What happened to bike flights?

[Danny the schwinn freak]

So I just went to ship a bike tonight through Bike Flights and discovered that they are now using UPS. Not only is this concerning in the aspect that UPS tends to be a lot tougher on packages than FedEx (in my experience) but also the pricing has climbed drastically. A bike I’ve shipped many times over weight and size wise and to the Los Angeles would normally be $55 to ship was coming up at $87 tonight. And that’s going to a business which is normally $5 cheaper than a residence. So basically that’s about a $37 increase. This is a real bummer for buyers and sellers. Just wondering if anyone else had encountered this and if anyone had any idea why the change? Super bummed about this.

 

[blincoe]

Had the same problem with cabinets I sold but buyers paid shipping.

 

[GTs58]

Have you seen this thread? https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/so-what-do-you-guys-think-about-bikeflights.149742/

FedX probably told BikeFlights to get lost.

 

[BatWaves]

Either way, it’s still a screaming good deal for a 55lbs oversized box. Hard to complain

 

[rideahiggins]

They want $16 to schedule a pick up. F that.

 

[bikewhorder]

I guess its true that all good things have to come to an end. It was kind of a game changer for the hobby, Shipping a whole bike from ME to CA for $50 seemed too good to be true but I did it several times.

 

[saladshooter]

Bikeflights probably swapped carriers because of all of the insurance claims. They'll soon find out it wasn't the carrier but the terrible pack jobs that is the problem. I feel bad for bikeflights. As I've seen a ton of bikeflights bashing threads on here which should be bikeflights praising threads for honoring/paying insurance claims for obvious packing failures. Of course there have been a few obvious carrier caused instances, but the majority of the blame lies on the packer.

My .02

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Bikeflights probably swapped carriers because of all of the insurance claims. They'll soon find out it wasn't the carrier but the terrible pack jobs that is the problem. I feel bad for bikeflights. As I've seen a ton of bikeflights bashing threads on here which should be bikeflights praising threads for honoring/paying insurance claims for obvious packing failures. Of course there have been a few obvious carrier caused instances, but the majority of the blame lies on the packer.

My .02

Agreed 100%. I have personally shipped close to 80 bikes all over the country. I am an absolute nut when it comes to packing. I only know of one bike that got messed up and it was the rear fender getting smashed from the box being upside down. Otherwise, no issues at all. I have received bikes that were packaged very carelessly and the bikes were damaged as a result. But I never made a claim for that. It’s not the carriers fault. But I know some people who go as far as to even brag about making claims and getting money, not cool. Unfortunately it screws us all in the end. Hopefully it will all get sorted out and charges will come down a bit, but if it doesn’t, at least we know why. Bike flights has always been kick ass in my opinion.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

So I just tried again after repacking a Schwinn Cruiser in a more standard sized box and I get all the way to the end of the label and it stops me and says “Oh my, our carrier partners didn’t respond to your request”. What the heck does that mean? So now 2 nights in a row I can’t even ship a bike even if I am ok with the $87 fee. This is super frustrating

 

[GTs58]

So I just tried again after repacking a Schwinn Cruiser in a more standard sized box and I get all the way to the end of the label and it stops me and says “Oh my, our carrier partners didn’t respond to your request”. What the heck does that mean? So now 2 nights in a row I can’t even ship a bike even if I am ok with the $87 fee. This is super frustrating

I don't understand. Everything is so simple and easy these days, what could go wrong.