The maple I’ve been excited for!

[ohiogrown]

I’ve been excited for days waiting on this tree and today it came.

 

[Rid]

Send those pics to the grower / vendor. They should refund you or send a new tree

 

[theta]

wow.... I bet I can guess who it came from. That sucks man, at least you'll probably get a refund.

 

[butlern]

and... this will be a commentary on... (vendor reputation, mail order, Ebay, FB, not having a local supplier, USPS, FedEx, local thugs...)

What are you really trying to say?

 

[Nybonsai12]

So who’d ya get it from?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Heartbreak.

And then the drama of dealing with refunds, insurance, whose fault is it, etc.

Been there, done that. Sorry it didn't meet your expectations. We should start a sticky thread titled "best practices for shipping bonsai".

 

[ohiogrown]

Send those pics to the grower / vendor. They should refund you or send a new tree

That is what I have done. No reply as of yet.

and... this will be a commentary on... (vendor reputation, mail order, Ebay, FB, not having a local supplier, USPS, FedEx, local thugs...)

What are you really trying to say?

I’m saying look at this tree!” this really sucks” and hoping for advice on what I should do.

Heartbreak.

And then the drama of dealing with refunds, insurance, whose fault is it, etc.

Been there, done that. Sorry it didn't meet your expectations. We should start a sticky thread titled "best practices for shipping bonsai".

Thank you! Yeah this was not their first time shipping a tree so I’m not sure what happened. Well I know what happened. There was two boxes taped together to make the box tall enough for the tree. The post office must have put something heavy on top of it and the box on top pushed down into the bottom box which in return broke the tree to pieces. At first I thought someone got into my package. But the way the tape was folded under you can tell what happened.

 

[Solaris]

We should start a sticky thread titled "best practices for shipping bonsai".

I have a smidge of insight on that, being as my day-job is supervising the cretins wonderful, careful, and conscientious people who handle packages in transit from one location to the next: You can never have enough padding. Even if you mark it "Fragile", put arrows indicating which end up, and so on... no, those will be ignored. We don't like it, we reprimand and discipline employees who are too inconsiderate with packages, but any warning labels you put on a package asking the people handling it to be nice to it will be ignored by at least one of the poorly-trained apes who handles it. You don't worry about the decent ones, you worry about the sociopathic clowns sleepwalking through their workday at your expense.

When you ship a package, think to yourself: What will happen if this package is thrown? If it is dropped? Squished? Shaken up? It doesn't look like this shipper did, and that tree paid for it. Put the package into a sturdy cardboard box, do not skimp on the tape, and make sure it's thoroughly immobilized within the package. Not "I can't move it if I jiggle it a bit", immobilized like its kink is bondage and it's its birthday party. I wouldn't recommend packing peanuts, because if the box should break open (it's rare - maybe one in a thousand, but it happens) then you'll be forced to rely on the care and consideration of someone who may or may not actually have the training to be in the job role of repacking, much less actually care about doing a good job. With bubble wrap, odds are much better everything will stay where it needs to be. If this is a valuable tree, double-box it so that if the outside is torn open or damaged, you still have your packing rather than some goldbricking, probably-fraudulent-injury-nursing jackwagon who's only working QA because she's too lazy to do the real work be stuffing everything back into the box. Try to avoid having a package that's more than about, say, three-four feet to any one dimension. Those are pains in the butt to deal with, and won't necessarily get shipped as quickly as smaller parcels will.

Oh, and I wouldn't send a tree through FedEx Express or similar service with the other, inferior package handling companies. That's gonna be going on an aircraft. You may not like what happens if the tree's on an aircraft.

 

[Solaris]

Thank you! Yeah this was not their first time shipping a tree so I’m not sure what happened. Well I know what happened. There was two boxes taped together to make the box tall enough for the tree. The post office must have put something heavy on top of it and the box on top pushed down into the bottom box which in return broke the tree to pieces. At first I thought someone got into my package. But the way the tape was folded under you can tell what happened.

Never do that. No, not even then. Always get a box that fits your package, even if it costs a little more.
You, unfortunately, found out why; taped-together boxes fare poorly even with the lightest of package traffic. You can tell the shipper I said he's a cheap schmuck.

 

[theta]

I'm like 99% I know who shipped it. It sucks the package handlers broke your tree and yeah it could have been secured better in the package, but, don't worry you'll get a refund.

 

[ajm55555]

What a disaster... :-( I say who ships trees should know what they're doing and take all precautions or all responsibilities once they mess up. They have to make sure the people who will be handling it know what's inside. Otherwise what's the point of paying for a service???

 

[Cadillactaste]

Wow...that simply sucks!

 

[namnhi]

I know the feeling when you were so excited and waiting for the package and when it came it looks like someone has stomp on it. Open the box and see all this broken branches. Not a feeling anyone wants to experience. I feel your frustrations even you know you going to get a replacement. Sux!

 

[Ingvill]

Ouch, so sorry, this really sucks :-(

 

[Hack Yeah!]

You're still going to plant it, right?

 

[ohiogrown]

Never do that. No, not even then. Always get a box that fits your package, even if it costs a little more.
You, unfortunately, found out why; taped-together boxes fare poorly even with the lightest of package traffic. You can tell the shipper I said he's a cheap schmuck.

The post office pretty much said the same thing. Lol

What a disaster... :-( I say who ships trees should know what they're doing and take all precautions or all responsibilities once they mess up. They have to make sure the people who will be handling it know what's inside. Otherwise what's the point of paying for a service???

im with you on that. There was nothing on the box saying anything.

I know the feeling when you were so excited and waiting for the package and when it came it looks like someone has stomp on it. Open the box and see all this broken branches. Not a feeling anyone wants to experience. I feel your frustrations even you know you going to get a replacement. Sux!

yeah I’ve been pretty bummed out about all this. Not only on my end but the shippers end cause it causes problems full circle.

You're still going to plant it, right?

im trying to see what is going to come of this first.

 

[Cadillactaste]

So is the post office taking blame...or blaming improper packaging on the damage? I have been blessed with successful shipping of my trees. But this certainly is ones worst nightmare come true. You can still grow it back out...but will take time. If the seller says to keep it. Did you buy this on bonsai auctions?

 

[JudyB]

Lots of people ship trees in that type of two stacked box method, and if you do it correctly, it's a good stabile way to do it. You just have to make sure there is reinforcement, and that the tree can't move around at all. Even if the box is turned upside down, the tree should stay in the same place because it's wired to the box bottom. I've gotten and shipped many trees in this type of boxing. It just has to be done properly, but not all take the time and energy to do it right. And ground shipping is a better way to go in most cases.

 

[just.wing.it]

If I were to ship a tree, I would wrap the pot well in plastic wrap.
Secure the pot to a wood board.
Build a wooden frame around it, off of the board.
Then box it up....
Sure it would be heavier but, it's worth it.

 

[Aaronkslater]

wire/ splint/ wound dress the broken branches. pot it up etc. no reason to let it die just because it lost a few branches... respect the tree and give it a shot my friend. that's what I say.