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I need some advise on a shipping disaster.

I recently purchased a pair of speakers on Audiogon.  The price I offered was accepted and I sent the payment promptly.  The seller in return shipped the 2 speakers promptly and sent me the tracking numbers.  One of the speakers was delivered the next day and UPS has lost the other speaker.  The seller has put in a lost package investigation however UPs has not recovered the speaker.  It has been 8 days since the lost investigation has started.
I come to find out that the package was only insured for only half of what I paid for the whole package and it would cost twice that to replace the lost speaker new. So even if UPS cannot find the speaker and pay the insurance claim I cannot even replace the missing speaker for the amount of the claim.  
I'm not sure how to go about solving this issue.  I purchased and paid for a full set of speakers and only have 1.  
Any suggestion on what I should do next?  Has anyone ever experienced an issue such as this?  Does Audiogon have policies around issues such as this?

Thank you,
Vince
vtdragani
bluewatermusic
5 posts
 
Not surprised. I upgraded my electronics and turntable in the past 3 years selling my old gear on audiogon. I  insured the gear for the full sale price. Now the bad news, out of four separate shipments, 2 (50%) were destroyed by UPS (a turntable and a cd transport). In both cases the buyer returned the damaged product to me and i refunded their money. Then i did battle with UPS. Be aware that UPS is not quick to admit fault and pay insurance claims. Thank goodness i took pictures prior to shipping! Also note that my shipments were made in the factory original double boxed containers!  I have an excellent relationship with my local mailbox etc franchise and they went to bat for me pressing the insurance claim with ups. Ultimately, UPS did honor the insurance, but it was no easy transaction. My learning is that i would never buy or sell fragile equipment (ie turntables and cd transports) via ups. That is really frustrating!  Buyer and Seller beware!
oldschool1
39 posts
 
Funny, no one in this thread mentioned use of PayPal. They cover the buyer and seller. I wouldn’t buy anything without using PayPal. It doesn’t matter if you buy through Agone, Craigslist, or any other internet market. Just to CYA, whenever you buy anything of value, do your due diligence and get on the phone with PayPal and ASK QUESTIONS> I bought an Anthem P5 and made sure everything was straight before sending funds. This unit weighs in at a hefty 135 lbs. The UPS store packed it, I had it insured and a few days later it arrived at my local UPS depot. I wasn't gong to chance one more person handling this behemoth package than necessary.
Another thing to note, Anytime you ship, take it to a UPS store or FedEx store and have THEM package it. Even if you have the original packing material, which should be sufficient because thats how it was shipped to the selling dealer when new. I make sure everything is double boxed and FedEx does the packing. Let them take the responsibility! It’s worth the extra cost!
I hope you receive your speaker undamaged.....
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Funny, no one in this thread mentioned use of PayPal. They cover the buyer and seller. I wouldn’t buy anything without using PayPal.

Actually, the only value of PayPal is the ability to use a credit card.

The one time I had a problem receiving a damaged preamp about 10 years ago, Audiogon and PayPal proved absolutely worthless.

The bank that backed my credit card used through PayPal saved the day. They refunded my money, and had me ship the preamp directly to PayPal, thereby leaving me and my bank out of the transaction.
Now it was down to PayPal and the seller. I assume PayPal won, but who knows?

I have never heard of PayPal protecting a seller.
That would make an interesting story....
leotis
180 posts
 
PayPal helped me out on a bad transaction once. Worked out well. UPS lost a receiver on me once. Got a refund, though I had to hassle with eBay a bit. The receiver showed up a month later, looking a bit beat up.
UPS lost a subwoofer on me once. Seller sent me a replacement and it arrived somewhat beat up. I managed to repair it. I’ve had other items damaged in transit (Equitech 2RQ = 90 lbs) Shipping heavy items can be a gamble. Shipping expensive stuff always a worry. Prefer local purchase when possible, even if more expensive.
gregorybraun's avatar
gregorybraun
24 posts
 

PayPal and a Credit Card are a buyer's ONLY protection. Audiogon has no means of protecting the buyer, as I recently found out. The Audiogon specialist I spoke with had no way of resolving the problem so I called PayPal and they refunded my purchased within 24 hours!

Here's what I got from PayPal the next day!

We have concluded our investigation into your case and have decided in your favor.

We were able to recover $2,479.61 USD and this amount has been credited to you. Please allow five business days for this adjustment to be posted.

If you are due any additional funds, we will make our best effort to recover the balance from the seller.

If the seller's account has insufficient funds to complete the refund owed to you, please be assured that we will take appropriate action against the seller's account, which may include limitation of the seller's account privileges.


PayPal saved the day, as the Audiogon seller had no intention of refunding my money, he lied to both me and the Audiogon agent about having issued a refund when he had not.

It was PayPal that protected me, and took the money from his account to reimburse me.

I've bought several items on Audiogon and aside from this one problem the sales have always gone without a hitch, but it only takes one bad experience to make you appreciate PayPal's buyer protections.

  -gb-

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