So upset I wanted to cry...

[Blueberry]

Very cool! Glad it all worked out!

Sweet bike

CA

[tc1]

I worked for UPS to get through college. UPS uses trailers with a moveable floor about 5'high, and the top floor of the truck has rollers running down the middle. First the bottom of the trailer is loaded (packed solid with no aisles) then the flaps(moveable floor pieces) are closed, then the rest of the trailer is loaded packed solid with no aisles. The goal is to pack the trailer as tightly as possible, like a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle. Big bulky stuff (bike frames) goes in the bottom of the trailer, where it is more likely to get squashed and stepped on by employees.

Unloading is done in reverse order, their loading docks have conveyer belts. All of this is manual labor, nothing is palletized.

I never saw anyone deliberately damage a package, the problems are inherent in their process. If you are building a stack of boxes you will be inclined to do it by size, so a 70 pound shoebox full of machine parts could end up on top of a stack of, oh, bike rims or such. If you open the flaps and jump into the bottom without looking, you could land on a box.

Oh yeah, remember all of this loading and unloading stuff is done as fast as you can move those boxes.

[Running Mommy]

I have to say, Our UPS guy is the best. And yeah, looking at that box those wheels were not shipped correctly.
I get wheels in all the time, and even my cheap alloys are packed better than that.
Wheels are a tricky thing, but you have to have padding of some sort in the box. And something on the axle so it doesn't poke through the side. Was there a plastic piece?

Oh- and it really doesn't take THAT LONG to build a set of custom wheels. I watch our wheelsmith all the time, and it's not that time consuming. A craft not many know how to do, yes. A very cool thing to be able to do- esp. if you do it well, yes. But it shouldn't take as long as you waited originally.
Did he hand draw the spokes (hand make the spokes)?? That is a COOL thing to watch! And the spoke machine is EXPENSIVE! I want to say 2500.00.
So if you have a wheelsmith who does his own spokes, don't complain about his prices. He's prolly still paying off his spoke machine. hee hee

But yeah, I like UPS. I've had a couple of mis routed packages and "Leroy" at the depot has always gone out of his way for me. I guess I'm lucky..
Now fed ex?! HA! They aren't angels either. I'm still steamed about my lost terry skorts from 2 years ago. And still out 150 clams!