Posted by Dave on October 30, 2001 at 17:34:01:
In Reply to: Re: Tubas to go posted by Mary Ann on October 30, 2001 at 15:11:50:
I looked into shipping my horn via Amtrak, but ran into a couple of problems.
1. Some stations won't take a box as large as the one a tuba gets packed in.
2. I had a lengthy conversation with one of the customer service reps in their freight department. It went something like...
What are you shipping?
A tuba.
A tuba? How's it packed?
Big cardboard box.
Won't do. Has to be in a hard fiberglass case, like an Anvil case, etc.
Uhh... I know a lot of guys are shipping them via Amtrak in cardboard boxes.
Well, you can ship it in a paper bag if you want, we just won't be responsible for the damage.
So does that mean you won't insure it if it's in a cardboard box?
Oh we'll take your money for the insurance, but it won't be covered if it isn't packed according to our specs, and our specs say hard fiberglass case.
That's nearly verbatim. I'd be careful about shipping things on Amtrak if I were you. I know people have had some good things to say about them in the past - maybe they've just been getting lucky...