The waiting is the hardest part
 

Purchased a pre-owned major manufacturer guitar from a well known auction site. Guitar was shipped from a location down South to me up North. Left there on Monday, arrived in my region Wednesday night and went out from the central dispatch center on a home delivery truck yesterday morning. At around 5:00 PM yesterday the driver couldn't deliver because a signature was required and no one was home.

Here's where the fun starts....I called the delivery company's 800 number to inquire about somehow getting the guitar that evening. What I found out is that any undelivered packages stay on the truck overnight for delivery the next day and there's no getting around it.

So, my newly acquired guitar, which I paid several thousand dollars for, was just delivered after sitting in the truck for approximately 36 hours (according the the companies tracking website).

It's now sitting in the shipping carton as I wait patiently for it to come up to room temperature.

BTW, 28* this morning when I left the house at 7:00AM. High temp today of 42*.

Taking bets: finish ok or finish destroyed?

And please-let's refrain from scolding me for a) not trying before buying, b) not being home c) not supporting AGF sponsors or d) any other perceived fault I may or may not have.

I doubt the finish has any problems. Consider, Martin ships guitars across the country to a store in Oregon. The truck is not heated. It takes a few days to get there. Winter or summer, things travel for days on trucks, and they are not parked in nice warm garages at night.

So don't worry.

No criticism from me. It is what it is. Probably better that it was cold instead of being 90* with humidity.

While your waiting tell us about the guitar. (smile)

Dave

Brutal!! I hope its ends up turning out ok in the end. I've found leaving a note on the front door helps if you know you have to leave and there's a chance it may get delivered while your gone. I put the tracking number on the note and I sign it. It helps that my parents live next door though.

Finish OK!

And I am refraining from scolding you. ;)

I'll let everyone know in a couple hours but I left the original post vague for a reason. For all I know I bought it from someone here.

You and the guitar will be fine. I have to take mine out twice a week from a 65 degree basement to varying outside winter temps ranging from -10 to 20 degrees. It's only a 10-15 minute drive but I haven't had any issues and my damp sponge doesn't freeze in that time. :) Mind you my guitars are not valued in the range of yours but I would hate to have anything happen to them regardless.

Once the guitar arrives, I would give it several hours before I opened it up in order for it to acclimate to room temperature. If you do that, you shouldn't have any problems.

There were two options that you missed.

1: You could have requested that it be delivered without a required signature.

2: You could have asked for it to be delivered to a neighbors house or at least have your neighbor watch for delivery and sign for it .



.

"At around 5:00 PM yesterday the driver couldn't deliver because a signature was required and no one was home."

Just fyi, FedEx has a thing called FedEx Delivery Manager on their website now. You have to jump through some hoops to use it, but it worked great for me recently. I printed out a form, signed it, and left it out for the delivery person. Fortunately, I have a secure drop-off area. It was Christmas in November when I came home to see my new guitar there waiting for me!

-Mark