2. tech-talk
  3. 1340299934

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.
etmerritt33

Showing 1 response by jp1208

jp1208
502 posts
 
I recently recieved some expensive speaker stands from an up and coming speaker builder who shipped these things in a single thin ply box with about zero protection around these stands. They snapped in half where they were only glued together. Easily the most horrendous packing and build job EVER! The mfgr did nothing to help and there was $1000 in insurance paid. UPS wanted to inspect the contents before shipping but the mfgr said everything was fine and signed off on the disclosure. I was the one who needed to file a claim and then after the outcome the mfgr would go from there. There was no way I was going down this road with UPS and they already told me the mfgr signed off for all the packing. I ended up re-gluing and then screwing the pieces back together. These stands are not your ordinary stands. They hold some expensive crossover parts and the wire that is attached to the crossovers were the only thing holding these stands together. The mfgr new this would be a pain in the A$$ and took the stand that it was not his fault and to let him no what the status is after filing.

This dude has no clue how UPS works and is building and shipping speakers in the DIY market and it will always be the burden of the buyer if anything goes wrong.

I understand exactly what Etmerrit is talking about and when we take special care in shipping items we expect the same in return. Hurry up and get it out the door usually doesn't work out to well.
More to discover