The Hazards of Proxy racing

[chappy]

Well I am sure glad we have guys like Allan here that know how to pack our cars safely. Whether across the country the continent or around the world we never seem t8 have a problem.
Thanks for that Allan.
I had a beautiful little George Turner Maserati 300s entered into, the IPS which started in Greece.
I must admit I was apprehensive sending to Greece with some of the horror stories of post and customs, but took a chance. Anyway 3 rounds in Greece and then on to Leo in Scotland.
Last night Leo posted pics of some of the cars he received. Dave Wisdom with a beautiful crafted Mercedes is now missing a front side panel and head lights, and mine as you will see arrived in even worse condition.
Allan thanks for your careful preparation for our proxies.



Well its hard to believe , but there wont be anymore trips to Greece, just too risky for something you have put a lot of time and effort into.
Bob

[frank9129]

Your car is like their economy, Busted.
Sorry, for your loss.

[dreinecke]

That seriously sucks. Dave's stuff is fabulous too.

The T/A proxy had about 5 cars come in with boxes that were well beyond saving. I used new boxes, tissue paper and bubble wrap where needed to protect them in the bigger box.

Allan mentioned the outer big box was pretty hammered after two stops so we may need to replace it if he didn't already. The good news is that the goods inside should be in good shape!

[Audi1]

Bob, that's a terrible outcome. I've worked with some of the George Turner resin models and they are not fragile. That car must have suffered a huge impact during shipping in order to end up like that in two pieces...........

Let's build another one!

You asked about the George Turner Auto Union Type C that I won't have time to build out for the 100 Years of Indy proxy. I'll send it to you. You do the body, lower body/chassis piece and I'll put in the mechanicals. What do you say?

Best, Allan

PS David, the T/A cars are in the mail to Steve as of this AM. I didn't replace the outer boxes, but they are well taped. He may need to do a replacement; he'll know when they arrive.

PPS I've sent cars to Alexis in Greece for the Pony Wars Proxy (2 years in a row) and the IPS (last year) without incident, so this could just be a freak thing. But, since it happened to a very nice Maser, it's hard to think about running that kind of risk again................

[Z-carfan]

Ouch!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[chappy]

Hey that sounds good Allan.
I just got my last work table into my new work room today, and the paint shop is still in good shape.
Just tell me what you want done.
I can return it all painted up and on a rolling chassis if thats what you want.
All the best
Bob

[Retro Racer 44]

[chappy]

Hi Keith, yes Leo has all of it , and is sending it home to me . George suggested I try very carefully to superglue it back together then sand and repaint. That is what I will do as soon as it arrives home from Scotland. I think like Dave I will stick to the local proxies, and cut my losses.lol.
The old expression that comes to mind is ridden hard and put away wet, but in this case it was posted hard and came back wrecked. Good old George Turner saw the picture and offered to replace it for me.
But it certainly wasnt his or the cars fault, but it shows the kind folk in this hobby.
Bob

[CrockettNZ]

that is a shame that such a nice looking car got smashed

George is to be commended for his generosity :text-bravo:

[Retro Racer 44]

I hope you won't give up on proxies, Bob. This may be a once in a lifetime happening, we hope. It does, however also happen with other things as well. I just received a new desk that I ordered and arrived by UPS. The box was a tatter with beads of styrofoam falling out the cracks. Surprisingly it was mostly ok until I got to the tabletop that had been dropped and split on three out of four corners. The company is sending new one, but if it is packed the same, it might be damaged also.

Keith

[Beast Lee]

What a horrible sight Bob... :scared-eek:

Hopefully you can salvage what's there...

Ron...

[redlynr]

I've had one bad experience... IPS proxy a few years ago...

http://www.slotcarillustrated.com/porta ... hp?t=56590

[chappy]

Ouch looks like it was stepped on Red.
I suppose it shows not all postal services are of the same quality.
Unless we write fragile on our parcels up here, the PO suggests not too.
Maybe they know they have some football players in the sorting area.
Bob

[mrollingthunder]

MY worst experience involves Greece as well. I sent a heavily modified Scalextric Cougar and an equally modified SRC Capri over to to Greece for the TransAm proxy. The Greece government demanded the equivalent of $300 to deliver them, and FedEx refused to return them unless I paid another $110 to return them, in addition to what I had already spent! So I never got them back.

[arroldn]

I have been in the Pony Car proxy since it began. When shipping international it is key to properly fill out the customs paper work. Declare not for resale, to be returned, no commercial value. The box should be new or as close to like new as possible. Having worked for Big Brown 42 years I choose to use USPS because of the lower price. Draw back you may loose trackability once the package enter the country of import. That is where you have to decide if paying 2 or 3 times the cost of the post office is worth it. I have a box to ship to the next host now. The car are not in individual boxes. Not sure why. But I plan to add cardboard liners to give added protection. Having settled damage claims as part of my job I have empathy for those who loose valuable merchandise. I thought my #42 SCX Cuda was lost on return from Greece only to find it was at the post office for 3 weeks. The first notice to pick it must have gotten lost. USPS works for me most of the time. No residential surcharge and 2 day delivery for under $7 for up to 4 cars most anywhere in the continental US.

Arrold