Well, I just found out that UPS lost my entries for the NHC and they never arrived to the Seattle location for judging!!! What a monumental bummer. Apparently the region had 20 entries that never made it, including my three. I guess the lesson here is to keep an eye on the tracking or use a return receipt to make sure your box arrives. Hope this didn’t happen to anyone else. :‘( :’( 
You should still be able to check that tracking number now and see what happened. Not sure how long the info hangs around but it is there for a while.
Bummer, sorry to hear that. Find out what happened, if you broke a bottle and it started leaking they generally aren’t going to deliver it.
Either that, or some lucky package handler just got a couple of nice beers… “Score!”
Yeah, that’s sort of where I was headed.
WDE97, How was the shipment packaged?
OK, so dumb question: how do we know if our entries made it or not? I got a positive delivery notification from UPS. Would I have gotton some feedback from my judging center if something was wrong?
Respecfully,
Kirk
biggerk
Depending on which center you entered your beers at… watch here http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/competitions/national-homebrew-competition for info on your entry!
This is a pretty good thing to ship entries with:
http://www.boxvendor.com/wineandbeershipper-12packhalfbottlesplituprightstyrofoamincludesbox.aspx
They also sell 6-pack and 24-pack shippers too. It’s expensive but very good packaging to ship bottles.
So I checked with UPS and all they can tell me is that the package was scaned in at Redmond, WA on 3/23 and cannot be found. If something had broken and caused a mess, I imagine they would have a record of that. They have no record of the package leaving Redmond or of it being anywhere in their facility. Funny thing is that it is still considered “in transit”. Really??? Hmmmmm… I tend to agree with you antipunk, that someone saw the destination and decided to help themselves.
As for packaging, I used two layers of those air filled “pillows” on the bottom, one layer on the sides and top, plus another row around each bottle. It was all contained in a heavy duty garbage bag that was sealed shut. They box was well stuffed, so the bottles couldn’t knock around inside. I’m sure there is always the possibility something broke, but I don’t think I could have done much better without getting rediculous.
Anyway, I appreciate the condolences, but it was my fault in the end for not following the tracking all the way to Seattle. I saw it had reached Redmond, and then got sidetracked with work and didn’t check it again. I assumed it could make it the last 30 miles or so. Yeah, yeah, I know all about assuming. ::)Anyway, the organizers have been really nice and even offered to find someone to judge them if the package ever makes it. That way could at least get some feedback on my beer (not as part of the competiton). Pretty nice of them IMO.
Kirk,
No they won’t notify anyone if they don’t receive your shipment. I imagine the organizers already have too much to do. The Seattle region had 20 entries that didn’t make it. The organizers told me they did a full second search of the facilities the day of the judging to make sure they hadn’t overlooked any of the missing entries.
Hmmm, sorry about that Robert. Keep tracking it and see what happens, it sure doesn’t sound like they broke or anything. I hope no one helped themselves, there should have been a lot of packages coming in so for yours to be singled out . . . or maybe all 20 missing entries went through Redmond. :-\ For the record, I don’t work at UPS! ;D
I do know a UPS driver who is a homebrewer though, and met another driver friend of his who is into good beer.
So what does UPS say, just wait and see?
Yeah, they are “looking into the situation” and will let me know if they find my package. I’m not exactly holding my breath here. I guess I would rather someone have stolen them than have had them break. At least that way none would have gone to waste! ;D
Bummer.
UPS really is a mess though. I used to use them for shipping packages for my former business, and I can’t tell you how many times they lost packages or even more frequently, delivered them to the wrong address and then doing little or nothing to rectify the situation.
I understand that it has gotten even worse since the experiences I had 15-20 years ago. I can tell you multiple horror stories about FedEx as well.
It really IS too bad the US Postal Service doesn’t allow shipping of homebrew.
For my other packages (both domestic and international) I’ve found them to be MUCH more reliable as well as faster… at what is usually 1/4 of the cost that UPS charges. Despite all the jokes told over the years regarding the Postal Service (it’s just too easy to pick on them), the real fact is that given the volume that they handle daily, they seem to be a far more efficient operation than either of the higher priced private carriers and a real bargain, to boot.
Sorry to hear about this. I’ve personally had good experiences with UPS… they’ve been reliable with my NHC entries, and the tracking and delivery for all of the things I get delivered is always very accurate.
The first year I entered the NHC I sent my entries via FedEx, and one of the bottles broke. They at least bagged the remaining beers, put them in a new box, and sent them back in time for me to resubmit everything in time.
+1
Sorry to hear about this WDE97.
Narvin…at least you got the remaining entries off in time. Glad to hear that.
I’ve had good results with UPS (knock on wood). I always ask for delivery confirmation with a signature. I reiceve the copy of the signed receipt in the mail. I have found this to give me piece of mind anyway.