In an attempt to put together a rottiserie for the fuselage I needed to order some additional hardware as mentioned in my previous post. I decided to order the hardware and also some new Akzo Nobel Epoxy primer, so I placed the order for all of it with Aircraft Spruce. They shipped it UPS, and I watched the progress of the shipment as it left their Peachtree, GA location and made its way here. It was supposed to be out for delivery on the 9th, but never showed up, nor did it how up on the 10th.
There was no update from UPS so I called Spruce and they in turn called UPS. Then UPS started sending me notices regarding a rescheduled delivery and something about a package intercept. Then I got one that said that the sender had inidicated that the package required "special handling." Then I got another one saying they had "lost my package." Then I thought we had finally setup a new delivery date for the 12th, which also came and went, with no delivery.
So apparently just about everything under the sun has happened to my package, presumably AFTER it arrived at my local distribution center. I called Spruce a second time last Friday to find out if they knew anything more, but never heard back. Then, on the 13th, I get another UPS update, and this time it says that the package was damaged adn that were notifying the Sender (Spruce).
I called Spruce this morning and they apparently had not heard anything from UPS yet, so I informed them that they have indicated that the package was damaged, and they said they were going to immediately begin pulling and shipping a new order, and would file the claim with UPS.
The only thing I am left wondering at this point is when the shipment actually became damaged. To say that I think UPS is giving me the run around is an understatement. I also realize that in many cases, when this primer is shipped, it ends up being damaged because they drop it, put some heavy crate on the top of it and crush it, or run a forklift through it. The last time I ordered this stuff many years ago I remember feeling pretty lucky that it had arrived in tact. This time I guess I am not so lucky.
SO here I sit - hurry up and wait.... To make matters worse, I also have a pending order for some new wing parts for Vans, but they just sent out a notice saying that they will be closed until the 18th for a number of reasons. So I can't even set that order in motion at the moment.
Between the COVID impacts, extreme cold weather over 2/3 of the country, severe lack of communication, and lack of accurate, understandable status information from the shippers, I am all but worn out. The real sad thing about all this is that all I really want to receive was the hardware. I only ordered the primer as an after thought to save some shipping and go ahead and order it with everything else. I am certain that the primer leaked, and is therefore reponsible for all the delays. If only I would have just ordered the hardware. Oh well, another round of hurry up and wait. What else can you do when the temps outside are -15 degrees F.
One solution was that I started using my Youtube app on my TV and discovered that Vans and other builders have some videos posted. One was just recently posted. It is about a 2 hour and 39 minute long how-to video on how to assemble and seal an RV-8 Fuel tank. This answered a lot of questions for me and also allowed me to re-visit where I had left off in the preparation phase of my left fuel tank, before the leading edge mod took over.
Unfortuntely, one of things I am planning to order from Vans is more Proseal, since my last order has long since passed its shelflife date. This stuff is also very nasty, caustic material that reqires special handling during shipping. To do the fuel tanks I must have this stuff. SO I don't have much choice but to hope that the shipping of that stuff will go much better than this latest episode. At least I now feel much better about sealing my fuel tanks after watching that video. All for now.
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