shipping bikes?

[Dangler]

Anyone ever get hosed by UPS when shipping a bike?
I recently sold one of my bikes and shipped it across the country from California to Ohio.
I had UPS pick it up from my house. I was told by the driver that it would be under $100 to ship both boxes (8 foot long bike)
A month later I receive a bank statement charging me not the $100 I was quoted by the driver but, an outrageous $273.50.
I called UPS and they told me that they charged me so much because they were large packages and that automatically bumps the weight to 90 pounds a piece plus an additional $45 dollar charge each for handling. I was never informed of these procedures by the person who set up my pick up or by the driver.
After a not so pleasant conversation with a UPS billing agent I got the shipping charges dropped down to $94 based on the actual weight of each box.

So, be careful when you guys decide to ship your bikes...

 

[spistols]

One word...FEDEX. I tried DHL and UPS, and FEDEX, by far is better priced with better service.

 

[Rat Rod]

I second FedEx...only one I will use for bikes.

 

[muddywater04]

1st of all, thanks Dangler for the Skid MAster. And 2nd I will never use UPS again after I was quoted $60.00 to ship one and by the time it was done got charged $120.00. After about 3, 20 minute phone calls and nothing in my favor I took it upon myself to stop using them. I have shipped many oversized packages since then using DHL and even my LBS has started using them. You will find the shipping will be a fraction of the cost of a UPS shipment.

 

[Rat Rod]

What I do is find a bike box...measure it off, go on the FedEx website and run the numbers to get an exact quote. You can play with the dimensions to see how it will effect the price. In shipping it's all about box size. I've had it where I cut the box down an inch in height and it cut the price from $80 to $40.

Once you are done packaging the bike just take it to a FedEx Kinkos and let them weight and measure it and process the order. They tell you the price right then and you decide if you want to pay that much.

A little more effort than having them come pick it up, but there's no surprises this way.

 

[Rustinkerer]

The 1st bike I sold on ebay was an awesome looking, but rusty Columbia SS 5 chopper. I boxed it up in a bike box from one I bought for myself. The shipping on that very box was under $40. I packed up the '5, and took it to the UPS store, which was the closest place to me at the time. They weighed and measured it and said $118!! And that was a couple years ago! I'd already sold it, and said in my ad that shipping shouldn't be over $40 for most US states. Long story short, opened up a FedEx account, shipped the same package for about $25!! UPS-SUX!!! ~Adam

 

[Mr. Farrell]

that's crappy. i guess thats why their uniforms are brown.