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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
1,373 posts
 

Here is an overall tip OP.

Not all credit cards are the same. Don’t use some random card from some small sht bank or credit union for higher risk purchases. You typically need a card with benefits like explicit purchase protection, etc from the big 4s, i.e., pick your credit cards more surgically.

Bank of America, Chase, Citibank....the big dudes have more clout and can squeeze/wring certain types of shiiister necks on your behalf more easily.

newtoaudio100 OP
9 posts
 

Just an update for everyone. The case is still not resolved over 2 months later. Paypal has been delaying every step of the way. They just projected more time to the case. The case is over 60 days old. The staff at paypal have a generic answer if I ask a question about the status.

newtoaudio100 OP
9 posts
 

So much for the original 20 day estimate..

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,922 posts
 

Escalate it to supervisors and above. That’s the only way you can get anything moving at this point. 

newtoaudio100 OP
9 posts
 

I got the refund the case is closed. I had to pay shipping back so I still lost money in the end. Huge headache of an ordeal due to the seller packing the speakers horribly, or sending me damaged speakers to began with and then not working with me and eventually not responding.

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