Greyhound Shipping Insurance No Longer

[Donn]

I don't trust the conventional wisdom on Greyhound, because I think there's a basic flaw in the kind of information we have about the carriers. It may indeed be better than UPS and FedEx, but the number of tubas that go Greyhound is relatively small - I'm guessing by at least an order of magnitude, and the senders are often relatively sophisticated. So while it isn't surprising that there are few damage reports, that doesn't tell me how much safer it is.

But maybe I'd be more easily convinced if the one time I tried it, the horn hadn't got whacked. The one time I tried Amtrak, on the other hand, it was fine - once it got past the counter. I wouldn't have been nearly as happy about the experience if a more experienced receiving clerk hadn't shown up, in time to rescue me from a younger guy who was taking a different interpretation of their somewhat ambiguous rules. But the same caution applies here - there aren't enough tubas going Amtrak to give us a reliable sense of how safe it is.

[tofu]

And despite all the evidence to the contrary that GPX is at best a 50/50 prospect everywhere they have the service.

Have you empirical evidence to back that claim up?

I don't understand the hostility in this thread. Dan Schultz ships a lot of instruments and his anecdotal evidence has been good. Lots of people have posted positive experiences over the years I've been on TubeNet. I don't buy and sell lots of tubas, but I've sent and received ten via Greyhound and not only has it been very safe I've actually been surprised at how fast it has been. The last one went from Chicago to Phoenix in a day and a half. They have all been positive experiences for me. I have no doubt they screw up and you can see how it can happen. It just seems that in these threads over the years it's the same few people who have had a bad experience who rehash their bad outcome and get mad when somebody then says I've had a good one.

Guys who seem to ship lots of tubas like Dan Schultz and Dan Oberloh have stated what has worked well for them. And even Joe S. in the past has stated he has had good results with the both the dog and Amtrak and he seems to ship a fair amount of horns on a regular basis. I don't think anyone would argue that handing over a tuba in person is the safest way to do it. But time is money and for me to drive several hours is a losing proposition as my time is worth far more than traveling half way to say Phoenix. If the horn goes missing or is damaged I can afford to absorb the loss after insurance. But everybody has different parameters, risk tolerances and ability to absorb a hit.

[Alex C]

Shipping with Greyhound is scary. You can increase your chances of success if you do a couple of things.

1) Ship to a major terminal. If you live just outside a major city, do not ship to your local bus terminal (aka bus stop). Have the instrument shipped to the nearest large city terminal and pick up the instrument from there. Cuts time and danger of having it walk away.

2) Put your instrument in a box. My feeling (not experience) is that a nice juicy instrument in a case is a target for the occasional thief.

3) Make sure your box has handles on it. Even rope handles will work. Clerks who look at a smooth sided box can think, "Dang, I'm gonna leave that big heavy thing for the next shift."

Shipping anywhere is a scary thing. Shipping by Greyhound is very scary but it has worked for me every time so far.

[Donn]

I don't understand the hostility in this thread.

Well, as you know, some people are just mean, but ...

I have no doubt they screw up and you can see how it can happen. It just seems that in these threads over the years it's the same few people who have had a bad experience who rehash their bad outcome and get mad when somebody then says I've had a good one.

While a lot of that is about whether we get mad or not, which is a valid point, this passage also gets close to the observational problem.

Compare with UPS: a few people who have had a bad experience? Hundreds! Everyone understands that UPS is therefore a risky proposition. With Greyhound, and many fewer tubas, a few bad experiences could represent the same evidence.

But in somewhat classic herd behavior, we collectively understand that it makes no sense to hold out our successful UPS experience as evidence that it's a safe bet, but that's exactly what we do with Greyhound. I wouldn't doubt that this could be a little irritating to people with unreasonably high standards for mental rigor.

[Rick F]

[snip] FedEx infuriates me by charging 3x as much if you aren't one of their business clients

I can believe that. Four years ago when I got my Miraphone 5050 from Tuba Exchange, they shipped it FedEx strapped on a pallet (free shipping). It arrived at my house in a semi in great shape. For awhile I was thinking I might have to return it with me paying shipping. I talked with FedEx agent at the desk and he said it would cost me $700 to return it the same way! Thankfully I didn't have to return it. If I did, I would probably have driven the 750 miles myself.

[Minkrott]

Shipped in a gig bag and two 20 inch boxes from Ohio to Colorado with no issues. Made use of the gig bag handle.

[bisontuba]

My frustration with Greyhound is the lack of reliable tracking.

My frustration with every other place is how much it costs. FedEx infuriates me by charging 3x as much if you aren't one of their business clients

The new tracking system, just recently introduced, is quite good....

[tofu]

Shipping with Greyhound is scary. You can increase your chances of success if you do a couple of things.

1) Ship to a major terminal. If you live just outside a major city, do not ship to your local bus terminal (aka bus stop). Have the instrument shipped to the nearest large city terminal and pick up the instrument from there. Cuts time and danger of having it walk away.

2) Put your instrument in a box. My feeling (not experience) is that a nice juicy instrument in a case is a target for the occasional thief.

3) Make sure your box has handles on it. Even rope handles will work. Clerks who look at a smooth sided box can think, "Dang, I'm gonna leave that big heavy thing for the next shift."

Shipping anywhere is a scary thing. Shipping by Greyhound is very scary but it has worked for me every time so far.

There are a couple more things I do. I ship on days when the bus is less likely to be full or get full along the way. It helps being in Chicago and the bus originates out of the terminal. I also show up exactly a half hour before departure. This minimizes the chance of it sitting around out in the open. And I know this one might be tougher for some of the dispositions on the board to pull off, but I charm the front desk people and slip them a few bucks to have it immediately loaded on the bus. This has worked every time. The new tracking is a big improvement (still not UPS/FedX level but workable). I also make it a point with the buyer to go pick it up ASAP to minimize dwell time at the destination. In fact as soon as I see Greyhound has it at the destination I call the buyer. If I'm receiving a horn I also go ASAP to get it.

I've shipped/received tubas via UPS/FedX and received truck freight as well. The thing I love about the dog is the packing is far less of a chore. I've never had a problem with FedX or UPS but that was due to packing for Armageddon to happen along the way. The only damage I've ever had was a horn shipped from Dillons via truck freight on a pallet. It disappeared for 2 1/2 weeks. Somewhere mid-way it got off loaded on a loading dock to get something else off, didn't get reloaded and spent 10 days sitting outside on a loading dock where it sustained damage and nobody had any idea where it was. But Dillons was great about it and they took care of me. Big thumbs up for Matt Walters. All forms of shipping have issues, but you can do things to reduce your risk with whatever method you use.

[groth]

My frustration with Greyhound is the lack of reliable tracking.

My frustration with every other place is how much it costs. FedEx infuriates me by charging 3x as much if you aren't one of their business clients

The new tracking system, just recently introduced, is quite good....

On the contrary, small stops where the instrument might come off the bus and be loaded on the next available don't get scanned because (as the GPX call center says) don't have scanners at some locations. So your tuba could be sitting in Bumfart, Nebraska on the curb waiting for an employee to load it back on the next open bus and you would never know where it was. If it was stolen from said location you would be told "sorry" and to fill out a claim.

[groth]

For those who seem to get the run around like I have had in the past with GPX and keep getting routed to the Philippines when you just want to speak with an agent in whatever city you might think your horn is sitting, here's a secret number I had squeezed out of a GPX grunt in the back of a major city hub.

GPX Call Center (command center): (866) 744-7479. In case you can't get any info from anyone else, call this. They seem to know more than anyone else along the supply line at Greyhound (And they speak English)!

[Dan Schultz]

I'm just fortunate to have a Greyhound agent in Evansville who knows what he's doing when it comes to routing shipments.

You guys just do whatever makes you feel good.

[saxophyte]

I shipped greyhound about 50 times last year no lost package no damage.
My gripe is with my customer who wants fed ex delivery and is not home to receive it ,then does not respond to the note fed ex leaves and lets the gorilla driver deliver the tuba 3 times before responding .Each time the driver carries the package to the door then brings it back and throws it in the truck only to repeat the action the next day.If your expecting a delivery either be home or contact fed ex or ups to hold the box for you.

[groth]

If your expecting a delivery either be home or contact fed ex or ups to hold the box for you.

I do this for any large auto parts delivery I get especially, there's even an option on FedEx online to route the package to the nearest FedEx/Kinko's location instead of your home. Not many know this.