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To those of you that have shipped horns in the past,
Have you ever had an instument damaged by the carrier and then been refused compensation even though you paid insurance and shipped the horn in an appropriate case? And has this ever resulted in a lawsuit against the shipping company with any success after the initial claim has been denied, or is that more or less a waste of time to pursue? Thanks, curious to hear what peoples' experiences have been concerning this issue.

Bloke, as usual.... correct. Read the 'fine print'. The packaging requirements are mostly non-human! By the time you comply with all the minimum requirements, the boxes are going to be way too large (especially for tubas or sousaphones) to be economical.

Wrap a tuba in a blanket... stuff it in a box... and put it on The Hound! Their liability limits stink but their success rate is outstanding!

Another vote for The Hound.

I bussed a hardcased tuba from Orange County CA to Milwaukee. The Milwaukee employees were fascinated by the package, and treated it with kid gloves. They even asked if they could see the shiny cargo inside the case. And then they wheeled it right out to my vehicle.

I've only been on the sending end of Grey Hound, but the scary thing is the liability like Mr. Schultz said. I think its only $500 or something.

TheHatTuba wrote:I've only been on the sending end of Grey Hound, but the scary thing is the liability like Mr. Schultz said. I think its only $500 or something.

The liability of 'The Hound' is $1,000 within a certain number of 'zones' or about 1,000 miles. After that it drops to $300.... certainly not enough to replace most tubas. But... probably enough to roll out a bell.

bloke wrote: - Greyhound Package Express (Priority Service) may be a better choice, because a/ parcels move as fast as people, b/ parcels are rarely more than two feet off the ground, and c/ as GPX shipping volume is relatively low, GPX employees are not under as much pressure as are UPS and FedEx employees.

My (not so good) experience with Greyhound shipping was a couple years ago - long enough to forget the details. Is Express/Priority Service an option, or simply the name for their parcel service? I'm pretty sure I wasn't presented with any options.

From recipient's description - "played basketball with it" ... "like something poked through it". See, if the employees were under more pressure, they wouldn't have time for sports like this.

Donn wrote:

bloke wrote: - Greyhound Package Express (Priority Service) may be a better choice, because a/ parcels move as fast as people, b/ parcels are rarely more than two feet off the ground, and c/ as GPX shipping volume is relatively low, GPX employees are not under as much pressure as are UPS and FedEx employees.

My (not so good) experience with Greyhound shipping was a couple years ago - long enough to forget the details. Is Express/Priority Service an option, or simply the name for their parcel service? I'm pretty sure I wasn't presented with any options.

From recipient's description - "played basketball with it" ... "like something poked through it". See, if the employees were under more pressure, they wouldn't have time for sports like this.

The formal name of the service is "Greyhound Package Express". Extra fees for "Express/Priority" doesn't buy much other than a guarantee of '1st bus out'. That doesn't mean it won't get 'kicked off' at the next stop because a dozen riders get on with their baggage. There is a slight 'downside' to Greyhound inasmuch as even though there is service in accordance with the published schedules... that doesn't mean that freight is accepted at odd hours when the terminal is attended by humans. A package could 'ride around' until it hits a receiving terminal at the right time. Plus... a package leaving here might get routed to Nashville... then to Louisville... then to Chicago... then to Cincinnati... then back to Chicago... then to Nashville... then to it's final destination... which could have been Louisville in the first place!

All that being said... I would choose Greyhound over any of the alternatives. I know the guys very well at my local terminal and they know the best way to route a package. There are alternatives other than the schedules published on the Greyhound web site.