I saw something at B&H: UPS throwing every package

Yeah, I claim no issues with B&H shipping.

I had heard lots of folks say that shippers literally throw packages, but I just hadn't seen it. It was striking that the first time I saw it for myself was at of B&H, knowing the types of products they sell.

Everything listed in the my signature came from B & H. I've never had a problem with receiving damaged goods.

Everything I've ordered from B&H has come in the original Mfg's shipping carton (the product package inside of that), packed inside a B&H carton with lots of cushioning material.
Maybe a crushed corner or a hole once in a while, but no way anything getting through all that.

Just ordered a Pelican 1564 case today. I'd like to see someone do harm to that!

John from PA wrote in post #17635376
You missed my point. High insurance doesn't get you more money back if a package is lost, it gets you visibility for the search effort. UPS or FedEx won't make much of an effort to find a package insured for $100 but they will get off their backside when you insure it for $1000.

I think the point is that why would you want to constantly pay higher rates of insurance, when either they will pay the insurance claim if they cannot find it, or do a longer search to try to locate it. Insurance is still just that, insurance, and if you add up everything you spend on insurance after 2-3 years, then look at how many claims you have had to file, what do you think the results will be? Paying for over-insurance just to get a higher priority to search for a lost item just adds to the overall amount spent.

I am not saying what you are doing is a bad decision, it seems to work for you, but for myself, that is a bit overkill and financially unsound. I want them to find the item, or cover the costs of the item in full, in a reasonable amount of time. That is my expectation of this insurance, and don't want to pay any more than I have to for it. I already feel that with all the rate hikes across the board, regardless of the much lower fuel costs that we are seeing, I am getting royally hosed.

Even USPS... they just raised their rates so that a 1oz #000 bubble mailer now costs $2.04 first class using online postage. However, if I put a stamp and purchase delivery confirmation manually, the cost is about 1/2 that or less. Over a 100% markup just to use online tools to automatically generate a barcoded shipping label, making their lives a bit easier than if I have to go in. Sorry, I digress.

Yeah, all carriers are about quantity and not quality. Packages are going to get beat up. I've ordered many items from B&H and they pack them VERY well. They use very thick style bubble packaging and I've never had any problems.

It's very unusual that I get a beaten-up box from B&H. But I did last week on the 5DSR. One corner of the box looked like it had been dropped on cement from a height of 8 feet. Even the inner Canon box was compressed about a half inch on that corner. They set up an exchange immediately for me.

I've gotten 99% of what's in my sig from B&H by UPS, without ever a problem, including my current monitor.

Now that I have sung the praises of B&H packaging, my 7D II, Canon battery grip and freebie cheap camera bag were shipped without any sort of padding at all. There was one 6-inch piece of flimsy plastic bubble wrap in the box and it was completely deflated. Maybe the cheap camera bag was the padding? There wasn't any sort of obvious damage to the box or contents and so far, I haven't had any problems with the camera or grip...

On the other hand, I ordered some Canon lens caps and those arrived with this very heavy bubble wrap on all sides in the box. Same with the 2nd Canon battery for the 7D II grip.

Curious.

Maybe NSA is opening those pkgs on their way.

Yeah that's the kind of crap I got tired of dealing with about B&H. Adorama uses nice, new boxes and plenty of bubble wrap.

What does B&H use discarded food and wine boxes instead of nice new boxes?

I have a 55 gallon drum filled with the bubble wrap and a large shelving unit with boxes from B&H orders I received.
I reuse them for shipping canvas wraps and framed prints I sell. Their materials are no better and no worse than from any of the other vendors mentioned here...

Or maybe they just like me and send me the good stuff.

ThreeHounds wrote in post #17673802
I have a 55 gallon drum filled with the bubble wrap and a large shelving unit with boxes from B&H orders I received.
I reuse them for shipping canvas wraps and framed prints I sell. Their materials are no better and no worse than from any of the other vendors mentioned here...

Or maybe they just like me and send me the good stuff.

Except for saving everything (although I do reuse quite a bit), my experience with B&H's shipping is identical to your's.

if you think the UPS guy tossing stuff into the truck is bad, check out what they did to an order shipped to me a couple weeks back.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/xfUh​pq

UPS wears brown for a reason.

I won't ship anything that I value with UPS or the USPS.

I remember the good ol' days of the Internet when you got your packages double-boxed in a sea of styrofoam or other packing filler surrounding your item. Now most of my packages involve either: 1) no second box at all; 2) a bubble mailer (which invariably gets crushed along with your product packaging when the courier tries to stuff it inside your mailbox); or 3) a box with a couple of air pillows inside and your product flush against the corner of the box. I guess it's par for the course with e-commerce becoming ubiquitous.

Amazon has recently gotten better with expensive items (the cardboard and shrink wrap inside the box that holds the item in place in the center). I think UPS/FedEx/USPS have always been chucking boxes around, and have always denied insurance claims off the bat if the box and packaging weren't packed like it could survive a fall off a tall building. I learned that shipping a guitar about 10 years ago.

I've received some badly decentered lenses over the years that arrived in insufficiently packed boxes, and wonder if most of them weren't damaged in the shipping process.