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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
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,825 posts
 
We need more happy endings.
And, get your mind out of the gutter. 
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
Things like speakers can get separated, sometimes. When you consider how many boxes are shipped, it is amazing that so much get to where it has to go without problem. Of course, it always seems to happen with high price items.
I hope everything turns out okay. I am sure the seller has learned his/her lesson.
B
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
45 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....
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