It happens to everyone at some point, and it can even happen when something is properly packed. I once received a package that had been damaged early in the Fed Ex shipping process and was basically beaten down from then on. This was a Sturmey S5 hub of the type with a bell crank and a push-pin shifter mechanism. The push pin, which sits in the axle, had been bent off to one side (fixable with some care). The bell crank had come out of the box early on through the side, and had dragged all the way through the Fed Ex shipping facility to the point it had been ground down to a nub. It must have been dragging the entire way along the shipping conveyor, and the whole thing smacked of negligence in the shipping process. The package was packed reasonably well by someone familiar with shipping bikes, and only traveled from Connecticut to Virginia.
Fed Ex begged out of it, saying it was improperly packed (they always do this). Bike Flights picked up the full tab. Go with Bike Flights today, if given any choice. They tend to backstop some of Fed Ex's scurrying off.
