OK... I'll jump in here.  My situation is a little different since I live on
the Big Island of Hawaii in the middle of nowhere at least in terms of
shipping... UPS is only fair here... they usually show up with the packages,
often later than promised, and sometimes damaged.  Problem is there is no
ground UPS service, so everything has to go "Blue Label" (second
day/expensive). Airborne and they others minor players aren't even worth
considering... they use local delivery people and God knows if or when your
packages will arrive.

We use Fed Ex almost exclusively with pretty good results.  It ain't cheap,
but we don't have much choice.  USPS is usually OK, but we just had one
package sent priority to Denver that took over three weeks to arrive and was
totally smashed, and another shipped to us from Chicago that went out
Priority "Confirmed Delivery" (whatever that is) that did not show up for
over a month!

I suppose services vary in different locations.

Mick Kalber
89 Syncro Westy "Dadeo"
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place    Hilo, Hawaii  96720
ph. 808-935-5557    fax 808-935-0066
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Ed @ Automotive Consulting
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2001 7:53 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: UPS shipping

 FWIW, i have  recieved over  100 parcels in the 3 years i have been open
for
business. Of those, UPS has managed to break/damage 21 out of 37 breakable
items, out of 45 total. USPS has damaged 4 out of 35 breakables, out of 49
total. Fedex broke 2 out of 4 breakables, out of 12 total.
    I do my best never to use UPS. Some of the items recieved were so
destroyed they look like they were run over by a truck.It is a major
aggravation to get your money back from UPS.
    Out of the 28 parcels i have sent out this past year via USPS, none were
damaged at all. I pack very carefully! - Ed