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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
jl35
3,936 posts
 

@lowrider57 my Salk SongTowers (48 inches tall)arrived in one custom factory box...well packed and protected...but too heavy and bulky for me to ship...

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,071 posts
 

We all started with zero feedback…I usually ask if the person with zero feedback had any selling experience. And if there is any shipping damage how are they going to resolve the situation. The answer to these questions pretty much determines the course of my transactions.

As far as my experience with speakers, never ship them through UPS or FedEx unless they are protected by heavy dense foam and multi layer of cardboard boxes. Unfortunately most low to mid level speakers have very poor original packaging.

djspinner's avatar
djspinner
59 posts
 

In my experience, as long as you’ve submitted all the necessary supporting documentation (listing, pictures, timeline of events, email communications) to paypal, there shouldn’t be an issue of getting your refund. Its a drag that it takes a 3-4 weeks, but they usually come through.

I’ve had this situation happen a couple times before, with inexperienced sellers (only low $ items), who had false confidence about their packing ability and think surely the buyer is pulling a scam. I've never understood this deluded mindset. Yeah buddy, I went through all the trouble of purchasing an item, damaging it myself and asking for my own money back. Brilliant scam!

frankmc195's avatar
frankmc195
141 posts
 

I had something similar happen but it was the carrier who damaged the speakers and in this case, both you and the seller maybe right. The speakers are very heavy and ballerinas aren't the ones loading and unloading the speakers in the transport..... now did the seller get insurance.... if not that is a no no.

rcm1203's avatar
rcm1203
68 posts
 

Guess I was lucky on my first and so far only purchase on Audiogon. Got exactly what was described. Personally, I would never buy monitor or bookshelf sized speakers that weren't listed as shipping in original packaging. For floor standers, regardless of packaging,  I would only consider sellers within a 3 to 5 hundred mile driving distance for a 'local' pick up. In our hobby, buyer's remorse really sucks because it usually has a high price tag and even higher expectations attached to it. Hope there is a happy ending for the OP.

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