I sent my DSA SA-58 back to DSA today for some minor work. You wouldn't believe the hassle it was trying to do that.
I went to Mail Boxes Ect to buy a box to send it in. The lady asked what was in the black plastic case, and I told her it was a rifle. "Oh no! You can't send that from here!" I said I didn't plan on mailing through them, I just needed a box to fit the case in to.
Since they mail through UPS, FedEx and U.S.P.S. I thought I'd ask if it was just a policy of theirs(Mail Boxes Ect) that they don't ship long guns, or whether each shipping company they use doesn't allow it. The lady called both UPS and FedEx while I was there, and told me that neither company would allow a private party to ship a rifle back to the dealer. It had to go from one FFL to another. DSA, however, told me when I called earlier that it was perfectly legal, and that I could use anyone to ship the gun back.
The lady went on to say that there's no way the U.S.P.S. would allow it either. Since there was a branch right across the street, I decided to go over and ask them personally.
When I got up to the counter, I told the guy what I wanted to send and to whom. You would have thought I asked to ship vials of plutonium! He got all confused and whispered for another employee to come over to discuss the "situation" with him. The lady at the counter next to me looked at me after I asked the question and literally cringed her face with disgust. After breaking out every rule book and manual on postal regulations, they came to the conclusion, that I could in fact ship the rifle through the U.S.P.S. as long as it was "inoperable". Since no bullets were included in the box, that qualified it as inoperable as far as I was concerned. I told them that it was.
I had no idea what sort of a hassle I was in for. There truly wasn't one cooperative person in almost every aspect of shipping the gun. Makes you wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to just ship it as "computer parts" if asked what's in the box.
Anyone have any experiences like this? Any suggestions as to how to avoid hassles in the future?