pdmtong
02-19-2016, 03:50 PM
I few weeks ago I packed and shipped a wheelset to another forum member.
The rear wheel arrived with a broken spoke at the nipple.
Packing was thorough (double wheel box, rim slots top/bottom, added cardboard at all tangent points. steel axle to align wheels, axle end caps, bubble wrap to prevent rattling) and the box arrived undamaged.
Of course if this spoke was going to break, it could have broken anytime. However, it broke in transit. I got a written shop repair estimate and sent that along with before, packing, and arrival pictures Sunday afternoon (they are closed Sunday)
at 8:30am PST monday I got an email from bikeflights saying my claim was resolved and a notice from PayPal saying I had received funds.
obviously a broken spoke is a small dollar fixable item. somewhat bothered they found my PayPal account (well, it is the same as the email used to send) but of course happy the resolution was speedy.
That Sunday I had sent the buyer funds to cover the repair in advance of the bikeflights claim settling. That felt like the right thing to do for this clearly easily repairable case (regardless of the claim outcome), since buyer paid for a working wheel and so should get a working wheel. otherwise alternative would be to send it back to me. which was not what both of us wanted to do.
so, where does that leave us.
take before pictures
take packing pictures
take arrival pictures.
buy insurance
communicate with buyer (via voice)
who knows how they handle a serious issue like a dented TT but based on this, I can conclude you gotta help yourself by packing things right and taking pictures.
The rear wheel arrived with a broken spoke at the nipple.
Packing was thorough (double wheel box, rim slots top/bottom, added cardboard at all tangent points. steel axle to align wheels, axle end caps, bubble wrap to prevent rattling) and the box arrived undamaged.
Of course if this spoke was going to break, it could have broken anytime. However, it broke in transit. I got a written shop repair estimate and sent that along with before, packing, and arrival pictures Sunday afternoon (they are closed Sunday)
at 8:30am PST monday I got an email from bikeflights saying my claim was resolved and a notice from PayPal saying I had received funds.
obviously a broken spoke is a small dollar fixable item. somewhat bothered they found my PayPal account (well, it is the same as the email used to send) but of course happy the resolution was speedy.
That Sunday I had sent the buyer funds to cover the repair in advance of the bikeflights claim settling. That felt like the right thing to do for this clearly easily repairable case (regardless of the claim outcome), since buyer paid for a working wheel and so should get a working wheel. otherwise alternative would be to send it back to me. which was not what both of us wanted to do.
so, where does that leave us.
take before pictures
take packing pictures
take arrival pictures.
buy insurance
communicate with buyer (via voice)
who knows how they handle a serious issue like a dented TT but based on this, I can conclude you gotta help yourself by packing things right and taking pictures.