What to do when we receive shipment

While I have complete faith in the GF team my faith in the postal service… well… much less. I’ll definitely be doing an unboxing video just for the sake of it. If it does come broken I have full faith in GF to make it right. :slight_smile:

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My attic’s full of boxes from various machines. (sigh!)

(On the other hand - great to have if you decide to sell something down the road.) :blush:

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Absolutely! My method is to mark boxes with the date the warranty expires on the item they contained (TV, monitors, 3D printer, etc.). When I clean out storage, it greatly simplifies the decision process, and you can always decide to keep them longer.

Normally, I recycle the vast majority of the “expired” boxes, but that will change when my GF arrives… :sunglasses:

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Is a shipper really going hang out whilst I unbox a laser cutter with damaged packaging… and then while I plug it in to see if it fires up and cuts?

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In my experience, no they are under extreme time pressure to make deliveries quickly. If I don’t get to the door fast enough they deliver it next door and fake my signature.

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I’m documenting like a delivery room. Here is another good topic on the subject of shipping:

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I get the impression these will be shipped with common, residential carriers (UPS, FedEx, USPS) but with freight a good strategy is to write something like “cargo has not been inspected for shipping damage” near the signature line. I had one piece of freight… a big TV maybe… that I suspect was damaged in shipping. The crooks at the freight company shoved the signed waybill in my face and said something the effect of “na na, you signed, it’s your problem now”. I don’t know if my suggested note will actually help, I haven’t had to test that yet, but I doubt it would hurt.

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No, that’s a great idea. :sunglasses:

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Great idea! I think I will do that too going forward.

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He wont stay to see if it fires up but will allow you to unbox it and look for physical damage.

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A good idea decidedly, but most, if not all, companies delivering to me use electronic data loggers.

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Not :white_check_mark:'d.
I can write that small enough next to my name - even with those horrible electronic styluses. (stylii?)

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Oops, I could have been more clear. I meant to specify that adding a note is something I’ve only been able to do with freight deliveries (AKA things delivered in large trucks with lift-gates), where it’s been my experience that there’s always a piece of paper, which I think is called a “waybill”, accompanying the shipment. Or were you saying even the freight carriers in your area have electronic devices as well?

@Jules, yeah, “not checked” might fit into the little box. Then just sign with an “X”. :stuck_out_tongue:

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what’s all this talk about inspections and careful unwrapping? Must get inside and get the altar out then sacrifice all the (laser safe only) things into the vaporization chamber to the laser gods! I shall rule the world!!! or burn down the house.

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Wait—did you just tell a room full of people who, after more than a year of waiting, finally have a LASER at their disposal to NOT destroy a perfectly good chunk of cardboard?

Isn’t that kind of like God telling Adam and Eve “Now, any of these trees? Sure, go right ahead… but THIS one?.. No, no… That one’s off limits.”

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More like a 1st Suggestion than an 11th Commandment.

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I’d be more than happy to make a road trip to Seattle, or just about anywhere else within, say, 1000mi of San Francisco, to pick it up and avoid shipping randomness.

Just saying…

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I’ve ordered a lot of expensive things online (probably every major purchase except houses and cars…) and have never had a problem with delivery. Well, scratch that. I’ve had plenty of problems, but I’ve never had an issue that hasn’t been corrected by the shipping company or the company I’ve bought the item from. I’ve even been contacted by both before an item has even arrived to let me know it was potentially damaged and to reassure me they would take care of it.

I’m sure it’s a good idea to photograph the opening and all that, because it doesn’t really require much of you, but I don’t think you’re screwed if you don’t. First and foremost, signing for an item doesn’t negate your ability to file a claim for damaged goods - it negates your ability to claim a package never arrived.

Photos are good, but if your item is broken you need to keep all of your packaging. Some shipping companies want to inspect the remnants of shipping materials and item before paying. So, dont throw anything out, including broken fragments and glass. If it’s broken when you open it, just put it all back in the box until it’s resolved.

But mostly, glowforge is expecting some stuff will break, and they’ve budgeted for it. The shipping company is expecting stuff will break, or be lost, and they’ve budgeted for it. In my experience, dealing with the selling company is way easier than dealing with the shipping company, so if something is wrong I’d contact glowforge and they will file a claim, if they’re so inclined, with the shipping company.

It will really suck if something arrives broken or not working, but I don’t think glowforge will say ‘tough luck, you’re on your own’. I think, from my experience, the more frustrating situation is when something doesn’t arrive at all, as you’re left waiting for the shipper to try and locate it, and that can sometimes take weeks and weeks. But even in that situation, I’m sure glowforge will make it so you aren’t $2-5k poorer with no laser forever.

I nearly forgot to add that insurance is for the party shipping the item, not the recipient. If the laser you get is ruined by the shipping company, the shipping company will pay glowforge, who will either refund you or replace the item. I’m not even sure the recipient of a package can even file an insurance claim; I think it has to be the sender. But that might not be right.

But that’s just for US. I’m sure lasers confiscated and destroyed by customs, for example, might be a totally different situation.

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My big dollar items
My projector lots of optics and glass had a hole in the box but unit worked
A laptop that the guy forgot to drop off left it on the bumper of the truck and a electrician found it on the road a mile away ran over… RMA HP was more then happy to fight fedex on that
21 feet of led grow lights for my lettuce garden. Buildmyled.com took pride in packing those up and was a perfect example of how to vet your packaging for shipping. Short of fedex hit them with a truck I think they would have survived
Some canvas prints from zazzle, boxes intact but canvas has some scuff and one a broken frame. Perfect example of someone not giving a care as they where just thrown in a ill fitting box to slide around.

So what im trying to say short of fedex or ups screwing up it really comes down to the care that the original sender takes in packaging it up

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Lettuce huh? Sure.

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