interesting thread, I hope you don't mind me opening it up again. Sometimes even with superb packing the item comes damaged, what truly helps is that most of the members of this site will back there items up, buyer or seller. I sold a Jolida 102B, it was working when it left me, factory boxed etc. When it got to the buyer, tube socket 3 was flaring, The seller sent it back and I promptly refunded him. I just purchased a beautiful CDP, it was fantastically boxed in original carton, yet it is stuck on Reading... What did the seller do? Offer me my money back or he called around to see who can repair it and offered to work together to get it repaired. I shipped it to Canada for repair and we will amicably figure it out. This rarely would happen on flea of the bay.
Audiogon members poor packing and shipping damage
Need to get this off my chest and hope it will help other members avoid shipping damage claims. I recently purchased a preamp and a pair of Magnepan 3.7 speakers off Audiogon. I am going to keep this general and leave out the member names. Both items arrived damaged and IMHO the root cause is largely very poor and careless packing.
The 3.7's had the ends of the box secured with one narrow piece of strapping tape on each end which came off during shipping and the ends of the box flapping wide open along with the outer box loose where it should have been taped. With the preamp the seller did not bother to remove the tubes or install the protective screws on the bottom that protect the internals from shipping damage.
In both instances I have taken on trying to get the problems resolved, so far at my expense, and I am just aggravated at having to do this.
I would never think of letting any piece of audio equipment leave my house so poorly packed. I routinely take hours to carefully pack and also to document the entire process with digital pics so if there are any issues with shipping I have good documentation. If you read my feedback it reflects the extra effort I take. No one will ever be able to say there was shipping damage due to my poor packing job and no box I pack is going to arrive open.
I don't know how other Audiogon members feel about this or how many other members have experienced this problem but I just want to point out that sellers have an obligation to the buyers to pack the items correctly. As we all know shipping damage claims are a super pain for all involved and especially the buyer. Right now I've got one claim going with a major shipping company and it will be weeks if I am lucky to get a resolution and my money back and also get the 3.7's back from the factory.
Just a ton of inconvenience and aggravation when I should have been able to unpack, set up, and enjoy.
The 3.7's had the ends of the box secured with one narrow piece of strapping tape on each end which came off during shipping and the ends of the box flapping wide open along with the outer box loose where it should have been taped. With the preamp the seller did not bother to remove the tubes or install the protective screws on the bottom that protect the internals from shipping damage.
In both instances I have taken on trying to get the problems resolved, so far at my expense, and I am just aggravated at having to do this.
I would never think of letting any piece of audio equipment leave my house so poorly packed. I routinely take hours to carefully pack and also to document the entire process with digital pics so if there are any issues with shipping I have good documentation. If you read my feedback it reflects the extra effort I take. No one will ever be able to say there was shipping damage due to my poor packing job and no box I pack is going to arrive open.
I don't know how other Audiogon members feel about this or how many other members have experienced this problem but I just want to point out that sellers have an obligation to the buyers to pack the items correctly. As we all know shipping damage claims are a super pain for all involved and especially the buyer. Right now I've got one claim going with a major shipping company and it will be weeks if I am lucky to get a resolution and my money back and also get the 3.7's back from the factory.
Just a ton of inconvenience and aggravation when I should have been able to unpack, set up, and enjoy.