Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

thanks for all the kind words - if i were not diabetic i would have had whole bottle of whiskey down my throat and were sound asleep, but as many of you can see from time of this post i can't sleep...it is such a bummer ! i hope i have all the documentation and i will get it over to them - devils - first thing in the morning. fingers crossed that at least i get my money while sure - i'd rather have my guitar to play.

What a lousy thing to have happen. I hope that at the very least you are fully compensated Dusan. Please keep us informed!

I'm sorry for your disappointment, Dusan. I hope this turns out as well as possible for you

Dusan.......I'm very sorry to hear your story and I wish you the best with FedEx. I have had some experience
with claims against shipping companies and the one piece of advice I can give you is to not let up on them......stay
on their case. It will get extremely frustrating but if you stick with it, you can get results.

This kind of stuff makes me shiver, even on a warm day.

This situation is scarily close to one that John Williams had a few years back.

Same model, same year, shipped to someone else...neck broken in same spot....

Sorry to hear this Dusan,this sort of thing always makes me feel sick.

Good luck with the claim.

I feel for you.
Keep us informed of your progress in resolving the claim.
Rich F.

In 1998, FedEx broke the neck off of my '65 360/12. I had it insured for $2500. and packed it well. When I first called FedEx, they were very helpful. However, getting them to to ANYTHING was like pulling teeth!
So, get them to inspect the guitar and stay on them! If they give you the run-a-round, have an attorney write them a letter. Thats what I had to do and it worked. I received a check for $2500. and got the guitar back.

Wow!! That's terrible luck, Dusan. I hope it's resolved to your satisfaction.

Makes me feel terribly lucky, having had a number of guitars shipped to Oz from the US with no damage - both Fedex and UPS.

That's really upsetting!
Good luck with your claim man.

Wow Dusan! I really hate to hear that. Having dealt with you recently on the Ric roller bridge, I feel like I know you fairly well and this kind of thing should not happen to decent folks like you.
Best of luck in getting it settled to your satisfaction.
Bob

jwilli wrote:In 1998, FedEx broke the neck off of my '65 360/12. I had it insured for $2500. and packed it well. When I first called FedEx, they were very helpful. However, getting them to to ANYTHING was like pulling teeth!
So, get them to inspect the guitar and stay on them! If they give you the run-a-round, have an attorney rite them a letter. Thats what I had to do and it worked. I received a check for $2500. and got the guitar back.

+1 ... I was actually thinking something like small claims court. They don't mind paying a claims person to deal with you, but when they have to pay one of their lawyers to deal with you, they want rid of you real quick!

I agree. A small claim (up to $5000 in your state) can be initated without the use of a lawyer, and generally moves quickly through the system. In the case of an insurance claim for an item damaged in transit, it should be cut and dried.

i thought i give you people update what is going on :

we are talking about 66' burgundyglo 360/12 with brand new fret job - insured for 4k and shipped properly packed inside the shipping box marked with large labels "fragile" all over the outside and with enough styrofoam padding and bubble wrap ends inside and of course poor guitar was inside the modern rickenbacker molded case for 360 series - all went via fedex ground and consequently arrived to me with the headstock broken at the nut and shattered - the pieces of the wood from the headstock were all over inside the case, r tailpiece flying around and the bridge as well. the neck situation is beyond repair - the value is ruined. the date was 2/24/09 and i notified fedex about the damage and got their claims form package in email.

1) i claimed the damage with all proper documentation:
a) completed claim form, b)release statement from the shipper, c) appraisal i had done before the shipping d) photo documentation of the damage to the guitar and to the box on cdrom e) copy of the original shipping documents - all that is required by fedex guide for claims - all submited via us-mail with the delivery confirmation
date of the delivery was 3/4/09

2) fedex said through claims representative Jack Mathias they are going to pick it up for inspection on local station & left the door tag for me to track the claim- lie no1
date was 3/5/09

3) fedex says the damage is not their fault since the box is not damaged - lie no2
the box has large impact hole on the bottom and crushed sides and corners - documented by me and i still have all the hi-rez pictures including the date stamp in my camera - what a convenience from some 20 years ago!
date is 3/6/09 and here fedex goes numb and nonresponsive


4)fedex is - over the fact that they are supposed to deal with me due to release given to me by the shipper - shipping the guitar and trying to deliver the guitar back to shipper to weasel out of any responsibility without any notification to me - deception no1
date is 3/9/09


5) fedex i claiming they didn't get the cd with the pictures of the damage to the box and to the guitar - lie no3
date is 3/11/09

6) fedex got all the pictures again via email to Esther De in claims department and she is refusing to acknowledge this fact in any other than verbal way and fedex is still shipping my property to someone across the usa perhaps thinking that he is not aware of it.
date is 3/11/09 and 3/12/09 respectively

7) fedex is playing - "let's make it as long as possible" - game and "lets switch the claim agent on him" game couple times during one day. the broken guitar is still being shipped somewhere
date is 3/11/09

mr.palka is a keyword @ fedex claims department to put calling person on hold for extensive length of time and the phone calls to fedex - no matter how polite - are being disconnected in mysterious manner
date is 3/12/09 after the lunchtime

9) mr. palka clocked 24 hours of his time with this matter - a matter that is in his opinion clear cut of fedex negligence. mr.palka documented the whole matter with paper trail etc...and since those 24 hours is his usual limit in such matters - mr.palka gave a call to his lawyer and is taking fedex to court - the question remains if for small claims for $4k or to normal court for punitive damages too ( since apparently mr.palka charges $1200/hour for consulting about fedex shipping practices) and/or for insurance malpractice as well. mr.palka is indeed very unhappy with fedex and so can't with clear conscience recommend to anybody use of services of said company for anything but copying of black and white printed documents via its sorry subsidiary kinkos.
date is 3/12/09 evening

Dusan,

Sorry to hear that things have gone sour on your claim. That's a bummer. That's adding insult to your injury