Ordered 470 sq feet of Rift and QSWO. Driver shows up, has no way to unload the truck and asks me what "what are we supposed to do now?" I look over the shipment and see a good amount of damage to tongues and grooves. I attached some sample photos. I had to personally hand unload each board off the back of the truck. He couldn't even drop the pallet at the curb. I've contacted the company who sold me the hardwood with no response as of yet. What would you guys do? I'd say at least a good 10% has some damage. Some of the longer boards have damage right in the middle requiring cutting in half which is unfortunate. Cracked tongues etc... Now, it's hardwood. I build a lot of furniture as a hobby and I can make it work. I can hand sand the tongues down, trim edges and boards. But, has this ever happened to you guys?

Some unusable boards are to be expected.....that's why it's recommended to buy extra. Usually cut out the bad parts of boards and use the shorter good pieces. I've only dealt with one supplier and while the contract says they will deliver to the curb their driver has always pulled into the driveway. He and I unload and I always give him a tip. He also asks if I want to make an inspection and note/return any damage.
Check your contract/paperwork concerning damage % and delivery and call your supplier and discuss your concerns.

Gotcha. Yeah I ordered an extra 10 to 15%. I do this for all of
My Projects to cut out defective areas of the wood and knots and for extra short pieces that I usually turn to scrap. I was unaware that this was to include damage during the shipment and forklift operators. I guess I'll have to stick to either buying local Or maybe cull the damaged portion and just ship that part back to sender next time like you say. I was afraid to decline the entire shipment because I'm in the middle of the project. . I'll check the paperwork too thanks.

Unfortunately shipping/handling damage are a part of life. Really shouldn't happen but it does. Even the questionable, color mismatched, and boards that are damaged during the milling process make it into the shipped bundle. As you said rejecting the entire shipment isn't really an option on a time sensitive project so planning for a 'reasonable' amount of damage is probably the best thing to do. Probably a good idea to inform the seller that the shipping company(s) caused some damage which makes the seller look bad.

Ok thanks. Yeah, I just gave them a heads up. It's unfortunate because the Initial milling and actual board selection was fantastic. If I were them I'd hate to lose customers because of some idiots with pallet jacks. A lot of the beautiful 10'footers that are clear got mangled in the middle.

Give them some of the pictures so maybe they can show the
shipper(s)/handler(s) so they'll be aware of the damage that their workers have done.

A lot of companies use 3rd party delivery services with "No Liability" contracts for damage to goods in transit. If things are packed right with enough protection (for us that is shrink wrap and straps minimum, cardboard and bubble wrap on the fancy high end stuff) there's usually no issues.

Best advice I got from a shipping company was to write "Count to be Confirmed" on every waybill/packing slip you sign whenever you receive a delivery. That way you can make claims after the fact. If you just sign what they give you, that's the same as declaring "All goods received in good condition"

Was it hanging over the edge of the pallet?

It's not pallet jacks that cause the damage on large items such as this. It's trying to keep anything from hanging over the edge of the actual pallet. You can have a shipment go 1600 miles as an example and it may be transferred 3 or four times at different distribution points from the shipper, but I think Andrew knows that.

It gets handled with a forklift a half dozen times or more. Comes off a truck for transfer? Forklift drivers jam it up against other pallets in their warehouse; staging area. Anything hanging over the edge gets mangled.

Here's a 10 foot long pallet with 12' long baseboard on top. We extended the pallet on the bottom so that kind of stuff doesn't happen. On occasion we'll put three standard pallets together, making a 12 foot long bundle.

Trucking companies can't handle long pallets on a lift gate. Some also have weight limitations on lift gates.

I can't view the images, but it sounds like poor packaging on the seller end. I've been there. Thankfully I have control over it now.