Blast Gate Company shipping

[Steve Wurster]

I just received a shipment of quick-clamp ductwork from Blast Gate Company, in preparation for my receipt of a new Oneida dust collector. I have lots of good things to say about the folks at Blast Gate: they responded to my emails quickly, they gave me all the information I needed, their prices are way better than Oneida, and this is some high quality ductwork.

Everything shipped pretty much when I expected to, and only took a couple of days to get to my house. The box that contained the 5' long pipes made it through just fine. The box that contained everything else however...

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As you can see, this box took a beating. The UPS guy had to add tape to the box to keep it from completely falling apart (they are the vertical pieces at the way bottom in the first picture). Just trying to move the box would result in the cardboard tearing. Everything that was in here was just kind of placed in the box with little-to-no filler. As a result, everything was able to bounce around and tear the box apart from the inside. The cardboard also feels pretty thin and cheap, while the other box seems to be made of a thicker, higher-quality material. It didn't help that the net weight for this box was around 70 pounds.

Thankfully, every piece of ductwork is individually well wrapped, as you can see in the picture below (the elbows and wyes are only wrapped on the ends). This picture was taken after I removed a handful of pieces. The clamps were just kind of tossed in there; they weren't tied together in any kind of fashion, so they definitely bounced around during shipping. At least everything, including the clamps, seems to have survived the ordeal without any problems. It's just the box that had some trouble.

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[Jim Becker]

Looks like some gorilla drop kicked that box! 'Glad the stuff came out unscathed...and waited to come out of the box until it was in your hands, too.

[Steve Wurster]

Looks like some gorilla drop kicked that box!

I know, right?! I saw the UPS guy backing into my driveway, so I headed out there since I knew both boxes would be heavy. I could hear him in the truck taping up the box, and I'm standing there thinking, "This isn't good!" He comes out and tells me the one box must be packed poorly because it's rattling around on the inside and that the box is beat up as a result. Yup, that about sums it up.

Thankfully it didn't seem as though it opened up enough for anything to have fallen out. I haven't counted all of the pieces yet to verify that however, but I will get that done tomorrow. But everything I have looked at appears to be in very good shape.

[William Payer]

I have recently had two orders from Blastgate Company since I am updating my dust collection system. the large order was shipped by a motor freight carrier with lift service Everything was packaged very carefully ( 450 pounds of it) No damage to container nor contents. The second order was smaller, so shipped with UPS. Once again everything inside was carefully wrapped with bubble packaging material. Everything was in perfect shape. I was impressed that they took so much care in packaging. In addition, communication with Blastgate is extremely good, they reply quickly and are very accommodating and appear to really appreciate their customers.
To the OP, it sounds like the carrier was not careful during the shipping process.

[Jim Becker]

Count the clamps...I would think they would be the most likely to "escape" if the box was split and any were floating around loose.

[Steve Wurster]

I have recently had two orders from Blastgate Company since I am updating my dust collection system. the large order was shipped by a motor freight carrier with lift service Everything was packaged very carefully ( 450 pounds of it) No damage to container nor contents. The second order was smaller, so shipped with UPS. Once again everything inside was carefully wrapped with bubble packaging material. Everything was in perfect shape. I was impressed that they took so much care in packaging. In addition, communication with Blastgate is extremely good, they reply quickly and are very accommodating and appear to really appreciate their customers.
To the OP, it sounds like the carrier was not careful during the shipping process.

The packaging of the pieces themselves is impeccable. Like you said, they take a lot of care in packing those in bubble wrap. And the communication with them was fantastic. I did everything through email except providing them with payment info, and even that went very smoothly.

As for the carrier... well, it's UPS, so you're going to expect that the box won't be treated all that well during shipping. But like I noted, I think the cardboard on this box in particular is a little cheap, and the lack of any kind of additional packing material (e.g. those air bag things) meant that this box just fell apart from the inside due to everything getting bounced around. Still, it seems as though everything survived without damage.

[Steve Wurster]

Count the clamps...I would think they would be the most likely to "escape" if the box was split and any were floating around loose.

I want to say that the box didn't have any openings large enough for even the smallest clamp to escape. However, I just counted the clamps and all of them are there. I'll double-check that count and the count of all of the other pieces later today.

[Steve Wurster]

I want to say that the box didn't have any openings large enough for even the smallest clamp to escape. However, I just counted the clamps and all of them are there. I'll double-check that count and the count of all of the other pieces later today.

FYI: All the parts are there. One of the pipes has a small dent in the middle, but I'll be cutting most of the pipes anyway so I'm sure I can work around that (not that it would end up affecting performance much anyway).

[David Walser]

Steve -- I'm wondering how you expect we should react to this news. Happy for you in that you've got a new DC system, complete with top-of-the line ducting? Upset with The Blastgate Company (TBC) because, well, because everything they shipped to you arrived on time and in good condition? Upset with UPS because they rough-handled a carboard box (without harming the box's contents)? Pleased with TBC because they showed particular care in wrapping the duct, fittings, etc., before putting them in the box? Or, are we just to share your relief that, despite the crushed look of the box, all its contents were in good shape?

I'm confused.

[Steve Wurster]

Steve -- I'm wondering how you expect we should react to this news. Happy for you in that you've got a new DC system, complete with top-of-the line ducting? Upset with The Blastgate Company (TBC) because, well, because everything they shipped to you arrived on time and in good condition? Upset with UPS because they rough-handled a carboard box (without harming the box's contents)? Pleased with TBC because they showed particular care in wrapping the duct, fittings, etc., before putting them in the box? Or, are we just to share your relief that, despite the crushed look of the box, all its contents were in good shape?

I'm confused.

Well, I think it was more of a, "Look at this box! This thing got beat up in shipping due to the way it was packaged. Thankfully everything was okay.", kind of thing. No "reaction" is really necessary from anyone.

[Tom Bain]

Steve — Given your overall experience, would you purchase from The Blast Gate company again? I think that is the ultimate test of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

[Steve Wurster]

Steve — Given your overall experience, would you purchase from The Blast Gate company again? I think that is the ultimate test of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

Yes, I would purchase from them again. Other than the condition of the box, I am completely satisfied with my experience with The Blast Gate company. And the box condition is only a minor issue anyway; this post was just pointing out how much damage it received.

[Ryan Yeaglin]

I would comment about the care of UPS, not the blast gate company. As after it's shipped, it is now the shipper's responsibility to keep it in good order until delivered. I hate shipping things like you got without being motor freight, then you can place them on a skid and shrink wrap them.