Buddy of mine sent me a gun via amtrak - and look what happened to it. Crack in the upper porting of the board all the way through, stringer broke, foam busted, held together by a little foam and the glass on top of the deck. but spider cracks everywhere. Thick dings on the nose and tail, spider cracks all throughout the board, and the FCS is messed up too 
What should I do? This board - while fixable - looks like it might be worth it.
I wouldnt fix it, Id make a template maybe, then take that pile of former surfboard to AMTRACK and raise hell, Id be so pissed, juts take it raise hell and if they dont bend just leave it there. BASTARDS, leave it on the persons desk/counter.
amtrak wins the prizeā¦should tere be an award for surfboard dammage like the academy of handling fragile items in transit???send the president these pictures and ask if he surfsā¦or if he drives a corvette would he ship by a carrier that does this abuseā¦whereās the EXPOSE forum to embarass these surfboard wreckers? we are just grumbling in our beer lets find a constructive venueā¦letters to te editor/ surfers Journal article ā¦surf rag X surfboard travel board destruction issue #1 selling issue of the yearā¦ambroseā¦more consecutive pages than the life of Spikoli issue in 2003ā¦was that Sean Penn out at trestlesā¦on Nixonās Corky Carroll model?
Iād think about going to small claims court for something that badly mangled. It would cost a few bucks to file the papers, but I think if you walked in front of a judge with something like that, they would award you the cost of a new board in about 20 seconds flat.
Of course you want to try to get Amtrak to pay first. But when they donātā¦
Just out of curiosity, did Amtrak make you sign a damage waiver like the airlines do?
Nopeā¦no damage waiver signed by the guy who sent it to me. I have a copy of the waybill right here. The board is in piss poor terrible condition, and when my father picked it up, he refused to sign the ārecieved in good condition partā - instead, he signed below it - out of the box - and wrote that it wasnt in good condition.
I have an amtrak claims form that I am going to fill out. This sucks man, this was gonna be my gun for california
Geez, did you pay the total fare of $65.00 or the cut rate $10.00 where they drag the board behind the train? Or maybe the conductor ran it over with the train, fricken locals?
Iād raise hell,
-Jay
I was charged an additional 70 or so in shipping, so Iām assuming I didnt get the ādrag behindā rate. Dude, this blows. Iām getting the run around by the Charlotte Amtrak
Brian, sorry about your board.
I agree with the above said criticism of transportation and handling of boards.
But everyone should remind themselves that surfboards are fragile. If you are willing to risk the safety of your board, itās your choice.
I realise that if you pay a fee then you are entitled to a certain level of service. But itās still a fragile item and should be packed as such. All the ridiculous soft covers out there, and I mean all of them, are not sufficient for rough handling.
I donāt own one, but Iām sure all the people out there who own solid cases would swear by them. And the baggage handlers will still treat them the same as every other bag. The chance of fluking a baggage handler who surfs, and will look after your board, is next to zero. Donāt kid yourself.
Would you put a hand-crafted work of art in a cloth sack or plastic bag to send somewhere, and expect it to arrive undamaged at the destination? Probably not, and I donāt care how many āfragileā stickers you put all over it, Iām sure some handlers see that as a challenge.
I agree 100% with the fragility arguement. However, the board was double wrapped in bubble tape - had a thin layer of cardboard taped around to the form of the board, a sheet around that, and was boxed on top of that.
There is no way the board should be in the condition it is in now. The Amtrak rep approved its shipping and assured my friend that there would be no problems.
This sucks man, this was gonna be my gun for california
Iām not sure where youāre going in Caliā¦ but if youāre heading to So Cal, it might make you feel better to know that we donāt have any waves that warrant that board.
Sounds like the kind of motivation that makes someone go out and make their own mini-gunnā¦
This is where a whole bunch of stickers reading [=1]Very Fragile, Muy Fragil, Top Load ONLY [=Black][ 2]and a whole lot of other stuff in every language you can find are a Real Good Idea. Donāt just write on it in black marker, use those damn-near-glow-in-the-dark stickers. Figure it this way - the baggage guys have a certain (short) amount of time to load up baggage and freight, even less now what with all the paranoia around. Donāt make them look for it or wonder if itās somebody screwing around. [/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2][/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2]Your container ( if using boxes, use a box inside another box, with stuff in between) needs to either be fairly rugged or fairly impressive or ideally both. Bubble wrap and a sheet aināt gonna cut it. When I get boards shipped here, I pay an extra $20/board for double-boxing. Itās worth it.
[/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2]Itās fixable and from the looks of it can come out very nice. See if Amtrak will spring for a new board and then repair this one too. Call or see the Amtrak guy who swore it wouldnāt be any problem and be relentlessly nice to him. Getting confrontational in an office of a transportation business, especially nowadays, is a great way to get hauled off in cuffs.[/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2][/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2]hope thatās of use[/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2][/][/][/]
[=1][=Black][ 2]docā¦[/][/][/]
letter writing is a good idea, get your claim down in writting. It shows a greater level of concern (read pissed off). Anyone can pick up a phone and call only the truely angered take the time to write.
If you get too much run around write and call the corperate office.
Good luck,
ā4est
Greyound (yep the bus ) is really coming on in the shipping business.I sell funiture at times on bay and they are without doubt the best and the prices are great.Everything is done by hand and loaded into the belly of the bus.In the future if you are going to ship a board you may want to check into it.They have an online calculater that is simple to use.Just go to Greyhound.com and follow the links.
Do not hesistate to file a claim and raise as much hell as you possibly can. A couple of dings here and there, maybe, but that is ridiculous. I had a board shipped from Hawaii through DHL and nothing major happened to it ā¦
