PM-1440TL shipping mishap

[jeremysf]

I’m curious, what was the drivers response?

Looking closely at the photos... I could be wrong but it looks like the shipping company added a couple of pallets to the load to help hold broken and loose parts in, and then wrapped the new additions. Repackaging is a sure sign the lathe was dropped or something was dropped on it.


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When I pointed out the damage, the driver was like *shrug*. When I told him I was refusing shipment, I was expecting a debate but I got zero pushback. As he was preparing to leave, he was very apologetic. Seemed like a nice guy, but from his reaction, I don't think he was seeing the damage for the first time when we pulled it down off the truck.

We probably had it resting on the forks on the ground behind the truck for less than 5 min before putting it back on the truck. There was maybe 6" of clearance max per side left/right when all was right with the world, but in this case, we had to do a lot of forklift shimmy and use long boards to try to wedge that sucker back into the truck as the "crate" was barely staying together.

 

[jeremysf]

I'm not sure about shipping practices in GB, but it isn't odd at all. In fact, it is the norm in the US when a forklift driver drops, spears or crushes a crate or skid of packages. Or the package shifts in the trailer. The SOP is to Contain, Mask, Pray and Deliver. You can tell this happened here:

1) Contain. The loose wrap and skids propped up inside indicate that the job done by PM was destroyed. This was an attempt to prevent any loose parts from getting loose upon delivery. This is not designed to mask damage. It is designed to protect them from you making a claim that something was missing - damaged or not. If it was damaged, the shipping company will play dumb and blame the manufacturer.

2) Mask. The damaged skid was loaded with its best side showing on the truck. This is a tactic designed to do the following: get it off the truck (its a lot of trouble to get it off the truck). Once it is off the truck, the OWNER now has the burden of inspecting and deciding to refuse. I'll wager that driver played dumb while @jeremysf weighed his options.

3) Pray that you are a dupe and accept the shipment and won't go travel through the hellscape of filing a claim. Don't answer their prayers.

4) Delivery! All is good. "Recipient inspected and accepted the shipment as is." Nothing to see here - moving on.

It's cynical, for sure, but this is what the shipping company defaults to when the SHTF and they know they are on the hook for it. Don't find yourself downwind from the fan.

@jeremysf - good call. Sorry for the grief you are going through but in the end it will all work out in your favor.

Thanks for the support and everything you say above makes total sense, and I have no doubt you are spot on!

 

[jeremysf]

I’m curious, what was the drivers response?

Looking closely at the photos... I could be wrong but it looks like the shipping company added a couple of pallets to the load to help hold broken and loose parts in, and then wrapped the new additions. Repackaging is a sure sign the lathe was dropped or something was dropped on it.


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EAGLE EYES. That was our assessment too, that they half heartedly nailed on a few palettes to try to contain the shipment so they could follow through with it.

 

[fursphere]

Those pictures are hard to look at. So Sorry.

I've got a PM-1236 being delivered tomorrow. Hoping they didn't smash it at this point... I suspect its the same trucking company since we're both in Northern California.

 

[Larry$]

I'm happy that you refused delivery. I think it's the best way to proceed. If you had accepted delivery you would have risked a lot of your leverage.

So true. For everyone here. Trucking company "insurance" is very nearly worthless. Payment is not based on the value of the product! Some companies will drag out the process until you are forced to court. They know it will cost you to take them to court. They already have a full time staff of lawyers. My company shipped thousands of loads over the years. We finally got to the point of either taking an entire trailer or pup or as alternative getting a "sealed divider" shipment. Sealed divider avoids cross dock mutilation. It does make the delivery take longer as that trailer will likely make several more stops than otherwise. It may get unloaded and reloaded at another dock but your shipment stays on that trailer. LTL is a high risk way to ship.

I'm not sure about shipping practices in GB, but it isn't odd at all. In fact, it is the norm in the US when a forklift driver drops, spears or crushes a crate or skid of packages. Or the package shifts in the trailer. The SOP is to Contain, Mask, Pray and Deliver. You can tell this happened here:

1) Contain. The loose wrap and skids propped up inside indicate that the job done by PM was destroyed. This was an attempt to prevent any loose parts from getting loose upon delivery. This is not designed to mask damage. It is designed to protect them from you making a claim that something was missing - damaged or not. If it was damaged, the shipping company will play dumb and blame the manufacturer.

2) Mask. The damaged skid was loaded with its best side showing on the truck. This is a tactic designed to do the following: get it off the truck (its a lot of trouble to get it off the truck). Once it is off the truck, the OWNER now has the burden of inspecting and deciding to refuse. I'll wager that driver played dumb while @jeremysf weighed his options.

3) Pray that you are a dupe and accept the shipment and won't go travel through the hellscape of filing a claim. Don't answer their prayers.

4) Delivery! All is good. "Recipient inspected and accepted the shipment as is." Nothing to see here - moving on.

It's cynical, for sure, but this is what the shipping company defaults to when the SHTF and they know they are on the hook for it. Don't find yourself downwind from the fan.

@jeremysf - good call. Sorry for the grief you are going through but in the end it will all work out in your favor.

Good points. Never, ever accept delivery of a damaged shipment!

 

[f350ca]

Good chance it fell over in one of the delivery trucks. When I bought my lathe from Summit in Oklahoma they refused to release it to a van, had to be a flat deck where it could be chained down and tarped. They said they tried van shipments but too many fell over.

Greg

 

[kb58]

Based on the above, my guess is that the driver left the terminal not knowing its condition, then saw it at some point along his route. He could have called you and said that it's damaged, but figured that you'd probably say "bring it by and we'll see how bad it is." So in his mind, he may have figured that it was worth a shot to show up and not say anything, and there'd be some chance that you'd accept it. That's my theory.

 

[pacifica]

Well, bummer. I could tell looking at the shipping crate the minute the driver opened the truck door things were not right.

We could barely get it off the truck with the forklift the shipping crate was smashed up so bad, and once we did, we could see the damage to the back of the crate was worse than the front.

Peeking inside the back of the crate, castings broken, cross slide and apron took a beating, overall a mess.

I'm not sure what happened during the shipping process, but something brutal. I think PM did a good job crating it up and they have been very supportive through the whole process (including the shipping issues).

Ultimately, I refused shipment, and loaded it back up on the truck.

Been waiting eagerly on this since January and it looks like if I want to stick with a PM-1440TL, I'll have to wait until August.

There are for sure bigger problems in the world right now than damaged lathes, but uh, send hugs.

Definitely buyer beware with shipping companies,
I know my 1340 gt arrived with crate punched in but it had missed the machine.
The problem with freight shipping is there are several levels of prices with the best handling being astronomical in price, the inexpensive level does not take good care of the product.

 

[vtcnc]

Definitely buyer beware with shipping companies,
I know my 1340 gt arrived with crate punched in but it had missed the machine.
The problem with freight shipping is there are several levels of prices with the best handling being astronomical in price, the inexpensive level does not take good care of the product.

Astronomical = dedicated truck = very limited touches = one load/one unload. Usually loaded at point of origin, one driver or tandem drivers that you will be able to talk to and learn their name and a little bit about them when they arrive.

Inexpensive = LTL = Less Than Truckload = Your freight is loaded and herded like cattle over at least one cross dock. Many touches, difficult to trace who touches it.


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[Tipton1965]

Definitely buyer beware with shipping companies,

I sold a completely restored 73 Camaro to a guy on the east coast. It was show car quality. He set up the shipping arrangements and the company came and picked it up in an enclosed trailer. They later switched the car to a soft sided trailer with other cars. It went from the west coast to east coast in the middle of summer and was completely covered in crap by the time it made it to the new owner. Bad thing was the new owner wanted it shipped with the side windows down so there was no chance of damaging the NOS side glass (really hard to find those). So the inside was trashed as well.