AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of box!

Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

I had a friend shoot a story about UPS and she came back horrified about the way things were handled. Basically stuff was chucked all over the place. It's not like that for every single package, but if it's broken upon receipt you can just about guarantee that it was tossed or dropped.

I've been pretty lucky with UPS personally. FedEx on the other hand around here is a joke. I've had 5 orders with them the last 3 years and 4 of them were delivered to wrong addresses. Three were to neighbors up the street, but one was almost 20 miles away. The guy looked up my address on google and drove it to me. Thank God it ended up in the hands of an honest person or I never would have seen it.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

I had a FedEx guy roll a box long wise out of the back of his truck on to asphalt.

There was a Dr.Z Maz combo amp in it... I could hear the reverb go doooinnnnngggg when it hit the ground.

Amazingly the amp worked, especially 'cause the guy who packed it did a terrible job.

Destiny did get that amp the next time it went FedEx.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

FractalAudio said:
United Package Smashers. Support will contact you first thing tomorrow and arrange a replacement.

The bent faceplate is the #1 shipping damage. Still haven't figured out exactly what they're doing to cause that. Sounds like they really manhandled this one. The missing presets means it got hit so hard it knocked the battery loose.
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I'm a driver for UPS and have worked there for over 21 years in both management and about every package handling position in the building. Any shipping company that says they don't have damages is full of crap. We all do. I had to file a claim with my own company for an Egnater M4 preamp I sold. It happens when you ship millions of packages.

I don't remember how my Ultra came from Fractal, but I CAN tell you how Fractal can damn near eliminate these kinds of problems. The solution is a box inside a box. Pack the Axefx in a box with at least 2 inches of padding around all sides. Seal that box and put it in another box with another inch or two of padding between the two boxes. This method is time proven and will result in much fewer posts like this. Yes, it means a few more bucks for shipping materials, but who wouldn't mind paying a little more to make sure it makes it though the system ok. Insurance is great, but I don't want the hassle...and it is a hassle.
If you pack and ship something yourself, like an Ebay sale etc, pack it great and take a photo of your packing job before you tape it up. If they try to deny your claim saying that you didn't pack it properly, you'll have some ammunition and they'll have to shut their cake hole and pay the claim.
I was sitting here eating my dinner after sweating my junk off today at work when I saw the "United Package Crushers" bit and figured I'd offer some insight. Sheesh Cliff...even Jordan missed a shot once in a while. :mrgreen:

cheers,

Steve the angry Teamster
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

guittarzzan said:
FractalAudio said:
United Package Smashers. Support will contact you first thing tomorrow and arrange a replacement.

The bent faceplate is the #1 shipping damage. Still haven't figured out exactly what they're doing to cause that. Sounds like they really manhandled this one. The missing presets means it got hit so hard it knocked the battery loose.
Click to expand...

I'm a driver for UPS and have worked there for over 21 years in both management and about every package handling position in the building. Any shipping company that says they don't have damages is full of crap. We all do. I had to file a claim with my own company for an Egnater M4 preamp I sold. It happens when you ship millions of packages.

I don't remember how my Ultra came from Fractal, but I CAN tell you how Fractal can damn near eliminate these kinds of problems. The solution is a box inside a box. Pack the Axefx in a box with at least 2 inches of padding around all sides. Seal that box and put it in another box with another inch or two of padding between the two boxes. This method is time proven and will result in much fewer posts like this. Yes, it means a few more bucks for shipping materials, but who wouldn't mind paying a little more to make sure it makes it though the system ok. Insurance is great, but I don't want the hassle...and it is a hassle.
If you pack and ship something yourself, like an Ebay sale etc, pack it great and take a photo of your packing job before you tape it up. If they try to deny your claim saying that you didn't pack it properly, you'll have some ammunition and they'll have to shut their cake hole and pay the claim.
I was sitting here eating my dinner after sweating my junk off today at work when I saw the "United Package Crushers" bit and figured I'd offer some insight. Sheesh Cliff...even Jordan missed a shot once in a while. :mrgreen:

cheers,

Steve the angry Teamster
Click to expand...

+1.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

Yup, I bought a spare Mesa 294 Power Amp mounted inside a SKB rack case ( all I wanted was the 295... the rack, I thought, was just an added bonus...). It was shipped UPS.... I opened it to find the rack DESTROYED... the rack rails BENT, the front panel of the 295 BENT, the front-panel fuse holder DESTROYED.... can you BELIEVE that UPS DENIED the claim !!!????!!!!???? @#$)(*&@#^%%^ !! ( sorry, sore subject...)

Since then I have NEVER used UPS... I have an account with FedEx, and I use it for ALL my electronic shipments.

Whatever happened to your AxeFX, at least you KNOW Cliff will stand behind it, and make it right !
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

Wow, I'm new to this site and just purchased a Axe-Fx standard. I too work for a major shipper in the US and I would say the majority of shipping damages come from transport and not the driver/delivery truck. Packing things carefully would be the best insurance, however I usually order what equipment I can via overnight delivery, as I think it's handled better (depending on how far you're having it shipped). Besides, if you get your amps and stuff from a local store, they get it shipped in as well, usually the cheapest way possible, and you usually never see the actual packing box.

I've had multiple guitars shipped UPS (more than 8 so far) with no problems, including a rather expensive acoustic, however I've had little things shipped ground and the box was just smashed to pieces. I would hope the story of workers using actual parcels as "steps" is fiction, I'd hate to think anyone who gets paid that much would intentionally damage something.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

SimonSez said:
Pretty much everything you see in that Ace Ventura video happened with the packages. Guys would use a package as a makeshift step-stool if they need to reach higher in the truck. Trust me, at the rate they make you load packages into the back of an 50 foot trailer there is no time to get out of the trailer and grab the plastic step-stool they give you (during the winter holidays you can expect to load 3000 packages a night as a package handler). I knew some guys there that had anger issues and they would take it out on the packages. There was definitely no shortage of childish behavior over there.
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This is fact. I worked at RPS (now known as FedEx Ground) for a few months in college and anyone would be amazed at how poorly packages get treated by the package handlers. Nobody will question you for throwing boxes, dropping them, etc. It's not even a consideration ('not our problem' is their attitude). This is why I ordered my Ultra 2 day; it's a numbers game. The less amount of time it is in their possession, the less chance of damage.

1000% agree with the person above who said these units should be double boxed.
I was literally shocked when my $2k Ultra arrived and it wasn't double boxed.
It has to cost more in returns and hassle than it would in packaging materials.

Anyway Fractal will get it sorted out.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

My Axe arrived with a slightly bent faceplate and a decent dent near one of the corners. Wasn't too bothered about the cosmetics, I just wanted it running. Some quick email responses from FAS and I had it up and running, no problems ever since. :)



TBH, I was a bit surprised at the packing of the Axe though. A place I used to work at, when we shipped out our 3U and 4U DVRs (much heavier units than the Axe though), basically it was one unit per (fairly heavy walled) box, and the whole unit was surrounded with pieces of fairly high density foam. Mind you, that is of course a lot more expensive than what FAS do, but personally, if I'm already paying US$2k for a product, I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra to have it packed like it has to survive being flown over here on a missile. ;)
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

I too was surprised at the packaging. Single layer, foam sides only. Mine was perfect though. From G66. Still I would have expected double layer cardboard at least.

The Vetta I had before it was double packaged. Both layers in foam. IIRC double layered cardboard. Then again the Vetta was 20x heavier. Or more. OTOH it cost about the same.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

My Axe-FX came from G66 with an extra box around the Fractal shipping box.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

I've already emailed support, but mine just showed up with a strange flaw behind the glass. Anyone ever see this before?
 

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Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

From the picture, that looks like a bleeding LCD, where the LCs are leaking from a crack in the glass. Was there any other apparent physical damage?
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

HailHalford said:
From the picture, that looks like a bleeding LCD, where the LCs are leaking from a crack in the glass. Was there any other apparent physical damage?
Click to expand...

Nothing immediately apparent. The box looked a little knocked around, but nothing dramatic. What the pic can't capture is that the mark is on the glass, and doesn't seem to be interfering with the display lettering if that makes sense.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

Excellent news! It was a piece of packing junk that got lodge in there during shipping. Support suggested I blast some compressed air from underneath the chassis under the display AND IT WORKED.

This thing sounds amazing, but more on that later.
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

+1 on the double-boxing. Last time I sold my Carvin on eBay, that's exactly what I did. Buyer posted a +ve immediately upon receiving it. I took LOT of pics and even a video of me playing before boxing it up. :lol:

But this is bad. The last time I was reading horror stories about UPS, a beautiful Carvin guitar that I won on eBay did not reach me at all thanks to UPS. This time again, I'm reading horror stories and expecting a delivery of a 7 string guitar that I won on eBay by UPS. Coincidence? A bad omen? Hope I get my guitar this time!. :evil: Pretty please?? :roll:
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

My Axe also arrived with a severely bent rack ear (I bought it used however). I would cringe if I saw what had to have happened to cause the damage, because the rack ears are very thick and quite strong. When I first saw I thought "oh, drag. I guess i'll just bend it back with a pair of pliers" Nope, would not budge at all. Even my biggest pair of beastly man clamps could not move the bent ear! I had to get my biggest screw driver and force the rack ear straight by screwing it into the rack. Seriously elbow grease was used.

The unit has functioned fine though!
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

TBH, I wouldn't be surprised if the packing used invalidated any insurance claims. Maybe I'm remembering it slightly wrong, but I recall it being a not-that-beefy box, with the unit basically suspended inside using some (IMO) lightweight foam inserts. If anything punctured the box, it'd have pretty damn good odds of finding its way through to the unit (as happened with my unit). :?


Again, if I'm paying $2k for the latest and greatest piece of guitar equipment, I'd be more than happy to pay a bit extra in shipping to cover the cost of better packing materials. The whole "unit floating in the centre of the box using foam inserts" thing would be fine by me, as long as that whole box was then also put inside another box, preferably with foam or something between the two. But even just a 2nd, heavier box that's directly around the inner one would add some protection against the box being punctured (which I'm guessing is the biggest problem). Yeah, strong boxes aren't cheap, high density packing foam isn't cheap... but if you're buying a $2k unit and are worried about a slightly higherfreight cost... maybe the Axe-FX shouldn't be at the top of your priority list yet. :lol:
 
Re: AXE FX ULTRA BENT FACEPLACE and NO PRESETS new out of bo

Moving to the lounge. This is a support issue or just discussion on the state of UPS/FEDEX.
 
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