DHL disaster

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texan in the wild
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Tell us something.: Just getting into the world of irish whistle playing and this forum keeps popping up as the place to go for information, knowledge, etc. looking forward to learning here

DHL disaster

Post by texan in the wild »

First of all, Thanks for adding me to the group! Ive been at the whistle for a few months now while I'm on tour with a Broadway show, and it's kept me sane during slow days on the road!

And now a warning:

This past December I decided to treat myself to a fancier whistle and ended up buying a pre-owned Ormiston from BigWhistle . uk. the price was good and the whistle was in good shape...Until DHL got ahold of it. The short story is, they lost it twice and lied about where it was. Then it took nearly a month to finally deliver it. After several back and forth emails with an exec, it was delivered today (1/24/2023) shattered. The entire lower part of the body of the whistle has been crushed. The packaging, marked FRAGILE all over, was bent in half or run over to achieve this damage. They also seem to have absolved themselves of all responsibility, unbelievable. While I wait to hear back from Big Whistle, I just wanted to warn everyone about using DHL, I would avoid them at all cost, I thought they were supposed to be the good ones, but clearly that is not the case. I would attach photos but it's really kind of saddening that they did this to an instrument and actually a little piece of wood just fell off when I was moving it. AVOID DHL if you can, and if you can't, I hope you have your instruments packed in a really hard case!
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Sirchronique
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by Sirchronique »

Sadly, every major shipping service in the US has these issues.

A couple of years ago I ordered a stringed instrument through FedEx and received the package late, covered in black footprints, and with a giant hole going all the way through both sides of the box, which appears to me to be from someone who didn’t know how to drive a forklift who penetrated the entire box with one of the forks.

These companies also have a lot of fine-print in regards to their insurance policies. You’re unlikely to get any money even if they are 100% at fault, and it will be a big hassle if you do.

Plenty of similar stories with USPS as well, and I’ve personally seen how UPS handles the packages.

It is always a dice roll.
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by Moof »

What a nightmare!

I'm not quite sure how this works internationally, but according to UK distance selling regulations as they apply here, it is the vendor's responsibility to deliver the goods to the customer. The contract of sale is between the seller and the buyer, the courier is irrelevant. If the vendor fails to deliver an item (even if it's absolutely not their fault), they must reimburse the purchaser. So—at least if you were in Britain—you would send photographic and any other evidence to Big Whistle, they would offer you a refund of the purchase price and the postage, and they would pursue compensation for their losses from DHL.

It may be more complicated with international deliveries; I'm only familiar with consumer law as it applies here. However if they don't offer to reimburse you, it would be worth finding out.

Not that this helps at all with the disgraceful way your item was treated, but I thought I'd let you know in case the rules are different in the US.
bruce.b
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by bruce.b »

I doubt you’ll suffer any loss, Big Whistle will take the hit.
UK shipping (Royal mail) has been a nightmare for months. First strikes and then a cyber attack that took down their system. I ordered an MK low D in later November and didn’t get it until mid January, and never received any shipping information. MK assured me that it should eventually arrive, and if it didn’t they would send me another one.
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stiofan
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by stiofan »

Criminy. Hope you recover your funds without too much hassle, hopefully directly from Big Whistle.

You might send Blayne a note to the IFS 'wish list.' Probably not often, but on occasion he gets an Ormiston whistle for consignment.
https://www.irishflutestore.com/pages/wish-list
https://www.irishflutestore.com/collect ... r-high-d-1
FWIW, the IFS regularly carry wooden whistles by a few other makers.
https://www.irishflutestore.com/collect ... n-whistles
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Terry McGee
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by Terry McGee »

I've had a small number of problems like this (which when you think that I've made over 1000 flutes, and that most of them go overseas, that isn't bad). And some of the results looked pretty much like either stabbing with a fork-lift's forks (eg a hardwood flute case with a hole punched right through it), or crushing by the heavy forklift rolling over it.

And when you go to put in a claim under the insurance, you get contacted by a stand-over merchant, sorry, Customer Support Representative, who:
- tries to argue it's your fault because you didn't pack it well enough,
- tries to argue that it's the customer's fault because they didn't check the contents at the Post Office or while the Postman was there on their doorstep, and how do we know he didn't drop it later, or
- argues that it isn't worth the amount you insured it for.

My most recent experience (fortunately not recent) was of that last category. He said on the phone how did you arrive at the value you insured it for? I responded that my prices can be found on my website and that the value is what the customer is prepared to pay. He then headed off along the lines "how much did the materials cost"? I said the materials are not that expensive, it's the hand-made nature of the instrument that costs. He snorted that that was an "opportunity cost" and that I can't insure for that. I told him in no uncertain terms that if he did not approve my claim, I would take it to the press, and what a story it would make. He backed straight off and approved the claim.

So my take-home message is that the insurers will try to brow-beat the customer into submission. It makes sense that if they can save (in my case) around US $1255 by a bit of telephone thuggery, then they will reckon it's worth a shot. It will be very interesting to see what the supplier thinks. Keep us in the loop.
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Terry McGee
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Re: DHL disaster

Post by Terry McGee »

Heh heh, and I must say every time I consign a large-bore flute to the post, and I get to the question: "Does this parcel contain dangerous goods?", I think to myself: "...in the wrong hands, maybe....".

Along the same lines, maybe very loud whistles should require licensing? Or carry a warning sign "For outdoor use only. Not to be used near child care centres."

Anything further to report, texan in the wild?
texan in the wild
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Tell us something.: Just getting into the world of irish whistle playing and this forum keeps popping up as the place to go for information, knowledge, etc. looking forward to learning here

Re: DHL disaster

Post by texan in the wild »

For those of you playing the home game; here is an update.

Currently waiting to find out what Big Whistle's shipping insurance covers and then going from there. DHL will either; reimburse me for whatever the insurance doesn't, or for the whole thing if there is any sort of dispute. So now it is just a waiting game...

In other news, Chris Abell is a gentleman and a saint! Just this afternoon, a brand new Abell whistle arrived at my hotel here in Durham (about 2 hours after I did) he VERY graciously made a whistle available for me and it is amazing. Also, the day after the DHL/Ormiston disaster, the whistle I ordered from Tilbury Whistles arrived. So now I have a small arsenal of D whistles (there's a Killarney and a Dixon in there too) to harass my hotel neighbors.

Anyway, thanks for all the words of wisdom and support.
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