shipping?

[MaryAnn]

Anybody tried these people?

https://www.uship.com" target="_blank

There is a neighborhood discussion going on about shipping heirloom furniture across the country. This site was recommended. Seems to me shipping a tuba cross country is in the same general category of how much the owner does not want it damaged.

[groth]

That sounds like a decent plan. Hope someone chimes in someday to say they tried it. We definitely need more options for shipping horns.

[Tom]

I have used Uship once. If you want to jump to the end here it is: bad experience, wouldn't use again.

Uship is basically a "load board" where consumers post loads for transport companies to bid on. Often multiple bids are received, usually with each undercutting one another. It's sort-of supposed to make it user friendly for the average Joe to arrange shipping for large items or unusual things that couldn't be shipped via a traditional method like UPS or FedEx. Uship just about lets anyone join as a service provider, so there are A LOT of mom & pop type operations that amount to one guy with a pickup willing to haul your stuff for cash.

I had a vintage motorcycle shipped from a business address (with loading dock) in Maryland to a residential address in Texas. I posted the shipment on their site and waited for the bids to roll in. I received one from an unknown to me but reputable looking company with solid feedback shown on the Uship site. I communicated with them via email and phone before confirming the deal, liked what I heard, and ultimately decided to hire them to ship the motorcycle for about $400, as a COD shipment.

The problems began almost immediately. They missed the pickup appointment at the seller's location. Twice. Thankfully the seller was flexible and communicative with me and we were able to work out a date a few days later when the bike was actually picked up.

A couple days after that the bike was picked up, I was contacted by Uship telling me that the company I had hired was suspended from the site for operating illegally and that I wouldn't be able to completely my transaction with them. I told Uship that the company already had my stuff (as confirmed by the seller) and that they were en route to the delivery location. Their response was basically "sucks to be you" and were quick to point out that they assumed no liability whatsoever for any of the transactions generated on the site. I was on my own to figure out what to do.

I called and emailed the shipper for several days with no response. Eventually they called me and said that they were "having problems" with Uship and that I'd need to cancel the transaction on the site. I said "yeah, but you already have my stuff! I'm not doing anything until my bike shows up as which time I will pay you the agreed upon price." They said a quick "ok" and hung up.

Several more days pass and I don't hear anything and can't reach the shipper for any sort of status update. Calls wouldn't even go to voicemail...it would just ring and ring. Emails went unanswered. I even started to think that I'd have to file a stolen vehicle report and that the bike I bought might be gone for good.

Several days after that (it has now been more than a week), I get a call from a guy that says "I'm in town and need to drop the trailer off tonight." I said "oh, so this so-and-so shipper and you have my bike?" Guy says "nope...this is such and such and I have a whole trailer coming to your address." I told him that I was not supposed to receive a trailer, but that he was supposed to be delivering an uncrated motorcycle to me. He said he wasn't sure what was in the trailer ( ) but would be there in a little bit. A few hours go by and it's now well after dark. Door bell rings and it's a guy that points to his dually pickup and long enclosed trailer and says "I have a delivery for you." Went out outside and yes, there was the bike in the trailer. I told him that's all I had, so he unloaded it.

Then I said "so, who are you and why aren't you so-and-so that I hired for this?" His response was that so-and-so shipper asked him to pick up the trailer somewhere out of state and drive it to Texas to drop some stuff off because "some guy" kept calling wanting to know where his stuff was (yeah...that was ME!!!). I told him I still needed to pay for the shipping since it was setup as COD. He said "how much was that supposed to be? I'll do it for whatever he was charging you." I was honest about the price, gave him the money and he left. Never heard from him or the originally hired shipping company again.

The next week Uship, which had left me hanging, wanted me to provide all kinds of information and testimony for a lawsuit they were talking about against the shipping company I used. I told them my transaction was done. I had my stuff, I paid for it, and I was moving on. They didn't help me when my shipment went sideways and I wasn't going to spend time helping them now.

Turns out that the shipper was a total fly-by-night operation (if you didn't already realize that ) and did not have a motor carrier number, USDOT number, commercial insurance, or driver CDLs to be operating legally. Some sort of complaint or citation was issued and Uship shut down their account. Uship says it makes no claims as to the qualifications and credentials of its service providers which tacitly allows many providers to operate in the shadows. Uship knows this and does nothing.

I'm sure some folks that are providers on Uship are fine and some customers have had a great experience. I didn't and wouldn't use them again to source shipping. If you want to use them, just understand what it is you're getting into. I was rather ignorant of some matters that ended up causing problems. I learned a lot about motor carrier / trucking laws in the process. With Uship it's definitely "buyer beware."

Any reputable carrier will gladly provide you with their US DOT number. You can cross check it here:
http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/p ... c_carrlist

[groth]

I have used Uship once. If you want to jump to the end here it is: bad experience, wouldn't use again.

Uship is basically a "load board" where consumers post loads for transport companies to bid on. Often multiple bids are received, usually with each undercutting one another. It's sort-of supposed to make it user friendly for the average Joe to arrange shipping for large items or unusual things that couldn't be shipped via a traditional method like UPS or FedEx. Uship just about lets anyone join as a service provider, so there are A LOT of mom & pop type operations that amount to one guy with a pickup willing to haul your stuff for cash.

I had a vintage motorcycle shipped from a business address (with loading dock) in Maryland to a residential address in Texas. I posted the shipment on their site and waited for the bids to roll in. I received one from an unknown to me but reputable looking company with solid feedback shown on the Uship site. I communicated with them via email and phone before confirming the deal, liked what I heard, and ultimately decided to hire them to ship the motorcycle for about $400, as a COD shipment.

The problems began almost immediately. They missed the pickup appointment at the seller's location. Twice. Thankfully the seller was flexible and communicative with me and we were able to work out a date a few days later when the bike was actually picked up.

A couple days after that the bike was picked up, I was contacted by Uship telling me that the company I had hired was suspended from the site for operating illegally and that I wouldn't be able to completely my transaction with them. I told Uship that the company already had my stuff (as confirmed by the seller) and that they were en route to the delivery location. Their response was basically "sucks to be you" and were quick to point out that they assumed no liability whatsoever for any of the transactions generated on the site. I was on my own to figure out what to do.

I called and emailed the shipper for several days with no response. Eventually they called me and said that they were "having problems" with Uship and that I'd need to cancel the transaction on the site. I said "yeah, but you already have my stuff! I'm not doing anything until my bike shows up as which time I will pay you the agreed upon price." They said a quick "ok" and hung up.

Several more days pass and I don't hear anything and can't reach the shipper for any sort of status update. Calls wouldn't even go to voicemail...it would just ring and ring. Emails went unanswered. I even started to think that I'd have to file a stolen vehicle report and that the bike I bought might be gone for good.

Several days after that (it has now been more than a week), I get a call from a guy that says "I'm in town and need to drop the trailer off tonight." I said "oh, so this so-and-so shipper and you have my bike?" Guy says "nope...this is such and such and I have a whole trailer coming to your address." I told him that I was not supposed to receive a trailer, but that he was supposed to be delivering an uncrated motorcycle to me. He said he wasn't sure what was in the trailer ( ) but would be there in a little bit. A few hours go by and it's now well after dark. Door bell rings and it's a guy that points to his dually pickup and long enclosed trailer and says "I have a delivery for you." Went out outside and yes, there was the bike in the trailer. I told him that's all I had, so he unloaded it.

Then I said "so, who are you and why aren't you so-and-so that I hired for this?" His response was that so-and-so shipper asked him to pick up the trailer somewhere out of state and drive it to Texas to drop some stuff off because "some guy" kept calling wanting to know where his stuff was (yeah...that was ME!!!). I told him I still needed to pay for the shipping since it was setup as COD. He said "how much was that supposed to be? I'll do it for whatever he was charging you." I was honest about the price, gave him the money and he left. Never heard from him or the originally hired shipping company again.

The next week Uship, which had left me hanging, wanted me to provide all kinds of information and testimony for a lawsuit they were talking about against the shipping company I used. I told them my transaction was done. I had my stuff, I paid for it, and I was moving on. They didn't help me when my shipment went sideways and I wasn't going to spend time helping them now.

Turns out that the shipper was a total fly-by-night operation (if you didn't already realize that ) and did not have a motor carrier number, USDOT number, commercial insurance, or driver CDLs to be operating legally. Some sort of complaint or citation was issued and Uship shut down their account. Uship says it makes no claims as to the qualifications and credentials of its service providers which tacitly allows many providers to operate in the shadows. Uship knows this and does nothing.

I'm sure some folks that are providers on Uship are fine and some customers have had a great experience. I didn't and wouldn't use them again to source shipping. If you want to use them, just understand what it is you're getting into. I was rather ignorant of some matters that ended up causing problems. I learned a lot about motor carrier / trucking laws in the process. With Uship it's definitely "buyer beware."

Any reputable carrier will gladly provide you with their US DOT number. You can cross check it here:
http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/p ... c_carrlist

I would have opted for the guy leaving the whole trailer at my place (since he said the trailer was for you) and then calling UShip for ransom What else was in there besides your bike?

[tofu]

I have used Uship once. If you want to jump to the end here it is: bad experience, wouldn't use again.

Glad in the end you got your bike. That story had bad outcome written all over it. I had never heard of them till it was posted here. When I went to the website I immediately thought of all the things that could go wrong and what happened to you was one of the things that crossed my mine. I love the fact that Uship came back to you wanting help with their lawsuit after stiffing you. I think I would have burst out laughing if I had gotten that call.