Rifle Scopes how not to pack a S&B 5-25 for USPS shipping

taliv

taliv

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 21, 2010
804
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TN
#1



is it just me or is a large box containing only a $3200 scope, its thin cardboard box, and a small sponge appreciably shy of acceptable packing?

what would you do if you received a "looks new" scope and the scope box was ripped open on both ends and crushed?

I haven't priced sponges lately, but i guess since I paid an extra $25 for shipping a $16 flat rate box, that's gotta be some sponge.
 
#5
While I agree that's far from an ideal packaging job and in truth...pretty @#$%ing inexcusable...is the scope ok?

If so...don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy your new glass! ;) If not...I hope that addt'l $25 also bought some insurance with that $16 flat-rate box (even though filing an insurance claim with USPS for a packaging job that poor should be an exercise in wasted time/energy)!!!!
 
#11

heh i think you may be right!

i think it's ok but won't know til i get a chance to test it. it is covered in some white powder (probably anthrax. i think this dude is trying to kill me). the parallax knob had some crunch in it but is turning smoothly now. glass looks ok (except for the white powder)


cramey, yeah off the hide.
 
#13
I bought a NorCal Built Rem 700 in an AICS 2.0 Stock from a guy in CA. He told me that he wasn't sure what he'd send it in as far as a hardcase & box, etc... It shows up to my transfer dealer in a 24"x24"x24" cardboard box with the barrel sticking out. Believe it or not, it arrived without a mark on it. How the hell did that happen?? He had the stock folded, no other packing material in the box and the bare barrel sticking out. If I can find a pic, I'll post it. Oh, and it shoots like a freakin laser beam!
 
#14

^^ With tales like that one and the OP's, I think we need a "Tales from the Shipping Crypt" thread to display these shipping/handling/packaging nightmares (if for nothing else...as a "How NOT to pack @#$%" thread! ^^
 
#15

No kidding! I also love it when the rifle shows up with the bolt and mag removed, but not wrapped to protect anything and the bolt and mag bounce all over the rifle before it arrives... Wrap this stuff up like you would hope to receive it. We should have a "How to package/ship" Thread.
 
#16
I wouldn't be too pissed at the seller for the packaging. While yes he could have done a better job, what he should have done is send it UPS or Fed Ex. I've had UPS lose a package before and some other slight screw ups but only once a damaged package, USPS has lost or damaged a shit ton of stuff I have sent.

The sponge was to take up space and keep the scope from going side to side. Not as professional as bubble or paper packaging but it worked and I would say that even a packaging around the S&B box itself wouldn't have prevented that.
 
#18
it didn't take up enough space is the point. and it didn't keep it from moving forward and backward where the box damage was, and because of it's small size it could only keep one end of the scope from moving side to side.
 
#19
The scope box moving back and forth didn't cause that damage though. That box was crushed and no amount of padding would have stopped it. I've had items arrive in that same box that people neglected to pack that were even heavier than a S&B and weren't in internal boxes and they never beat the box open.
 
#24

My AR50A1 shipped in a Pelican case from Texas to Illinois. Sounds secure, right? Well those case are designed with the intention of using 2 pieces of foam. My rifle shipped with 1 piece and the 2 pound Versapod bouncing off the barrel. It made the decision to paint it quite easy.
 
#26
Recently I bought 10 boxes of berger 105 hybrids from a hide vendor. He tossed them into that same flat rate box, and relied solely on the sticky glue on the box flap to secure it. Somehow, 3 boxes didn't manage to escape....but 7 did.
 
#28

+1,000,000 on this!! That's why I made the comment above about filing such a claim being a waste of time/energy.

They'll find damned near ANY available excuse to refuse to pay a claim made. The piss-poor packaging job by the shipper, combined with a whole mess of other BS like "the item was not declared to be 'fragile' at the time it was entrusted to the USPS," and other nonsensical rambling to avoid paying up. While certainly a garbage job of padding/boxing up something by an individual or business shouldn't automatically become a financial burden of the USPS, the fact that they have a long-standing reputation as showing little to no regard whatsoever for packages shipped with them certainly doesn't give me any warm/fuzzy feelings when shipping items with them. For high-$$ items (like a $3.5k S&B for example), I'll skip the PO and stick with a different carrier.
 
#30
You guys are causing me to worry! I've got a new scope coming this week.
I've shipped my vortex pst twice through USPS and they marked the box "fragile". Once to vortex and then last week to the guy I sold it to. He emailed me today and said all was good. My new one from rangerwalker is coming ups. I haven't had very good luck with ups.
 
#31
fwiw, not being completely stupid, i didn't take the seller up on their "$25 shipping and if you want insurance, another $25". As soon as i mailed the check to him, I listed the scope on my USAA firearms ins policy so if anything happened to it (like the seller flaking) i have a no BS insurance. I agree the USPS ins is pretty worthless. But I don't have a problem shipping stuff USPS as long as it's properly packaged.
 
#35

No kidding. I had a laptop shipped to me in Afghanistan. It disappeared. It's been three months and USPS hasn't paid the insurance claim. Tracking still says "in transit" ...

I figure I'll be home off deployment by the time USPS gets their shit together, if ever.
 
#36
All this said about the shipper & I do agree he could have done a better job but nobody has mentioned the cheap crap box S&B sends a $3500 scope in.You would think these high end companies would respect the customer & give them a box worthy of a great piece of glass.
 
#37
Meh I'd rather they put the money in the scope. All this being said the scope is probably 100% fine and all this is just spilt milk. Mount the thing up on a rifle take it out and shoot the thing. If the only ding that is on your scope happened because of shipping you should be ashamed.

~Brett
 
#39
brett,you might wanna get a clue who your talkin to b4 you go making statements. Tom is a nationally competitive shooter who will prob put more rounds through one of his rifles this year than you will in 5 yrs maby more.

Its not about how tuff the SB is, we all know they are workhorses. Its about some moron who just took $3k+ of a fellow members hard earned money and packaged the high end item like a lazy slob. It takes all of 10 min to properly package an item.
 
#41
That's a shame. I'll bet it functions just fine, but that's no excuse for the less than half ass packaging.

My new National Match M1A was shipped to my dealer/FFL in it's high quality .29 cent cardboard box that it comes in from Springfield Armory. When I got it, it had been dropped/thrown and had landed on it's top. The flash hider and front sight was sticking out through the box. The left "ear" that protects the front sight was bent straight. SA shipped me a new front sight that I installed free of charge. Shoots great, but made me sick when I first saw it.
 
#42

Oddly, I had harder time with UPS, then USPS about insurance one time, but thats under a different subject. Still SB packed like that!?!? I'm dumbfounded of that packing job. I was a bit humorous about the sponge joke about the tears.
 
#43

I spose its not great and I'll admit I didn't know who I'm talking to nor did I really care that much. Once its there and its fine who cares. I was mainly talking about the people who were complaining that a S&B didn't come with a prettier box too. Thankfully the money goes into the glass not the box. Could it have been packed better sure. Would I have packed it better before sending it out to someone yea. But hell if it got there ok meh screw it.

~Brett
 
#47
Almost everything remotely fragile I send flat rate gets stuffed with the free packing materials at the PO.
There is no much newspaper/junk mail thrown out that you can compress and make a nice tight package.
That's like a 9 on the lazy SOB scale.
A 9 only because I've received a scope in a flat rate box with nothing but Butler Creeks for protection.
 
#48
You know, I actually opted for that large grout sponge instead of the brillo pad I usually send with things I sell.

Some people! Next time its a brillo pad and some old sweaty tshirts for you.
 
#49
Not really, I doubt anything is wrong with the scope. Shoot it and then bitch of something is wrong. Guys are just bitching and moaning on what amounts to nothing (unless proven).
 
#50
Noted, if you ever buy anything from me Cobracutter....I'm gonna overcharge you for shipping and ship it as cheaply as possible.

What your failing to understand is what the other people are saying.....no one is saying the scope isn't going to get banged up and the shit kicked out of in use. But WE want to be the ones to make the exterior look like its been in a warzone not some fuckstick who ships it as cheaply as possible.


Tom you need to out this SOB so we know who to put on the list.
 
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