I’d like to provide an update to my FedEx damaged shipment.  You may recall in my last post that I sent a 6 shipper to California and when my experienced and trusted trading partner sent the full 6 shipper back, it made it all the way from California to North Carolina when it was identified as “damaged in shipment” and wound up going all the way back to California as directed by the shipper’s instructions.  Now the shipper intervened and attempted to have the shipment be redirected to me (the last 200 miles) but unfortunately, FedEx decided to ship it all the way back cross-country back to California.  Well, the damaged shipment made it safely back to Cali, and what my shipper and trusted trading partner received was quite interesting.  It appears that 4 of the 6 bottles were safe; one bottle was completely missing and the last bottle was totally shattered in the shipper.  Based on the pictures my trading partner sent me, I can only speculate on what happened….either the package was dropped from a high altitude or someone was thirsty, opened the package, took a bottle and proceeded to damage the box so it would be declared “damaged in shipment”.  I just can’t think of any other options that make any sense!  My trading partner is repacking the 4 shaken survivors, adding a couple other bottles and is sending a box back east again!

The FedEx representative that he spoke to recommended that Express is the way to go and that Ground shipping has had issues…….and it’s only a few dollars more for a seemingly safer trip!  Sounds like a good move and important advice for all if you choose to ship via FedEx.

I’ve seen debated on forums the value of shipping FedEx versus UPS versus USPS…..everyone has their opinions and horror stories about each.  None are perfect and none are bad – there is a risk every time you drop off a package and place it in the hands of others!  Just pack the passengers as best you can and hope that they survive the trip to their final destination.  Some tips:

1. Try to make it as “non-beer” as possible – mask the liquid noise with tic tags, dried pasta, or some other noisy, non breakable item.
2. Use bubble wrap, bubble wrap and when you think you are done, more bubble wrap.
3. Invest in packing tape and tape every seam of the box.
4. Pack the contents in a garbage bag so if there is leakage, it is contained in the bag and hopefully will still make it to it’s final destination.
5. Add as much filler as possible so when it’s shaken, nothing moves…nothing.
6. Find a trusted local shipping partner – I’ve built a relationship with a  local UPS Store and because of that, most of my shipping is with UPS.

There is always a risk of having problems….but it’s worth the risk when you receive “beer mail” and it’s a Stout or other beer that you’ve been wanting for some time! Hopefully the third trip cross-country for my Stouts will be smooth and uneventful and I can report to you soon that they made it safely!

Any interesting shipping stories you would like to share?  Any additional shipping tips for pass along?  Feel free to leave a comment!