Anybody shipping an instrument?  If so I can tell you from personal experience now that you need to avoid UPS like the plague.  A great seller here on the hangout sent me a well packed banjo in an instrument box and also packed away in it's hard shell case.  When it arrived the heel was cracked all the way through.  

I called UPS the same day (Dec. 5) and they said they would send somebody out to do an inspection.  After a month with no inspector I gave them a call, he finally came a few weeks later.  He said it was packed well and that the problem wasn't the shipper's fault.  

Two months later after hearing nothing I contact the BBB and file a complaint.  I heard back from them today--since it was a "used" box they have denied my claim.  I said, "it was an instrument box, packed well, and the instrument was in a hardshell case!"  Was told that doesn't matter, the "used" box obviously caused the banjo to break (it wasn't them throwing packages around because it was near Christmastime I guess.)

I asked if they did DNA testing on the wood fibers to determine if it was a used box or not.  They told me no.  How do they know exactly?  It was an instrument box--a box that instruments are shipped in--come on people!