Thumper- I'm with you on UPS being the shits. When i was looking at who to ship my crankshaft core down to the states.. I was between fedex and UPS..On the website they were a dollar difference, and UPS is right up the road from me, so for the dollar, it was worth it. I get there, start filling out half the paperwork, and she rings me through for 15$ MORE than what they quoted. I asked why the drastic change from the quote online. Clerk said "Oh we just keep that there to stay competitive. We don't actually use those rates..."
And I chose the 5 buisness day option "guarenteed".. mailed on may 11, arrived on the 20th. Called UPS and asked why the 4 day delay, they said the boarder held them...only i had checked the tracking info, and it was only at the boarder for 3 hours. And when it got to the shop, the guy called me up and said "miraculously your crank was undamaged, but your shipping company beat the hell out of the package." Lets just say I will no longer use them for anything ever again. (end rant ) lol