Advice for shipping a SCT back to Celestron?

I need to ship my 9.25" Nexstar back to Celestron for repairs (under warranty) and am nervous.

Any advice as to which shipper, insurance....
I have the original packaging.

Package it well and make the trip as quick as possible. Less time, less hands, less damage is my experience. DHL does a decent job for me, Fedex is better than UPS, but still questionable at times. USPS might not be able to take it.
It cost more but over night or air express is the best, just don't be ground transport what ever you choose. Remember also that Celestron must ship it back too.
I sent mine to Celestron by UPS once without a problem, but I don't really trust them and would not do it again if I had a choice.

The sure fire way is as said above PLUS call your homeowners insurance agent and purchase a one time RIDER for the scope on your homeowner's insurance. UPS & FEDX insurance is not worth very much.

David Pitre said:

I need to ship my 9.25" Nexstar back to Celestron for repairs (under warranty) and am nervous.

Any advice as to which shipper, insurance....
I have the original packaging.

The best thing to do as far as the physical shipping is, yes, use the original packing materials. Do that and there should not be a problem. And, yes, insure it for the full value (with UPS or FedEx).

Unk Rod

Plenty of good advice here. S&T also had an article last month about packing scopes for shipping.

To reassure you, I sold my LX90 to a gentleman in Australia last year. I sent it by way of the U.S. Postal Service. It arrived safe and sound, although it took 12 weeks (and there is no way to track a USPS package once it leaves the country)!

Again........call your insurance agent and take out a RIDER for the scope shipment.........its cheap......then you WILL GET PAID if something happens.

DHL did a nice job in busting up the primary in my C14 a few years ago. Fortunately they honored the insurance. They paid eventually, but it took 2 plus months, a third party inspection of the packing materials, and daily phone calls that generated documentation an inch thick. The good thing is I got a new optics set and a factory fresh, refurbished C14. I sent it to celestron double boxed inside it's damaged trunk. To their credit, Celestron was very good about the repair. I had to pay for the repair out of pocket and DHL reimbursed me for the shipment to Celestron and the repair. But if I recall correctly, Celestron sent it back to me UPS ground single boxed in the same trunk that DHL crushed!!! Luckily it arrived ok that time. I could not believe it.

Pack the scope to survive a 10 foot drop. Use the original shipping container with the foam padding inside its box and place that inside a large box ( with at least a few inches clearance ) filled with packing peanuts. Insure it the best you can and send it by air..2 day or overnight and find a way to insure it to its full replacement value. It might be expensive, but it will save you a lot of headache and time.

Russ