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Short version: If you ship Greyhound, make sure you ship "PRIORITY"

Long version: I just purchased a Conn 52J which was shipped Monday evening. It was shipped "standard" instead of priority even though the seller told the clerk "next day." In any event, Greyhound has about as good a chance of tracking where a tuba is, as I would have finding Jimmy Hoffa. I currently have no idea where the tuba is or when it is getting to me. Soooooooo.......yeeeeeeaah.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Yes (not me, really, but I know for a fact, this experience is all too familiar to many here.)

I've called the start location and every probable stop along the way and no one can find it. The only entry on the tracking site says the first bus at the start location if Tampa.

Wait a minute...You shipped it Monday evening? Do you know for sure it was put on a bus or did you just drop it off? It's only Wednesday so you are probably jumping the gun. If we were at say the 10 day mark I might start to get a little concerned. Never ever had a problem runnin with the dog.

Where it ships from and to makes a difference too. Some places might only have 1 bus per day leaving that station and going in that direction. If it's full of luggage, you have to wait until the next day. That stuff can add up quickly.

There's a reason it costs what it does... it's generally a safe method of transport, but it's no less nerve racking. (That said, I'd have rather spent a few extra days worrying than 4 months of shipping/claims/repair time.)

Hi-
A couple of things:
- first, NOT ALL stations ship and/or receive Greyhound Priority--seems strange, but true;
-second, try to schedule or buy a ticket at the last minute these days--look at Greyhound's site--we are in vacation season--many buses are sold out, and if sold out, packages are secondary to ticket buyer's luggage-----meaning that if the bus riders luggage fills up the bus's underside, your package waits until the next space is open in another bus. To help alleviate this, sometimes stations will send the package in an available bus that is not the most direct route, but one that will 'eventually' get there.....

Mark

bloke wrote:' ...broken record...

BENEFITS OF GREYHOUND:

- never more than two feet off the ground
- likely not handled hurriedly
- no possibility of them stacking a crated engine on top of your crated tuba

+1....
Mark

Yes, it was shipped Monday afternoon. The seller did NOT see it go on the bus, but the Greyhound tracking site shows that it was scanned prior to getting on the bus. The seller went back 24hrs later to make sure it did leave. So, it left Tampa, FL and was supposed to go by way of Tallahassee. Tallahassee said they didn't have it. Each station along the way said the same thing. So I would guess it was on a bus at the time. You're right. It is only a couple days but it worries me that no one has a clue where it its. Greyhound did say that standard shipping is 7-10 days. Ugh. We shall see.

jonesmj wrote:

bloke wrote:' ...broken record...

BENEFITS OF GREYHOUND:

- never more than two feet off the ground
- likely not handled hurriedly
- no possibility of them stacking a crated engine on top of your crated tuba

+1....
Mark

+2. By-the-way... 'priority' is a waste of money. Example... my local terminal is only open from 11am until 6pm daily. Regardless of what the so-called schedule on The Internet says... NOTHING will be delivered outside of those hours. Likewise... NOTHING will leave Evansville, Indiana outside of those hours.

Basically... 'priority' means next bus out. Next bus out means NOTHING if the destination terminal is closed.

Greyhound is very reliable. But.... be patient!

I got a call at 730AM this morning that it arrived at the bus station. I just got back from picking it up and I can confirm that the horn survived the trip very well.

Aw nuts, that's always the way... "where's my stuff" one day, and it shows up the next day.

Clearly, a good problem to have.

Congratulations on the new tuba, always an exciting day! How is it?!

The tuba is in great shape. There are a few pings here and there but nothing major. I'll likely have a local guy pop those right out. I haven't had a chance to play it yet. I had to go from greyhound straight to work. So it is right here in my cube. I'll play it this evening.

I have used Greyhound three times. Never had a problem, although there is that block of time when you call them and they have no clue that is a little unnerving. That said, no problems, very inexpensive.

I'll second that opinion a second time. I've had a few horns shipped out to me and Greyhound has left me feeling in the dark until that wonderful morning when you get a call of "yes, we've got a package for you"
Overall, I'd say it doesn't take longer than it would take me to pick it up myself, which if you knew my love of driving, is saying quite a lot.
Go Greyhound!

bloke wrote:I always freak out when tubas are shipped to me via UPS or FedEx.

I'd freak out about an expensive tuba going any route, having had a little trouble with Greyhound myself. But my recent acquisition came via Fedex. It wasn't all that expensive, so rather than freak out, I just grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of pics. The box was getting to be more like a somewhat tattered cardboard bag at this point in its journey, but thanks to the masterful packing job (really just a modest amount of bubble wrap), the sturdy tuba within was not seriously harmed. The delivery guy's leg can be seen to the side, he didn't seem real anxious to pose with his delivery but didn't have an easy escape route and hadn't gotten the signature.

So far this year I have had no incidents shipping Greyhound Package Express. My only complaint is that they need to upgrade their tracking system. It does not appear they have intermediate stop reporting, or even final delivery reporting, including picking the item up at the station, as do USPS and the common carriers. My experience with tracking numbers has been an item only shows "in transit," and sometimes does not even show delivery, in spite of the person on the other end of the journey contacting me to confirm receipt of the item.

During times of heavy passenger travel you just have to give Greyhound shipments a little extra time. I shipped a horn from Evansville, Indiana on September 2nd and it arrived in Tucson on the 9th. The factor here was the Labor Day weekend. It just took that long for their schedules to get back to 'normal'.

bloke wrote:All of the GPX counter folk (who double as baggage handlers) in Memphis know me by name.

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