2. amps-preamps
  3. 127539-13093

NEED ADVISE ON AN AMPLIFIER TRANSACTION

I am hoping you folks can give me some opinions on what you would do in my current situation/transaction.
I listed an integrated amplifier here on Agon, a gentleman purchased it and I boxed the unit as absolutely bombproof as possible. From looking at the buyers other transactions it seems he is somewhere in South or Central America as he has a shipping agent in Miami that receives his shipments, and then sends packages on from there. It took quite a while to get to him and I received an email from him saying that the unit was not working. When I sent the unit it was in perfect working order. There is a little bit of a different turn on process with this amplifier as it has a power switch on the back that you turn on first, then you push the button on the front panel which puts the unit into standby mode. You then push that same button again to get it going into warm up mode which takes 9 seconds. I have explained this to him and the buyer says it is still not working. I then sent the instructions which I found online at the manufacturers website to make sure he understands. I don't know if there is a language barrier or not but I asked if the boxed was damaged and have not heard anything back. I would assume the buyer would have notified me if it was damaged as soon as he got the amplifier. What would you folks do in my situation? I have perfect feedback as I would never try to scam anybody and I over describe whatever I sell...I also package everything as bombproof as possible. So if the unit was working and there is no damage to the package what would you do? Refund his money and hope I get the unit back? Thanks for your insights and opinions.
sean34

Showing 2 responses by jmcgrogan2

jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I have to disagree with the above two responses. According to Audiogon policy, the buyer's money should be refunded before the amp is returned.

The process should work exactly the same, except in reverse. The seller is not expected to ship the item until payment is received, and the buyer is not expected to return the item until the refund is received. The buyer is expected to cooperate with the seller to make arrangements for the shipping company to inspect for any damage, for insurance claims.

This is from the Audiogon Shipping Tips:

Generally speaking, the Seller is expected to refund to the buyer, and recover the money by pursuing the damage claim. Shipping companies generally pay the seller only and it may take some time. The Buyer should not have to wait until the claim is processed. Essentially, it is the Seller's responsibility to deliver the item to the buyer in an undamaged condition.

Note: The word 'Generally' is used because occasionally the buyer directly pays for the shipping and insurance. In this case, the buyer should ship the amp back and process the insurance claim, since the insurance claim will only be paid to the person who purchased the insurance (normally the seller).

Here is a link to the page. Good luck, hopefully his lack of reply means the amp is working fine now.

http://support.audiogon.com/customer/portal/articles/227711-shipping-tips

Cheers,
John
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Also keep in mind that the "shipping agent" (most likely a friend or family member), was too cheap to get the proper insurance when they sent the box to S America, so they're using you to fix a mistake you didn't make.

Ahh, but Sean did make a mistake, he agreed to sell to a buyer in South America.

I have shipped many items all over the world, but I have never shipped electronics or speakers out of North America. I'll ship cables, cords, fuses, outlets, phono cartridges, etc., anywhere. When YOU put yourself in a difficult position, YOU should assume some responsibility.

That is my take, though I see that it is unpopular here. It seems there are some shady sellers here.

Yes, there are unscrupulous buyers, there are also unscrupulous sellers too. If you don't want to run the risks of shipping through two shipping companies, or overseas, then sell you item for the best offer in North America. That is what I do. I have had some crazy "better" offers from foreign countries which I am not willing to ship to....I simply turn those offers down.

As a seller, if you accept one of these offers, you are putting yourself in this 'dangerous' position, and you should accept responsibility for your actions.

So while I empathize with Sean, he does have some culpability for accepting the offer. I can't just ship something to a foreign country and accept no responsibility because we have to assume all foreigners as scammers. As always, YMMV.

Cheers,
John
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