Shipment from DMC

[larryk]

Not much fun here today. I ordered a new engine cover and was charged about $350 to crate it safely and send it through a freight line. What I received was in a $45 cardboard TV box from Home Depot (probably in partnership with U-Haul) sent UPS which apparently a fork life went through. Not a pretty sight. It's a shame this was manufactured almost 45 years ago to be destroyed now.

"Note that this part is only shipped via truck or air freight in a wooden crate to protect against damage in transit. You will be contacted prior to shipping with the additional charges for crating and your choice of shipping method."

[Ron]

[Rich]

Apparently their packing/shipping crew didn't get the memo about crating the part.

You contacted them, right?

When they make parts shipment mistakes they fix them in my experience, same as most vendors. I got a damaged steering rack from them a few years ago. They shipped me a good one right away at no charge.

Be sure to post up how this gets resolved.

[er1c]

Not much fun here today. I ordered a new engine cover and was charged about $350 to crate it safely and send it through a freight line. What I received was in a $45 cardboard TV box from Home Depot (probably in partnership with U-Haul) sent UPS which apparently a fork life went through. Not a pretty sight. It's a shame this was manufactured almost 45 years ago to be destroyed now.

"Note that this part is only shipped via truck or air freight in a wooden crate to protect against damage in transit. You will be contacted prior to shipping with the additional charges for crating and your choice of shipping method."

I am sure you can repair that. There was a UK episode of Wheeler Dealers and he repaired the rear engine cover which had lost a wing and it turned out really good.

Note : You shouldn't have to repair it, and definitely get a new one from DMC at their cost but I don't think it needs to be scrapped.

[larryk]

I am sure you can repair that. There was a UK episode of Wheeler Dealers and he repaired the rear engine cover which had lost a wing and it turned out really good.

Note : You shouldn't have to repair it, and definitely get a new one from DMC at their cost but I don't think it needs to be scrapped.

They are sending another next week after the holiday. They've been good about it.

They want me to save it until they find out if UPS wants it. Other than being bashed it's quit pretty and new. I'll check out fixing my old one as well. It's cracked in the middle but still functional. I'm thinking about redesigning the hood bracket mechanism as it would be fairly easy to change it to eliminate much of the problems.

[ssdelorean]

What did they say about the wooden crate, or lack there of?

Was the missing crate an error or did they say that 'cardboard is a form of paper, paper is a form of wood therefore it is a crate'?

[larryk]

What did they say about the wooden crate, or lack there of?

Was the missing crate an error or did they say that 'cardboard is a form of paper, paper is a form of wood therefore it is a crate'?

They did respond very quickly and were very nice about sending a replacement when they get back from the 4th (I'm not in a rush) but there was no mention of how it was packaged or shipped. It does sound like they have plenty of them so maybe they aren't too worried about occasional damage in shipment.

I guess it doesn't really matter as long as it gets here intact, but it isn't what the say they're going to do on the web page.

I was planning to just keep this around until I other work on the car so being in a crate was something I liked as I could set it aside and be fairly sure it would stay undamaged. Now I'm going to have to get it installed quickly so it doesn't get damaged sitting around here.

[cdrusn]

You're being a really good sport about the whole thing. But really, if the part had come in without damage someone would have made a lot of money for not doing their job. I need a hood which only DMC has. Now the price is $1300 which really isn't bad for a 40 year old part but they want $2000 to crate and ship it to Oregon. I guess I am going to have to just pay it but I hope it doesn't turn out like yours did.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I wonder if they made a really good shipping container if that would be cheaper to have the customer return the container.

Or get the formed foam pads cut for a heavy duty cardboard box. When you buy equipment they are so well packed they almost never get damaged.

[larryk]

I wonder if they made a really good shipping container if that would be cheaper to have the customer return the container.

Or get the formed foam pads cut for a heavy duty cardboard box. When you buy equipment they are so well packed they almost never get damaged.

They're taking care of it and I'm not in a rush so I don't really have a reason to be too annoyed about it. Things happen. It's pretty clear a forklift went through it and even 1/4" plywood might not have fared better.

I looked on UPS for the cost for me to ship the box from L.A. (where it was shipped) to Seattle and for a 48 x 52 x 6 box that is 24lb it was about $350. The weight is minor so mostly it's the size. I do wonder if a crate would be significantly smaller that the shipping would be less. Also freight lines are usually less expensive than UPS. Then I don't know all their issues and motivations. That's just what I found on the UPS site. Companies who ship regularly can get better rates. I measured the part but don't remember it's size. I think it was about 48 x 34 x 2.

I do get some equipment shipped here in spray to fit foam. They lay down a layer of thin plastic sheeting and fill it with spray foam. It's very secure. It is a bit of a pain to get rid of the remnants though.