not handle their shipment well, and they will have to pay up because they are big customers of the courier companies, while courier companies would be taking much better care for them then the shipment of we individuals.


I think it is righly said to transport the item yourself.

If for expensive and fragile items if the destination is not more then a 1000 kilometer, it is better to carry it by train yourself that way you get a break from the hectic life and at end of the day every one's very happy with a smart handling.

V.

 

[malvai]

Best Part is that they covered the 2 boxes with the customary 'Fragile' stickers, 4 per box. Plus I had put up the 'This Side Up' & 'Handle with Care' Stickers again 4 on the sides of each box.
I had clearly mentioned in the Cover Letter the contents & that they should be extra careful in shipping them to their destination.

They were delivered in the morning, my friend was away at work, hence was not present to do the unpacking on the spot.

Bro, the guys who actually handle this are not into reading at all! They are into muscle... if you see them at work, its like watching the olyimpics!

How far can you throw the stuff... who high can u stack up the stuff etc...

 

[denom]

If for expensive and fragile items if the destination is not more then a 1000 kilometer, it is better to carry it by train yourself that way you get a break from the hectic life and at end of the day every one's very happy with a smart handling.

V.

Vinay,

I was to drive down to bangalore with the speakers but due to hectic work schedule the plans got delayed. My friend got impatient & decided to courier them to his place. I was very much looking forward to the break as well but things didn't work out as planned & now this disaster!!! Hence I feel even more guilty & responsible:sad:

 

[vivek.saikia]

My condolenses for the speakers.
My amp travelled miles and reached me safely without a single scratch. All the credit goes to HiFiPal4All, who packed it with such a finesse that even if was dropped from a few feet, the packing would have bore the impact.

 

[gobble]

of course this sad and unfortunate ...but perhaps the speaker could have been better packed...i remember receiving my Callisto FS from Audire in Coimbatore through Pafex...the speaker had been encased in a packing that was almost bomb proof..(besides the usual packing material the entire thing was housed in a box made of 1.5inch thick wood..it took me a friend and a crow bar almost half and hour to work ourselves through all that wood)..of course the entire thing weighed about 200kgs but at least the speakers came home without a scratch..

Denom
Really Sorry to hear this!!
Bad luck and misfortune strike like a bolt of lightning ...

My Audire Callisto BS came by bus transport service overnight and I had no problems.

I think this was an accident as a company of this reputation normally can be trusted. Top bad you can't even claim damages - that is really a doublely painful blow!

How much did the speakers cost ?



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