Team,

We are conducting a survay (not KETRON) and trying to figure out whose fault is it the most. From my experience, I have noticed that when I get a damaged box (for the most part), it is NOT of Japanese origin, but rather European.

YAMAHA, ROLAND, and KORG(including Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia plants) seems to do a good job at packaging goods in firm boxes ... in some cases, the boxes have doubled surfaces. Products like the P-series, Tyros and even the lighter S900 appear to be well packed to the point where even when rough-handled by say UPS, the unit inside appears to get to it's destination unharmed.

Units packaged in EUROPE and CHINA (ROLAND-Italy, KORG-Italy, GEM, KETRON ... etc) appear to be packed in lighter, cheaper cartons. Upon opening the boxes, there is bearly any protection (appart from the ends and middle). If water should touch these boxes, the damage is obvious where as boxes from Japan seems to be able to hold up much much longer even under equally bad handling conditions.

If ALL manufacturers were to pack thier products like YAMAHA does with say the P140 or even the S900 or heavier CP300, would we see less damages?

Your view is welcomed.

Thanks,

AJ

I think it's 50/50. I have been pretty lucky with stuff shipped to me, but keyboard original packaging is flawed due to the center not being supported as much as the 4 corners. Also, I think that keyboard manufacturers packaging is optimized for shipping once, but many times the keyboard could be shipped 2 or more times before reaching the end user. So, each time it is shipped there is a 50/50 chance of it getting trashed by shipping cos stacking stuff on it, dropping it, exposing it to extreme tempratures, etc.

I witnessed a UPS guy take 12 keyboards packed in hard cases and literally lob them through the air to the front of the UPS truck. I caught him doing this to a load of Roland XP-50's used for a keyboard workshop at our church. I instinctively yelled at him and of course, he stopped at that point because I was watching. I will never ship any keyboard by UPS.
Tim

Perfect example of why a personal pickup road trip is the way to go...