BRS Canister Shipping

[FMay]

• Thought I would give some suggestions on what to do to cover yourself 

After removing the canister from my plane, I placed it in the backseat of my truck and drove straight to the UPS store.  Once in the store I told the worker I wanted to have the canister packaged and shipped. I also wanted to place insurance on it. The counter worker stated she did not know how to do the insurance and called the owners to come in and take care of it.

I waited 20 minutes for the owners to arrive. I told the owners what I wanted and they said it was no problem. The husband-owner- took the Parachute to the back and started packaging it. I stayed up front with the wife-owner-taking care of the paperwork and payment. 
 

End of Story———-but wait it’s not.

BRS received the boxed canister four days later. I was called and told the canister was damaged and that it looks like it will have to be replaced. I receive a picture of the damage. You can tell that the canister was either dropped or was hit with something. I got  the price to replace the canister ($1024.25) and notified UPS of the damage with pictures.

This canister had no damage when taken from the plane. A Light Sport Inspector helped remove it, a parachutists was interested in seeing it and I saw no damage.  The UPS staff and owners saw no damage.

UPS sends an email wanting,  2 photos displaying all 6 sides of the package (1 photo should display the top & 2 sides-2nd
photo should display the bottom & the opposite sides)        Close up photo of tracking label on the box
photo of damaged item inside of box w/all original cushioning.

My response was I never saw the boxed up item and had no pictures of the box and the only pictures of the damage was not in the box. I Suggested they contact the store owners for pictures if any were taken.

In the meantime BRS says the canister can be used and they will repack. It’s been a month and no response from UPS has been received. Doesn’t matter now.

My recommendations : 1–Take pictures of your canister from every side, top and bottom so you can show there is no damage. Something I did not.

                                       2–If your shipping company is going to pack the parachute, tell them you want to see the packaging while it is being done.

                                            Take pictures of the packing and all sides of the box after all labels are affixed.

I was told the amount of insurance ($5000) could only be provided if the UPS Store did the packing. Check into that to see if it’s true. I don’t know. I do know I could have done it for much less.  Everything I have read about shipping companies paying out claims has been negative for the shipper. Very few claims are paid. If I have this to do again I will package it myself and ship it with no insurance. BRS ships with no insurance. They charge $178 shipping. I paid for UPS to pack it, ship it and insure it $338. That’s $160 in fuel I could have saved.

 

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[Ulmo133]

Hi.
As a very frequent user of UPS/DHL/Fedex... when you need the insurance they do there best to not agreed...
Your recommandations are good but not enough :

• Pictures of the product inside the box in every side with the label visible (for the date)
• Pictures of the box closed with the label
• Pictures of the box at destination before opening
• if there is any damage, the recipient must put a note on the driver's delivery document to indicate that there is damage to the parcel.

And despite all that, it's very hard to get compensation, especially if the container is damaged but not the contents, because they'll say you didn't pack it well enough.

Hopefully for you the canister doesn't need to be replaced even if it's infuriating !