2. misc-audio
  3. 179227-63554

What the ship just happened?

Needing a small, but dependable 2-channel amp, I saw one from ATI (AT 602) listed on Audiogon last week. The seller accepted my offer and I was confident things would go well due to his positive feedback. The amp was delivered today, but I was walking my dog down the main street through our town-home complex when the UPS truck pulled up in front of my home. I was about 300 feet away, and I clearly heard the impact when the driver dropped the box onto the concrete surface of my front porch. Of course, he was gone by the time I arrived and saw the box sitting at an angle, with a badly damaged corner (indicating he dropped it that way). The box could be described as being flimsy at best, and I felt my blood pressure rising when I lifted it and could feel the amp free to move around inside. Opening it up, I found the amp extremely well-wrapped in bubble-packing, which just added to my frustration. The amp was only 4" in height, but the box was 13" high and there was

minimal additional packing to keep the amp stationary during transit. I guess the UPS driver took his cue from all this and treated the package accordingly. The amp had a 1/4" chip in the front fascia corner, but survived otherwise. The seller obviously chose a box that he had handy, but one that was totally inappropriate for the job. Looking back, I should have stipulated that the seller use FedEx, but his feedback concerning shipping issues was good, so I felt like everything would be OK. Who was mainly at fault here, and what might have prevented this nagging situation?

discnik

Showing 1 response by mike_in_nc

mike_in_nc
1,124 posts
 

It was improperly packed.

  • Dunnage always should be added to keep contents from moving around.
  • As others have said, a flimsy box is substandard, and gear is best shipped in the original box.
  • Lacking the original box, or if the original is old, double-boxing is a good option. Often, I use an extra-heavy corrugated box for the outer box.

FedEx in my experience has a better reputation than UPS, but I haven’t found that borne out in less actual damage. Anything should be packed to withstand a short fall.

You could ask the seller to pay for the damage if you took photos of the box, the packing, etc. You could even escalate to a PayPal dispute if in fact the packing was substandard, and that caused the damage. Any kind of dispute will be more difficult if you don't have photos.

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