Shipping. Hard Lesson.


I'm selling some high end audio gear for the estate of a relative who passed away. I've never done this before. I'm using C's List, eBay and A'gon. It has been a lot of work and not a lot of fun.

Tons of scammers on C's list but excellent experience selling to a local audiophile.

Got a sale pending here at A'gon. Not too bad.

One good experience on eBay.

But then the Bryston 9B SST2 amp sold on eBay. I had actually about decided to purchase it myself when it sold via eBay. Super nice, experienced buyer.

Took the amp to UPS. It weighs 65 pounds. Asked them to double box and was ready to pay the price but the clerk convinced me that there was no need. They would wrap it well and the box she chose was supposed to handle 85 pounds.

Well, it gets to the buyer and he sends me a picture and it looks like the box has rolled down a mountain. The handles are broken off of the amp and it is dinged all up. Have no idea if it works or not. I'm not sure double boxing would have mattered in this case.

We insured it for the price paid. Buyer was very understanding but disappointed of course. I will get paid (by UPS) what I was going to get paid anyway but both the buyer and I commiserated over a fine piece of equipment destroyed. Or at least marred.

Anyway, sorry about the long sad sop story but I will probably have other gear to ship in the near future possible even the gorgeous Aerial Acoustics 5Ts which, even thought they are bookshelf speakers, are large and heavy.

So all of this is basically to ask: Who do you use for shipping large heavy delicate audio gear?
n80
Same goes for my FedEx recent delivery  Claim was for $200 for a remote control that was damaged.  They paid me $100 saying that was its worth, well yes but the shipping and tax from overseas put it at $200.  So I cannot replace the remote for $100.  It took a month or more to get paid.
The actual value of this amp is a lot more than what the seller paid and what we insured it for, so if UPS tries to play that game I will have to fight back. I hope this does not require an attorney. I hate the thought of that but if it comes down to it I will get one. I'll probably lose money in the process but at some point in time principle has to count for something.
Dealing with a similar issue right now and perhaps my story may help others in the future.

Purchased a Celeste HT-5 from a new member a couple of weeks ago.  Questioned him as to his ability to package such a heavy item properly and was assured it would be professionally packaged by UPS.  His professional packaging consisted of the amplifier being wrapped in a single layer of bubble wrap, placed in an oversized, single walled cardboard box surrounded by light weight plastic airbags.  As you can imagine, the 69Lb amplifier was absolutely trashed upon arrival and the little plastic airbags were all deflated.

Tried to work with the seller to come to a mutual compromise but got the run-around until such time as I received a phone call from the seller's father indicating that his son was in college, didn't have time to deal with the issue, it was my problem and that absolutely no refund would ever be issued.  His exact words were... "I have your money and you will never get it back!"  :)

Opened a dispute with A'gon and they were fantastic.  Unfortunately the seller refused to comply with A'gon's ruling for a return/refund.

Now working with PayPal however I worry that PayPal may not abide by A'gon's policy with regards to damaged shipments.

One mistake I made, which may help others in the future is this...
I used my FedEx account to pay for shipping.  As a FedEx account holder, I am entitled to a reduced rate for International shipments.  I utilized my account to send the seller both the shipping labels and customs paperwork.  Even though I had the shipment properly insured, because the amplifier was not packaged according to either Audiogon or FedEx guidelines, FedEx will most likely not be paying out the claim.  I can't fault FedEx in this case as I agree that they can not be held responsible for negligent packaging.

The seller is using the fact that I had insurance with FedEx as his defence for not issuing a return/refund.  Had I just let the seller ship the item on his own dime, he most likely would have still reneged on his responsibility for a return/refund, but would not have the luxury of accusing me of trying to collect on both ends.

I had filed a claim with FedEx, at the insistence of the seller, prior to the phone call from the father and assured him that should any restitution be paid out by FedEx, I would forward it to him immediately.  As I am now honouring the fathers request not to communicate with his son, I have been forwarding all communication with FedEx, to the A'gon case worker.

Lesson here could be to always let the seller be responsible for all aspects of shipping.  Try to save a dollar and spend two :)
Update: UPS is giving us the run around. They filed the claim on Aug 14. They have the damaged amp back in the local UPS store. They said we'd have a decision and a check within 10 days. We checked back several times after the 10 day mark and were told that they were waiting for the higher-ups to make a decision. Today (17 days after the claim was filed) they are saying the same thing and will not give us contact information for anyone above the local store.

I have not called an attorney yet and don't want to do so. In the end it will probably cost me money to do it. But something clearly needs to be done.

Does anyone know if this sort of thing can be handled in small claims court?
n80
Update: UPS is giving us the run around. They filed the claim on Aug 14. They have the damaged amp back in the local UPS store. They said we’d have a decision and a check within 10 days. We checked back several times after the 10 day mark and were told that they were waiting for the higher-ups to make a decision. Today (17 days after the claim was filed) they are saying the same thing ... Does anyone know if this sort of thing can be handled in small claims court?
Yes, it most certainly can. Small claims courts (they go by other names in some states) usually have a limit for damages - it’s $3,000 where I live. With proper documentation and preparation, I have found small claims court to be an excellent avenue for resolution; I’ve successfully relied on it several times over the years.