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Another UPS Horror Story

I bought an Allnic T1500 amp here earlier this month. It was shipped in the original packaging by a UPS store from NJ to Seattle, fully insured. It arrived with a hole in the bottom corner and substantial damage to the amp (subchassis bent). I contacted the seller who refused my refund request and I processed a UPS claim.

UPS picked it up and did an inspection at their customer service center. They found no damage to the box (I have photos of the 6" hole in the bottom), did not look inside and have now sent it back to the NJ. Once again the seller has refused to refund my payment claiming he doesn't have the money to refund.

At this point the shipper will have my original payment plus the damaged unit, which might be repairable. Can a UPS claim be appealed? Can a UPS Store be sued in small claims?

I know I should never have given this back to UPS for "inspection". My best hope is that once it gets back to NJ they will ship it to the Allnic recommended repair shop in Pennsylvania and it can be fixed.
jarrett
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
04-03-15: Zd542
I just figured them taking possession of the item was a prerequisite for any type of claim to be paid to you.

Taking possession of the item is a prerequisite for any claim. However, the claim has nothing to do with the buyer. The claim is not paid to you, the buyer. The claim is paid to the seller, the person that bought the insurance. Crossing your fingers for the claim payout is only the seller's nightmare. The buyer had nothing to due with improper packing or shipping damage.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Fedex is wonderful?????
jdoris
972 posts
 
Don't know that FedEx is wonderful, Ebm, but I've never had an issue with them.

I had UPS damage an amp, and the claim went down a black hole.

As Grannyring notes, a dock to dock shipper like Pilot or BAX may be the way for larger items -- I did this once with a #300 pair of speakers and it worked great, for surprisingly cheap.

So while the samples are small, my experience convinces me to live without UPS in my audio life.

JOhn
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,521 posts
 
Yes, often times less expensive than ups or fedex. I hope folks are reading this and benefit from what is being said here regarding the use of trucking companies instead of FedEx etc....
jarrett OP
38 posts
 
Actually, I do think that the seller sent me a working amplifier. Before I bought the amp I contacted Sunil at Care Audio, where the amp was originally bought and asked about the seller:

"I cannot tell you what to do but Steve has come to my place a couple of times and I have gone to his place once."

Also, the damage to the amp is indicative of a long drop onto one corner of the box, which given it's 60 pound weight, would not be something done by the owner, just the shipper.

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