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Thom R.




Location: Tucson
Joined: 26 Jul 2007
Reading list: 30 books

Posts: 630

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 2:09 pm    Post subject: Cautionary Tale #2         Reply with quote

Well I have been eagerly awaiting a sword purchase of mine - the price of which, at least for me - was quite a stretch (>$2000). So you can imagine my heart palpitations when I got the call that my box was here but Mr Brown needed to talk to me........ as you can see the box the sword was in, arrived , well, it was quite beat up. the following picture doesn't even do it justice - all of the interior packing was out, there were multiple punctures through the cardboard, box was flattened, and a large breach/flap existed on half of the box. It actually looks like the contents had fallen out and been put back in and retaped. the UPS guy already had the paperwork for "damaged shipment" ready for me by the time i got to the front of the office.

Now for the good news..................

The person who shipped me the sword, our fellow forumite Mr Vay Duong, had the foresight to package the sword in a gun case. Because of this, the sword arrived in a safe condition. Otherwise I shudder to think what would have happened, and also how dangerous this could have been for the UPS folks handling this box as well.

tr

ps now that i am staring some more at this box i also see what looks like rubber tire marks on it. Evil



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Christian Callender




Location: Maryland
Joined: 28 Mar 2005

Posts: 19

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 2:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thom,

Sounds like Mr Duong did you a solid, mate. Without that gun case, things could've been tragically worse. Everything happens for a reason, tho, and it looks as if your sword was shipped with a guardian angel to supervise the shipping.

Christian
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Thom R.




Location: Tucson
Joined: 26 Jul 2007
Reading list: 30 books

Posts: 630

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 3:43 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

We have swapped some swords teh past two years and I can positively state that Vay is a totally stand up guy!
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Nathan M Wuorio




Location: Maine.
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Reading list: 3 books

Posts: 151

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 3:44 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Ouch. I had the same problem after I ordered an antique M1881 Russian Shashka. The box was completely destroyed! Not only were there puncture marks, but is was also flattened! It looked like someone sat on top of it for a period of time. I was, like you, lucky. The seller had either had this problem with overseas shipping before, or had enough sense to see this coming. He cut a large (very large) piece of hard styrofoam in half and cut out the shape of the sword in each piece. He then put the sword between the two and covered the entire thing with tape. Needless to say, the sword arrived in perfect condition (or at least perfect condition for an antique). I am now requesting that all those who sell too me MUST protect the sword inside the box.
Nathan.
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Dan Dickinson
Industry Professional



Location: Michigan
Joined: 03 Oct 2004

Posts: 967

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 4:01 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

So much for "Handle with care" Sad
Glad to hear everything worked out,
Dan
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Michael Edelson




Location: New York
Joined: 14 Sep 2005

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 1,032

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 4:11 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow, I heard horror stories about UPS, but this goes beyond that.

On a positive note, Vay Duong rocks. Happy

I've had several dealings with him and he is always going above and beyond.

I'm glad your sword arrived undamaged. I bought the other one he was selling, due here tommorrow. I hope the box fares better than yours! Happy

New York Historical Fencing Association
www.newyorklongsword.com

Byakkokan Dojo
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Joe Fults




Location: Midwest
Joined: 02 Sep 2003

Posts: 3,646

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 4:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Problem was probably the "fragile" tape on the package. Wink
"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
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Nathan Keysor




Location: WV
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Reading list: 9 books

Posts: 255

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 6:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Vay is very cool. I've bought a couple swords from him too. I feel bad that he's had to part with a lot of his collection. I'm guessing that you bought his Svante? I'm glad you bought it and saved me the temptation. How about a few pics?
About a year ago I bought a Crecy from a forum member. It was shipped with the Postal Service. A week went buy and it didn't show up. It turned out that the sword punctured the box and sliced up a postal employee. It also got a bent tip in the process. It was returned to sender. He ended up shipping it to me in a rifle case by UPS. I guess if you don't have the original Albion box it's worth the extra money to ship in a gun case for peace of mind at least.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
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R D Moore




Location: Portland Oregon
Joined: 09 Jun 2007
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PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 7:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Joe Fults wrote:
Problem was probably the "fragile" tape on the package. Wink


I need to second this. I bought a dagger from a fellow forumite, who, thankfully, packaged it well. UPS delivered it after 6:30 PM and the box had obviously been mistreated and crushed. It also was marked "fragile" . This all happened just last month. If I ever send anything via UPS it wont be marked fragile. Anybody else have any stories about this carrier?
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D. Austin
Industry Professional



Location: Melbourne, Australia
Joined: 20 Sep 2007

Posts: 208

PostPosted: Wed 17 Sep, 2008 7:45 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thankfully I've never had a problem with swords or daggers being damaged during shipping, but I do feel that I should add something to this topic. Although we all love our swords and feel that they are very valuable to us, we should also think of the postal/shipping workers who handle them. Without wanting to sound too soppy, I'm more concerned about an innocent man working to feed his family, getting stabbed by a poorly packaged instrument of death, than I am about my replaceable toys being bent or scratched. Of course we could argue that with "FRAGILE" or "HANDLE WITH CARE" tape wrapped around it, the worker in question should have been more careful, but I don't think I'm alone in having been careless, overly tired or just plain unlucky at work (and no, I don't work for a freight company Big Grin)

I would assume that most manufacturers or retailers would take care in packaging their wares appropriately but I think that this is an issue that must be taken seriously. The last thing that any of us needs is for our governments to ban sword imports based on a danger to those workers who may well be unaware that what they are handling is potentially dangerous.
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Jeremy V. Krause




Location: Buffalo, NY.
Joined: 20 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Thu 18 Sep, 2008 11:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm sorry to find the humor in this Thom,

But that picture is just hilarious! With the "FRAGILE" tape on both ends that's just rich!

I can only say this because your sword was fine Eek! Eek! WTF?! Laughing Out Loud

Jeremy
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Michael Edelson




Location: New York
Joined: 14 Sep 2005

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 1,032

PostPosted: Thu 18 Sep, 2008 1:00 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Well my Ritter just got here, with the same fragile tape Vay used on the other box, no damage at all. Maybe it's a regional thing.

Sword is terrific, btw. Exactly as Vay described.

New York Historical Fencing Association
www.newyorklongsword.com

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