Fedex is NOT getting a Christmas card this year (Sig Solar order destroyed)

[ThaiTaffy]

As a westerner now living in the east I think it's down to responsibility, so much is insured for us in the west that we don't tend to worry anymore "ops my bad, don't worry insurance will cover it" must get said how my times a day?
Not saying it's not the same for people here in Asia but many people can't even afford insurance so they tend to take more care. I get far less damaged items from a Thai man delivering from a motorcycle sidecar than an American FedEx driver in his fancy box truck that it has to be down to more than how well something is packaged/shipped.

 

[JWLV]

As a westerner now living in the east I think it's down to responsibility, so much is insured for us in the west that we don't tend to worry anymore "ops my bad, don't worry insurance will cover it" must get said how my times a day?
Not saying it's not the same for people here in Asia but many people can't even afford insurance so they tend to take more care. I get far less damaged items from a Thai man delivering from a motorcycle sidecar than an American FedEx driver in his fancy box truck that it has to be down to more than how well something is packaged/shipped.

I think it's about pride in one's work. Whether you're a garbage man, mailman, teacher, or a lawyer, if you don't have pride in your work whatever comes out is just crap. It seems more and more people only care about their paycheck and throw pride out the window.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

I think it's about pride in one's work. Whether you're a garbage man, mailman, teacher, or a lawyer, if you don't have pride in your work whatever comes out is just crap. It seems more and more people only want their weekly paycheck and throw pride out the window.

Not sure, here I don't tend to see pride on ones work at all, more pride in the paycheck.
Maybe I'm wrong it's very much monkey see monkey do here, they try to copy building styles or technology without understanding the finer details or engineering behind it.
A good example is the concrete supplier not far from me, they have seen that concrete trucks can be cleaned with a small jackhammer so now they don't bother washing out the trucks after a pour and just chip it out every 2-3 days. If they were given fancy delivery trucks with hydraulic tailgates like in the west you can bet there would be far more issues than them just offloading by hand from a pickup truck.

 

[marionw]

Hopefully my experience with FEDEX will be different. I ordered six 550 watt PERC panels from SunGoldPower. FEDEX delivered the panels with damage. There are two panels per box with the panel faces together separated by foam and the back/frame face out in the box.
The top box had what was clearly forklift pallet fork/tine damage as the frame was significantly bent and a portion of the box peeled back. The panel in the bottom box also frame damage. The glass on both panels is intact with no spiderweb cracks and the panels at least produced VOC when tested with a multimeter.

Got off the phone with FEDEX (gal was very professional and polite) who provided me a picture of the shipment on the SunGoldPower loading dock prior to loading, clearly no damage.

I provided a dozen pictures of the delivery as it sat in my front yard. Hopefully FEDEX will make this right and reimburse me the cost of the two panels. SunGoldPower has also offered compensation and a "deal" on a future purchase.

FEDEX can pick up the damaged panels if they want or let me keep them. I suspect they will work fine, just don't know if any seal was compromised by the frame damage that will result in moisture intrusion several years down the road.

I will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Hopefully my experience with FEDEX will be different. I ordered six 550 watt PERC panels from SunGoldPower. FEDEX delivered the panels with damage. There are two panels per box with the panel faces together separated by foam and the back/frame face out in the box.
The top box had what was clearly forklift pallet fork/tine damage as the frame was significantly bent and a portion of the box peeled back. The panel in the bottom box also frame damage. The glass on both panels is intact with no spiderweb cracks and the panels at least produced VOC when tested with a multimeter.

Got off the phone with FEDEX (gal was very professional and polite) who provided me a picture of the shipment on the SunGoldPower loading dock prior to loading, clearly no damage.

I provided a dozen pictures of the delivery as it sat in my front yard. Hopefully FEDEX will make this right and reimburse me the cost of the two panels. SunGoldPower has also offered compensation and a "deal" on a future purchase.

FEDEX can pick up the damaged panels if they want or let me keep them. I suspect they will work fine, just don't know if any seal was compromised by the frame damage that will result in moisture intrusion several years down the road.

I will keep my fingers crossed.

This sounds very atypical.

It's been my experience that the shipper only has obligation to the contracting party. Did you personally arrange the shipment via Fedex from SunGOldPower and pay Fedex or provide your own account number, or did SGP? If SGP contracted with Fedex, Fedex is only obligated to them.

Our company ships a LOT via Fedex, and it's always our issue UNLESS we ship via a customer supplied account number therein making the customer the contracting party.

 

[marionw]

This sounds very atypical.

It's been my experience that the shipper only has obligation to the contracting party. Did you personally arrange the shipment via Fedex from SunGOldPower and pay Fedex or provide your own account number, or did SGP? If SGP contracted with Fedex, Fedex is only obligated to them.

Our company ships a LOT via Fedex, and it's always our issue UNLESS we ship via a customer supplied account number therein making the customer the contracting party.

SunGoldPower arranged shipment. FEDEX has cameras mounted on the rear of their trailers and have the pictures of the pickup and the delivery. As I said, I can only hope but I will push this to some conclusion. What that conclusion is remains to be seen. It is clear that FEDEX caused the damage to at least the top panel.

 

[JRH]

SunGoldPower arranged shipment. FEDEX has cameras mounted on the rear of their trailers and have the pictures of the pickup and the delivery. As I said, I can only hope but I will push this to some conclusion. What that conclusion is remains to be seen. It is clear that FEDEX caused the damage to at least the top panel.

Anything is possible from my experience…
Charleston SC…

A 6.5 ft solid bronze 1.25 inch prop shaft with reverse threading was special ordered for my bent one… on the boat..
it was shipped Fed X “OVERNIGHT “ to the boat yard where the boat was lifted and chocked on land ( 40ish ft boat) with installation crew waiting for the FedX truck…next morn ..150 bucks per hour once the crew shows up to drink coffee and wait.

NO FedX truck shows by noon……it was due by 9 or 10 ish…A.M.

I called FedX …they said it was lost …they couldn’t find it…sry….

WHAATTT…?

After woke up from my fainting event…I paid the mechanic guys for 3 hours for waiting and sent them away…450.00…

As it turned out the next day FedX called me and said they had found the shaft…unboxed …

BUT……..it was pretty damaged on the threaded part on the end …..

WHATTTTTT.? How is any of this even possible…?

Well here’s how…

When at the FedX transfer station during shipping , a worker grabbed the narrow shipping tube under his arm and jumped on a child’s bike that was in the loading area and started chasing the other guys around acting like he had a lance or spear ..well two others grabbed brooms and started poking back at him…
A freaking mid-evil jousting session…with my boat shaft…at 2 am in a FedX warehouse..

The jabbing back and forth threw it against the end inside of the tube , busted a hole in it and sent the shaft bouncing down the “Steel stairwell”…..

It boogered the threads up awful he said…..he asked if I still wanted it delivered..
I said NO…

In their mind I guess the workers figured if they hide it behind a big door and threw away the shipping tube , no one would notice or maybe not even find out about it being missing…..hmmm…great plan….
And these are grown ass men with this idea..!!

in the end the company in VA made a new shaft , shipped it out, I got it installed..

I think the company was paid by fed X for replacing it and shipping it again…not sure…!

I didn’t have to pay anything further except repaying the mechanics another 450.00.
Ouch….

Untill you get yer stuff in hand , and see that it works , nothing is ever for sure…

J.

 

[marionw]

Anything is possible from my experience…
Charleston SC…

A 6.5 ft solid bronze 1.25 inch prop shaft with reverse threading was special ordered for my bent one… on the boat..
it was shipped Fed X “OVERNIGHT “ to the boat yard where the boat was lifted and chocked on land ( 40ish ft boat) with installation crew waiting for the FedX truck…next morn ..150 bucks per hour once the crew shows up to drink coffee and wait.

NO FedX truck shows by noon……it was due by 9 or 10 ish…A.M.

I called FedX …they said it was lost …they couldn’t find it…sry….

WHAATTT…?

After woke up from my fainting event…I paid the mechanic guys for 3 hours for waiting and sent them away…450.00…

As it turned out the next day FedX called me and said they had found the shaft…unboxed …

BUT……..it was pretty damaged on the threaded part on the end …..

WHATTTTTT.? How is any of this even possible…?

Well here’s how…

When at the FedX transfer station during shipping , a worker grabbed the narrow shipping tube under his arm and jumped on a child’s bike that was in the loading area and started chasing the other guys around acting like he had a lance or spear ..well two others grabbed brooms and started poking back at him…
A freaking mid-evil jousting session…with my boat shaft…at 2 am in a FedX warehouse..

The jabbing back and forth threw it against the end inside of the tube , busted a hole in it and sent the shaft bouncing down the “Steel stairwell”…..

It boogered the threads up awful he said…..he asked if I still wanted it delivered..
I said NO…

In their mind I guess the workers figured if they hide it behind a big door and threw away the shipping tube , no one would notice or maybe not even find out about it being missing…..hmmm…great plan….
And these are grown ass men with this idea..!!

in the end the company in VA made a new shaft , shipped it out, I got it installed..

I think the company was paid by fed X for replacing it and shipping it again…not sure…!

I didn’t have to pay anything further except repaying the mechanics another 450.00.
Ouch….

Untill you get yer stuff in hand , and see that it works , nothing is ever for sure…

J.

Until I am made whole... Document everything and keep all records. I did send SunGoldPower the undamaged picture of the panels before loading at SunGoldPower. The Bill Of Lading also stated "DO NOT PUT OTHER FRT ON TOP". The question is; will SunGoldPower go after FEDEX then make me whole. We shall see..

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Until I am made whole... Document everything and keep all records. I did send SunGoldPower the undamaged picture of the panels before loading at SunGoldPower. The Bill Of Lading also stated "DO NOT PUT OTHER FRT ON TOP". The question is; will SunGoldPower go after FEDEX then make me whole. We shall see..

That's usually how it works, and SGP should feel obligated to do so, or they should be avoided like the plague.

 

[Steve777]

OK, got my pallet of Hyperion panels from Signature Solar via Fedex Freight, and thought I should update this thread with my experience.

Working with Fedex was a mixed bag. They were supposed to deliver the shipment on Monday between 2-4PM; they called and asked if they could do it earlier and I said fine. Then they never showed on Monday. Calling after hours, and talking with several Fedex offices; it seems the driver tried coming up an old dirt mining road with a 30% grade and a couple of hairpin turns; They gave up, turned around and left the pallet in will call. Never called me. Guess the driver did not think the "No Trucks" sign at the bottom of that road applied to them.

Anyhow I convinced the dispatcher that there are three other ways into my town, all which take regular truck traffic, and they rescheduled for the next day. New driver was great, showed up on time, we worked to get that pallet (~2000lbs) up the incline of my driveway onto the lift gate with some come-alongs. And the pallet got delivered. Box and pallet were in very good shape, some tiny scrapes/tears on the plastic wrap and cardboard, but no shipping damage that I could see on any of the panels. All in all a great experience, if you ignore that first no-show on Monday.

And some comments on the panels themselves: These Hyperions are quite impressive. Have not tested them electrically, but the mechanical fit and finish are very nice. And they are quite sturdy, not wavy as the OP questioned about his panels. Might be that these have 2mm glass on front and back, as opposed to the 1.6mm glass of some others. I realize that this flex or lack thereof may not be a good indication of wind and hail survivability, and only real word testing will tell, but it does give some reassurance.

My only concern is there are two short (like 2" long) scratches on the front glass of one panel. Not very deep, barely deep enough to catch a finger nail on, but a scratch in the glass nonetheless. This was on a middle panel in the stack, and runs in a direction that would indicate it could not have come from our moving the panels off the stack. I am guessing it happened during manufacturing or the palletizing of the panels. I fully expect this panel will work OK now, but am concerned the scratches will compromise its hail and wind performance. Need to chat with Signature Solar about this, but really one possible dud out of a full pallet of 36 ain't bad.

So for what it's worth, that's my story on the panels and Fedex. HTH someone.

 

[SignatureSolarJess]

OK, got my pallet of Hyperion panels from Signature Solar via Fedex Freight, and thought I should update this thread with my experience.

Working with Fedex was a mixed bag. They were supposed to deliver the shipment on Monday between 2-4PM; they called and asked if they could do it earlier and I said fine. Then they never showed on Monday. Calling after hours, and talking with several Fedex offices; it seems the driver tried coming up an old dirt mining road with a 30% grade and a couple of hairpin turns; They gave up, turned around and left the pallet in will call. Never called me. Guess the driver did not think the "No Trucks" sign at the bottom of that road applied to them.

Anyhow I convinced the dispatcher that there are three other ways into my town, all which take regular truck traffic, and they rescheduled for the next day. New driver was great, showed up on time, we worked to get that pallet (~2000lbs) up the incline of my driveway onto the lift gate with some come-alongs. And the pallet got delivered. Box and pallet were in very good shape, some tiny scrapes/tears on the plastic wrap and cardboard, but no shipping damage that I could see on any of the panels. All in all a great experience, if you ignore that first no-show on Monday.

And some comments on the panels themselves: These Hyperions are quite impressive. Have not tested them electrically, but the mechanical fit and finish are very nice. And they are quite sturdy, not wavy as the OP questioned about his panels. Might be that these have 2mm glass on front and back, as opposed to the 1.6mm glass of some others. I realize that this flex or lack thereof may not be a good indication of wind and hail survivability, and only real word testing will tell, but it does give some reassurance.

My only concern is there are two short (like 2" long) scratches on the front glass of one panel. Not very deep, barely deep enough to catch a finger nail on, but a scratch in the glass nonetheless. This was on a middle panel in the stack, and runs in a direction that would indicate it could not have come from our moving the panels off the stack. I am guessing it happened during manufacturing or the palletizing of the panels. I fully expect this panel will work OK now, but am concerned the scratches will compromise its hail and wind performance. Need to chat with Signature Solar about this, but really one possible dud out of a full pallet of 36 ain't bad.

So for what it's worth, that's my story on the panels and Fedex. HTH someone.

Just give us a call! We'll get you taken care of! 903-441-2090 - They may ask you to complete a shipping damage form but as you think it could be manufacturer damage, they may not need it.

 

[MarkSolar]

This is one reason I only buy from local supply houses. If something is defective or damaged, they send a truck the next day. I know this isn't an option for people in remote areas, but if you're near any metro area there's probably a local place to buy from.

 

[SignatureSolarJess]

This is one reason I only buy from local supply houses. If something is defective or damaged, they send a truck the next day. I know this isn't an option for people in remote areas, but if you're near any metro area there's probably a local place to buy from.

Yes!! We have a retail store for anyone local or whoever would like to make the drive. It's been great