singlehum Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 (edited) Guitar Center (San Francisco) and UPS have teamed up to destroy not just one...but TWO custom Lentz Firebirds. I called the GC store when placing the order for these to specifically request that the guitars be well packed to prevent any movement in the case/protect the headstock/etc. I was assured by GC that their shipping staff was very experienced in packing fragile guitars and knew exactly what to do. Well, there was no packing material in the cases to prevent the guitars from shifting and minimal packing (a little wadded up paper) stuck in the between the case and shipping box. I can't say what type of handling UPS may have provided during the coast-to-coast trip, but they were laying flat, more or less one on top of the other in my driveway as if they just got tossed there. These were two of supposedly only 12 Firebirds ever built by Lentz. I believe these may have been part of the Peter Fung collection. Not happy... Edited May 22, 2024 by singlehum 10 Quote
cmatthes Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 2 hours ago, Steve Haynie said: We need an angry emoji. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 3 1 Quote
DaveL Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 Ughh. I have found some of the worst packing jobs are from people who dismissively assure you that they are “very experienced in packing”… 5 Quote
hamerhead Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 As much as that truly sucks, it could have been a lot worse - at least the headstocks are still attached, and the repair/restoration should be nearly invisible. Still, it makes me queasy. 2 Quote
The Shark Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 Years ago, Gil Southworth (the self-proclaimed king of vintage guitars) pasted on his website, "UPS has broken my last guitar". There used to be some horrific videos of UPS package "handling" on YouTube. I think they pull them down as fast as they can! 1 Quote
HamStd Posted May 22, 2024 Posted May 22, 2024 Wow, so sorry to hear that about the two Lentz guitars. Scott only did a dozen of them. I've had 4 of them. Made for the guitarist in the band DollHouse. Hope they are giving you $$ back . 2 1 Quote
cmatthes Posted May 23, 2024 Posted May 23, 2024 10 hours ago, The Shark said: Years ago, Gil Southworth (the self-proclaimed king of vintage guitars) pasted on his website, "UPS has broken my last guitar". There used to be some horrific videos of UPS package "handling" on YouTube. I think they pull them down as fast as they can! I watched Gil jump out from behind the counter, spring out the front door and chase after a brown truck on Old Georgetown Road, just to yell at the driver when he hit the light. I was surprised to see him move that fast, but assumed he had good reason! 2 Quote
tbonesullivan Posted May 23, 2024 Posted May 23, 2024 Seriously??? BOTH? Did they put in no packing just to spite you? Or maybe they were just talking out their butts, because last I checked, Guitar center doesn't have any specialized workers except for the techs. I don't think they have a "shipping department" or even any type of packing training. 1 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted May 23, 2024 Posted May 23, 2024 12 hours ago, The Shark said: There used to be some horrific videos of UPS package "handling" on YouTube. I think they pull them down as fast as they can! 5 Quote
DarkHammer Posted June 6, 2024 Posted June 6, 2024 Ouch! Really sorry to see your lovely guitars destroyed. Are you going to send them back or repair them? Quote
Jim85IROC Posted June 6, 2024 Posted June 6, 2024 On 5/22/2024 at 3:30 AM, DaveL said: Ughh. I have found some of the worst packing jobs are from people who dismissively assure you that they are “very experienced in packing”… Seems that way. I bought a beautiful Ibanez SZ520 on Reverb, and when I got it there was some pretty significant damage to the edge of the guitar at the binding. I sent pics to the seller and he started getting all defensive, telling me he owns a shipping company and knows how to pack guitars. I checked, and he did own a shipping company (something like a UPS Store) but clearly he didn't understand how physics worked. To make it even better, the clown accused me of trying to return a different guitar. I had to send him a video that panned from the serial number to the damage. What an asshat. 1 Quote
tbonesullivan Posted June 7, 2024 Posted June 7, 2024 4 hours ago, Jim85IROC said: Seems that way. I bought a beautiful Ibanez SZ520 on Reverb, and when I got it there was some pretty significant damage to the edge of the guitar at the binding. I sent pics to the seller and he started getting all defensive, telling me he owns a shipping company and knows how to pack guitars. I checked, and he did own a shipping company (something like a UPS Store) but clearly he didn't understand how physics worked. To make it even better, the clown accused me of trying to return a different guitar. I had to send him a video that panned from the serial number to the damage. What an asshat. Yeah... probably just had one of his employees do it. I have not heard good things about UPS store packing either. Why is it so hard to find people who can actually pack worth a damn? 1 Quote
specialk Posted June 7, 2024 Posted June 7, 2024 7 hours ago, tbonesullivan said: Why is it so hard to find people who can actually pack worth a damn? Because it's not their stuff, so they don't care? 1 1 Quote
HSB0531 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 On 5/22/2024 at 11:26 PM, Dave Scepter said: I was going to hit the HaHa emoji, but that video was way too true. 1 Quote
Biz Prof Posted January 22 Posted January 22 On 6/7/2024 at 7:47 AM, specialk said: Because it's not their stuff, so they don't care? We live in the era of "IDGAF". Some assholes actually wear the acronym on their clothing. Quote
LucSulla Posted January 22 Posted January 22 GC once sent a Budda SDII head loose in a box probably three times the size of the head. There was a little bubble wrap just thrown in. The amp was catty/cornered in the box with every tube smashed by the time it got here. Until I rolled the dice on that Tally, that was the last substantial purchase I made from them. The Tally being a one off at a great price motivated me to give it a shot again, and while it wasn’t packed as badly as that, it still wasn’t great. Just the case thrown in a box with no real padding. Worked though, thankfully. 1 Quote
hamerhead Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I was hoping singlehum would return to this thread to show the repaired guitars. How'd it come out, Bill? We need closure. 2 Quote
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