Another DAMAGED TS Seat

[aaronshum]

Before I purchased this seat, I did my research and found that there have been complaints of ripped or punctured seats coming from Top Sallery.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, as the worst horror story I have read was of one going to Thailand about a year and a half ago, and that there were vouches from folks here that TS' customer service and seat quality has improved since then, I went ahead and ordered one shipped to Canada. Euro has been relatively low so I thought it was a good deal.

Lo and behold, the seat came in slightly squashed packaging, but the box was in good shape otherwise. Opening up, it seemed at first the seat was in great shape, until I noticed the PUNCTURE!

My heart sank. I am very disappointed that the rumours are true and TS again shipped out a damaged unit. The box has no similar punctures (see photos, front and back) so it seems the damage could only have been pre-shipping.

Granted, I bought a unit from their discounted list, but this has got to be an issue if many people have received similar ripped/punctured seats in the past.

Anyway, Email sent to them with pics attached, hopefully I will hear tomorrow when they open.

 

[LERecords]

weird.. and that box looks BEAT!!! hopefully they will send you a new one thats not damaged.. keep us up to date and good luck...

 

[aaronshum]

Well, with international shipping you'd expect there to be some damage to the box, especially in this case where boxes were probably stacked on top.

However, what wasn't in the photos was a good load of packing foam in the box, the box was easily 4x the size of the seat.

Which makes the only way for that punture to happen was for something long and sharp to puncture through the box material into the seat, or the seat was damaged before it was packed. Of course, the latter seemed much more likely as the box has zero puncture marks...

 

[mxgolf]

Sorry to hear that. I had no problems with my TS seat. I absolutly love it.
Just hound them to get it replaced. It is there freight carrier so they should take care of it.

 

[Geoff]

You should dig up one of my old threads with the Belly Pan box, it was pretty bad.

Got to be careful what we order over seas.

Ah!, here it is! http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-streetfighter/28996-got-bellypan-thank-god-wasnt-broke.html

 

[aaronshum]

Update, spoke with someone at TS. He was polite about the situation. Initially he just asked me to ship back the seat. When I mentioned that shipping is expensive, he then suggested he can have UPS pick up the seat instead. Means I have to wait, but at least they are responsive.

I do know the risk of overseas shipping, but in this case I'm sure the seat was damaged off the shelf or in the packing process. There was brown packing paper wrapped around the seat, so whatever damaged the seat would've had to puncture the paper too, to get to the seat. The packing paper was in pristine condition.

Ah well, more waiting...

 

[06FZ6_IN]

I just recieved my TS yesterday. I'm glad it showed up in better condition.

The package wasn't re-wrapped well after customs cut a hole in the side of the box(not cut along the tape line in the top) and re-taped it with minimal tape.

Can't wait to get out and try it out.

 

[aaronshum]

True... Could've been customs, come to think of it. Punching into it to see if there's stuff inside.

DAMN...

 

[06FZ6_IN]

Mine had just a small 2 inch (6cm) hole in the clear plastic and brown paper the seat was covered in. It looks like your shipping box was also abused a little more than mine.

 

[tomari]

True... Could've been customs, come to think of it. Punching into it to see if there's stuff inside.

DAMN...

yeah thats what i thought but what the faq do they expect to understand by punching into the packadge? they expect to hear an "aouch!" ?

damn...

 

[mrphotoman]

that sucks about the hole, how long did it take to arrive when they shipped it?

could they just send you a new cover to put on it to save some time?

 

[Kazza]

Well, with international shipping you'd expect there to be some damage to the box, especially in this case where boxes were probably stacked on top.

However, what wasn't in the photos was a good load of packing foam in the box, the box was easily 4x the size of the seat.

Which makes the only way for that punture to happen was for something long and sharp to puncture through the box material into the seat, or the seat was damaged before it was packed. Of course, the latter seemed much more likely as the box has zero puncture marks...

We just received a TS seat for the XJR - from France to Australia - box wasn't even damaged. Bad luck for you. You will have no problems getting them to sort it out for you.

 

[aaronshum]

UPDATE: TS took it up with UPS and UPS will now pick up the seat as it is considered damaged during shipping; I guess they made a damage claim to UPS. Initially they asked me to ship back the seat, which would've cost $130CDN for postal mail and $300+ for UPS or FedEx!

TS did agree in writing to provide a cross-ship replacement seat, which I am very happy about!

However, as with all things, I will believe it, when I see it. More info to come as this unfolds...

 

[LERecords]

not to worry.. they are a good company.. they will make this right...

 

[VEGASRIDER]

UPDATE: TS took it up with UPS and UPS will now pick up the seat as it is considered damaged during shipping; I guess they made a damage claim to UPS. Initially they asked me to ship back the seat, which would've cost $130CDN for postal mail and $300+ for UPS or FedEx!

TS did agree in writing to provide a cross-ship replacement seat, which I am very happy about!

However, as with all things, I will believe it, when I see it. More info to come as this unfolds...

As someone who deals with shipping and receiving on a daily basis, make sure whenever you sign for something, INSPECT THE BOX CAREFULY - Before you sign it!

Check for any tears, punctures or smashed areas. The courier will make a note of it even if you notice anything small. This will make your or the shippers claim much more easier. It's pretty tough to claim something that was damaged due to shipping if there were no notations indicating any damages.

FWIW...UPS :spank: FEDEX:thumbup: From my profesional expereinces. Probably just pissed off some UPS employees.

 

[FB400]

Man all this drama with getting a seat shipped makes me only want to buy one of these seats second hand... from someone in the US

 

[08fz6]

As someone who deals with shipping and receiving on a daily basis, make sure whenever you sign for something, INSPECT THE BOX CAREFULY - Before you sign it!

Check for any tears, punctures or smashed areas. The courier will make a note of it even if you notice anything small. This will make your or the shippers claim much more easier. It's pretty tough to claim something that was damaged due to shipping if there were no notations indicating any damages.

FWIW...UPS :spank: FEDEX:thumbup: From my profesional expereinces. Probably just pissed off some UPS employees.

I too agree fedex is much better than ups. Best of luck with your seat!!!!

 

[aaronshum]

To my pleasant surprise, a UPS delivery arrived today with a fully reinforced and properly packaged TS seat replacement! This is before UPS even contacted me to collect the damaged seat.

Opened up nervously to find a seat in perfect condition, and properly packaged. Installed it and w00t!

Impression so far is I finally am sitting at the proper position on the bike, instead of always navigating towards humping the tank. Sadly my muscle injury from a lowside a couple weeks ago got aggrevated by the seating position. :banghead:

Anyway, overall still happy with the way this turned out, but wished that TS packaged the seat properly the first time around. The packing material is clearly superior this time and the package came directly from France by air rather than passing through US, where our good friends at US customs properly poked a hole in the seat for national security reasons.

+1 to TS for a speedly resolution of a sticky matter! :rockon:

 

[LERecords]

good to hear they took care of it.. quality company...