Wow, thanks FedEx

[tonepoet]

So, I ordered a BBQ/Smoker grill online from my local Lowe's a few miles away. There is an option to have it assembled for free and have it delivered from the local store. I opted to make a project of it and just have them deliver me the grill in a box and I'd assemble it. I thought they'd just drive it over from the store, as they did with the fridge last week.

But, no, the had it shipped from Tennessee to California with a half dozen transfers in between where the box could be carefully kicked from truck to loading dock and this is how it arrived. (And it looks this bad on all sides of the box)



So, I drove the ten minutes (that it could have traveled from Lowe's) and spoke to customer service who will come over today to pick up this hot mess and deliver one assembled from this local store. Lowe's Customer Service is excellent. FedEx delivery... not so much.

But, it still remains a mystery to me why Lowe's didn't just throw it on their own delivery truck and drive it a few miles. I think maybe they'll reconsider that practice.. maybe.

 

[GGJaguar]

Out of curiosity, how heavy is the box?

 

[adorshki]

Out of curiosity, how heavy is the box?

It's more that all the weight is concentrated on one side of the top, on the opposite side of the box from the label that says "This end up".

Apple does the same thing with iMac Pro27's. Ask me how I know. Fortunately their packaging resists falls from shoulder height.
I wouldn't have tried to do that if the box was square, but no, the effing bottom's wider than the top so it knocks against your legs while carrying by the handle across a mega mall parking lot. Effing idiots.

Another thing Apple didn't get right. Say, this'd be better in ROTD, hunh?

 

[tonepoet]

Out of curiosity, how heavy is the box?

87 pounds. Should have been "two man lift" as stated on the box, but obviously one guy pushed it off the truck at every transport point along the way.

 

[F30]

Here's my Guild M75 box drop off today.
So glad no damage to case or guitar.

 

[GGJaguar]

Here's my Guild M75 box drop off today.
So glad no damage to case or guitar.

Ugh. The sinking feeling you get when you see that on a guitar box. Ugh. Glad everything is okay.

 

[Guildedagain]

Looks like cheap China cardboard, doesn't look rated for 87lbs.

Blaming FedEx is like blaming someone up in the sky.

I've bought 3 appliances from Best Buy in the last couple years, each time I drove to the store to pick it up, as all online reviews anymore real like "Arrived dinged up" asif that was a review of an item, but that's what you get in the age of devolution.

Save yourself the hassle, just go and get it, instead of living with pre-dented items.

 

[tonepoet]

Looks like cheap China cardboard, doesn't look rated for 87lbs.

Blaming FedEx is like blaming someone up in the sky.

I've bought 3 appliances from Best Buy in the last couple years, each time I drove to the store to pick it up, as all online reviews anymore real like "Arrived dinged up" asif that was a review of an item, but that's what you get in the age of devolution.

Save yourself the hassle, just go and get it, instead of living with pre-dented items.

In the past week, Lowe's delivered a fridge, washer and dryer, all perfect. So, I thought the store itself would deliver the BBQ grill. The lesson learned on that one, I guess, is to ask where it is being delivered from, if it is a heavy item.

 

[tonepoet]

Here's my Guild M75 box drop off today.
So glad no damage to case or guitar.

Oh, that sinking feeling. Of all the guitars I've had shipped to me, only a Guild X-79 was damaged. I can't recall if it was UPS or FedEx, but a claims agent came right to the house to see it and take photos. They agreed to pay for the repair by a professional Luthier.

Of all the amps shipped, again only one damaged. A 1 x 12 combo amp that was dropped so hard that it broke the cabinet joints on all four corners so that it looked like a barn ready to fall over.

Glad everything worked out for you. Enjoy that M75 !!!

 

[adorshki]

Looks like cheap China cardboard, doesn't look rated for 87lbs.

Those're "crush strengths", for stacking guidance, but yes, the industry actually changed structural standards for crush strength ratings back around the early '10's IIRC. Had to do with how many flutes per inch, how deep they are, and how many layers of fluting, the little s-shaped layer between the sheets of cardbaord.

But it's not due to "cheap Chinese cardboard", although yes, I know the stuff you're talking about. They just don't use a lot of pulp making it, so it's literally less dense, easier to damage.

Blaming FedEx is like blaming someone up in the sky.

Well it is one of their natural environments, after all.

Just as long as they don't drop anything while they're up there I'm ok with it.

 

[beecee]

I had ordered six AC to DC ceiling fans from Home Depot for my off grid camp in the NW Adirondacks. Not sure where they came from but they were due on a Friday. I'm talking the middle of nowhere!

When I pulled up to the drive the fans were neatly stacked and covered with a plastic sheet as they had arrived a day early.

 

[tonepoet]

So, I think this purchase was never meant to be and I'm regrouping and rethinking the grill/smoker purchase.

To recap, as you can see in Post #1, FedEx trashed a BBQ I ordered from Lowe's. My local Lowe's Customer Service was excellent and came by the next day to pick up the one FedEx messed up and dropped off one fully assembled. The only problem was that that one was slightly damaged (dents and scratches).

So, they took that back and sent me over an "upgrade" from the model I bought but a different brand. It was in great shape. But, this different brand called Master Forge has 1/2 inch air gaps on the sides and back of the top lid that you raise and lower. How are you going to control heat and smoke with 1/2 inch air gaps on three sides of the upper half of the "barrel"?

So, I decided to punt on that purchase. Lowe's picked that one up and refunded the purchase.

 

[GGJaguar]

So, I decided to punt on that purchase.

Smoker/Grills are overrated anyway.

 

[Roland]

Sometimes I think bad luck just follows some people. I have a friend and it is the norm for him that an order will get screwed up or some how it gets lost or damaged by the shipper. If something can go wrong, it will. The three times in his life that he has flown with an airline they have lost his luggage. He just can't win. None of that happens to me on a regular basis like that. Something going wrong is the exception for me not the norm.

 

[tonepoet]

Smoker/Grills are overrated anyway.

I had one of these New Braunsfel grill/smokers that were fantastic for smoking. It seems a key to success is in the "full barrel" construction rather than the type that has two halves, one being raised as a lid. The two-halves style seem to have large air gaps all the way around the two halves that make it difficult, if not impossible to control air flow and temperature.

If I remember right, these beasts weighed about 125 pounds. Very heavy gauge steel. I'll be looking for something similar in design, since I hear this brand was bought out.

 

[davidbeinct]

Another consideration could be a Kamado style cooker. Big Green Egg is probably the oldest but there are others. If you don’t want to spend ceramic cooker money CharGrill makes the Akorn with double walled steel.