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

@newtoaudio100 

This guy didn't care about selling you speakers in good condition. You should continue with the PayPal process. Best of luck.

I filed on the 3rd so hopefully paypal can get back to me soon. On the tracker for the claim it shows they haven't even reviewed everything yet. They estimated they would review the sellers response on December 8th but it's been nearly two weeks. Thanks everyone. I'll update with what happens. Audiogon staff told me the seller did not use shipping insurance through them and I don't know if the seller did through the carrier.

 

I have sold a few things on Audiogon and always made sure to pack them well and use insurance. Sad that it has to come to this. Thanks everyone.

You haven't described any damage to the boxes. If the speakers are as beat up as you suggest then I would guess that the boxes show signs of abuse. Did you show photos of the boxes to the seller? If the boxes are in good shape then that points to speakers that were damaged BEFORE he boxed them up.

@newtoaudio100 sorry I was probably unclear. I meant that Audiogon should be more helpful to you. If you went through them, and they took their fee, they should credit you back, deal with paypal, etc.

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