UShip Experience vs Other Shipping Options

[Funtronics]

Have you guys ever watched shipping wars on TV. Where they bid for hauling items. The show is a little nutty, but I did go on the web to the sight "uSHIP" and placed a bid to have a machine I restored for my son to be moved from Illinois to Daytona Fla. I got several bids and I offered the low bidder $350.00 to haul it. He accepted the offer. He showed up in a van and wrapped my machine and delivered direct to my sons door step in Daytona. Got to talking to the guy and I asked him how he could afford to only haul my soda machine all the way to Daytona. He told me he was from Daytona and owned a business where he has to make deliveries up to Chicago and looks for back hauls to pay for his fuel. So this is one place to try and see what you may come up with.

[collecture]

The only gripe I have with NAVL is that they use those ratchet tie-downs and they place it right over the coin door. This invariably pushes the coin door into the main door a bit - you can notice it on two of my machines.

[cokecolaman]

Ditto what collecture said...happened twice...the first time, I understood...the 2nd time i told them NOT to strap around the small coin door and was very specific...they didn't relay the request to the driver and my daughter signed for it, not realizing they broke the bezel and pushed in the door...they wouldn't do anything for me and it wasn't worth going to court over...I won't use NAVL again....I also know another guy that had the same thing happened to him, but he caught it before they left and is suing them.

[SIGNGUY]

I have used several services and have had good and bad luck with all... so it's just a gamble , but overall have had the most luck with freight haulers who haul my palleted Crated items door to door.

I use Freight 88 to book my stuff and they generally have me with Lakeville motor express or SAIA Freight .. both require me to have the item crated and palleted and they do charge a lift gate and residential fee for pickup and delivery but have had only one issue with them in all of about 30-40 deliveries..

I have used NAVL as well, and actually its not even them any more ,, they have a company called Specialized Transport that does this work for them.. yes they don't require pacakaging and they come right to the house to pick it up and wheel it away,, but I've had one majore claim with them (which they handled well and paid for me to repaint a whole machine plus my labor of taking it apart and ressembling it).. so I was pleased with that .. (again they used a cinch strap and bent in the coin door like others have said)...  but they aren't that cheap for me.. as I'n not a direct pickup point and they have to upcharge me for special pickup which is usually and additional 75 - 100 bucks..

I have also used USHIP one time and it was great... it was an unrestored machine coming to me from Florida and I booked it out on uship, got several offers and went with a husband wife team who just haul once a month from Florida to the north as far as they need to go and load up as much as they can and deliver along the way... Great people and hope I can use again.

[Kaleid20]

I use USHIP all the time. Never had any issues with getting a machine moved. It's not as fancy as using a freight company (unless you want to fork out bigger bucks), but I've always been more then satisfied with my moves. Trick is to find someone who is moving a larger item already and have them move your machine as an add-on. This saves a lot of money. You are covered by uship if anything goes wrong, kind of like the equivenlent of ebay seller protection in shipping terms.

[MoonDawg]

      Great topic.
 
     It's unfortunate anyone had issues at all but several members described having the same problem.......cinching too hard on a coin door.

      Is there some way this can be avoided from now on? Protective corners on the machine or request strapping above or below the door?

[SIGNGUY]

I've discussed this with them and yes they now corner board machines and that seems to work.. also I've had them put it on the paperwork as well, and you just hope everyone who handles the machine (which are several) , read it. and obey.

[MaineT]

I'm on the shipping side of uship for 2 sliders now. Recommending uship is sort of like recommending eBay... Its only as good as the carriers that bid the job like eBay is only as good as the seller.

If its the guy like rod said that is perfect. There are a lot of brokers trolling it booking jobs for the same companies that you didn't call. So far for me its been up and down. The first machine I went to the depot to drop it off and they refused it because it wasn't in a crate. the paperwork said on a pallet and DO NOT STACK. he said he was refusing it because as soon as he set another pallet on top of it for transport he would be owning it... No S@!T BUDDY-READ THE PAPERWORK!!!!

So it went out to bid again and this time it was great at my end. They came to the house, wrapped it, man it was good. I was working with his shipper so I later found out the problem... it was still a shipping company. It was supposed to be there is 30 days, and at the 30 day mark nothing... It took the North American Rockstar tour... with Ray Charles driving. Sounded like it hit the same place twice, they couldn't find it.. .it finally got there 2 weeks after the due date!!

Now this time around with the second machine, The broker told me where to drop it off and the contact.  The broker called a local motorcycle shop and told them they have a new shipping system for motorcycles and he would fax them some info on it and made it sound like I would be dropping one off for him or would see it working.  Obviously standing at a Harley Davidson dealership with a crated coke machine is a little uncomfortable when they figured out they had been lied to. I dropped it off to the depot that of the company that was picking it up from the Harley dealer and it went off no problem.
s
Can't wait to hear the story of when it hits the other end!!

So, long story short.... A broker is just a slimy salesman that tells you what you want to hear... And we all know a salesman's job is to lie, promise and screw the other party and then make them feel good about it!!

[vintage-air]

We all have shipping stories...some good, some bad. I have used Uship and Forwardair for all of my shipping. Forward air requires all products to be on a pallet and strapped. They are about he cheapest but do require you to take it to the terminal for drop off. I don't know why anyone would even consider not putting their shipment on a skid or protecting in every way possible. As a seller, it is your responsibility to protect it for shipping. If you don't have the means or tools to ship large items, hire someone to do it or stick to local pickup. But sometimes our hands are tied once it leaves the property and we all keep our fingers crossed that it will arrive in one place.