2. misc-audio
  3. 187642-178194

Purchase on Audiogon arrived not as described

Hello,

I purchased a speaker pair through Audiogon that was listed as a 10/10 falwless pair. The speakers arrived damaged. They were not properly packed they were piano gloss finish and only packed woth a single layer of a very thin fabric cloth and one layer of bubble wrap in a flimsy single layer cardboard box single boxed.

The speakers arrived 11/30 (Thursday) and due to work I wasn't able to open the package until the night of 12/1 (Friday). I took photos of the unboxing process and I was surprised to see how little packaging therewas for a 50lb+ speaker pair with piano gloss finish. I was extremely careful unpacking the speakers and after unwrapping them I saw the damage. One speaker is busted on the bottom with a crack, the other speaker has 3 large strike marks and chips to the edge.

 

Within minutes of seeing the damage I contacted the seller. I have no way of knowing if the speakers were damaged in transit due to poor packaging or if the seller scammed me. I contacted the seller within minutes of seeing the damage and explained the situation. The seller immediately became defensive and said I had plenty of time to evaluate the speakers and that I probably didn't like them so I purposely damaged them. This offended me and was quite ridiculous. The speakers were at my house for one day and I didn't unbox them until I had the time the next day. The speakers have remained in the original packaging taking up space since this date.

 

I tried to communicate with the seller and the seller completely stopped answering messages through audiogon. I filed a dispute through Audiogon and linked the seller Audiogon's policy on selling and items not arriving in the condition listed. The staff at Audiogon managed to get ahold of the seller and told me the seller was not being reasonable. They advised me to file a PayPal claim. I filed my claim on 12/3 after spending two days communicating with the staff and trying to have them be a middleman to communicate between the seller and I. The seller never responded.

 

I have now been waiting for weeks on the dispute with paypal. The seller responded to the dispute and is fighting to keep my money. I offered to send the speakers back to the seller from the beginning and properly package them how I would have liked to receive them packed. I am worried about paypal being so slow and have heard stories of paypal siding with scammers before.

newtoaudio100
deep_333
866 posts
 

Packing properly I believe is number one problem under 100 lbs. Over that weight you put boxes on a pallet and ship correctly and damage is at a minimum.

If it’s a "delicate" component (tube amps, heavy amps with delicate knobs sticking out, etc that may still be under a 100 lbs). you still want to put it on a small pallet. Pallets mitigate the tossing and throwing around of boxes by the flippin lumberjacks who work in shipping companies. Fragile stickers all over the box doesn’t matter to these dudes who are throwing boxes around loading/unloading in the middle of the night. I have a younger roughneck cousin who’s worked at UPS for ages. I wouldn’t let that dude get within 20 ft of a box i was shipping. 😁

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,382 posts
 

@newwater 100lbs is an arbitrary number.  My 140 lb speakers, as well as many other heavy speakers, get packaged in a well designed box and travel safely.

jomace
10 posts
 

My Kef R3s were packed in one box and shipped to me by FedEx. The delivery person was a young woman who looked to be 100 Lbs soaking wet. She had no cart or hand truck. She dragged the box down the hall to me after most likely dropping it a couple of feet off the truck. The side of the box had a large split. I accepted the shipment. Fortunately, KEF has great insulated packaging. I did lose the boxes though. It made me reluctant to order anything that heavy again.

deep_333
866 posts
 

When I sell speakers, turntables, amps, dacs, I always have the buyer show up in person with cash. I’ve done that multiple times and they have traveled over 1000 miles to pick them up, and I had the original boxes

WTheck? The average buyer (i'd assume) on audogon is probably a 60+year male, with a bad back who oughta drive a 1000 miles to pick up a... DAC?!! Pass...you can keep it bro!      

tcotruvo's avatar
tcotruvo
179 posts
 

Buying insurance does not mean that you will get a refund if there is damage.  It only allows you to claim damage.  Carriers require packing which withstands a drop of 3 - 6 ft onto concrete.  How many packages can meet that standard?  And don’t expect insurance to pay for inadequate packing.

Factory boxes/packing are designed for shipping.  Letting an uninformed person box and pack an item is a risk.  Some people don’t know how to do it.  Ask if factory packing will be used.  If not, closely monitor packing to avoid damage.

Bubble wrap and peanuts are “air” and can only be used in certain situations.

In this case the packing would have required a miracle to arrive undamaged.

‘Double box if you want to avoid damage.  Manufacturers single box to keep cost down.  If there’s damage, the can fix and resell items as B goods.

Follow PayPal’s directions.  Ask them for a return shipping label.  Likely you will win your claim.  But also call your credit card and make a claim so you don’t miss a filing deadline.  Tell them that you’re working with PayPal.

More to discover