I had the UPS store package and ship a pair of PBN Montana SP2 speakers. They arrived in pieces. They put an 80 lb speaker in a single box with nothing but popcorn packing material. Completely destroyed. Luckily they paid the claim. Never again.
When Will We Learn?
I retired in 2020 and have been selling much of my higher-end equipment while it still has considerable value. A few of those pieces were replaced by more mid-fi pieces, but ones that usually punch way above their weight. That lessened the pain of losing the higher SQ of the more expensive gear. This past week, I bought a very nice Aperion 6C center speaker that was in pristine condition before it shipped. It arrived today, with all kinds of protection on top of the speaker and almost none underneath. The speaker weighs 40 pounds, and one of the front corners got smashed. What was so galling was that I communicated my concern to the seller before making the purchase, because how you pack an item has a lot more to do with protecting it than how much padding you add. This seller obviously was not familiar with that concept (it was not an Audiogon purchase, BTW). The damage did not affect the sound of the speaker, but since it was a front corner, it will be a constant reminder of the unnecessary incident. The kicker was that I agreed to pay an $83.00 shipping charge to avoid this from happening, but there is no way to insure against stupidity.
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@ozzy62 ...which is why I do my own packaging. If anything fails, I've only myself to blame, having known what and how it needed to be done.... Part of previous life included Ship & Receive for a small co., items generally robust enough to handle some abuse that hi-speed sorting machinery (UPS, FEDX, etc.) inflicts daily 24/7....but I'd over pad anyway.... One of the partners called me out on it, had one of our 'numb-ers' take over... Things started to get rejected by clients....some just across town....just enough to be an annoyance, the phone calls, emails.... Was happy to not have to S & R anymore, but could never understand (nor be 'a pest') enough to query how a minute more on wrapping could balance out having to re-fabricate Anything for less COG or ROI. Being a co-owner now, with a much more rugged sort of product.... I still evil eye how our stuff goes out.... Another cargo strap, infilling loose items/tools within said products heading out locally or across state lines is worth the time and the whines.... *S* And, in our OPs' case.....He's 2 hours away via interstate, and the door is always open to another 'phile. The photo(s) will tell their tale.... ;) |
Bummer. As one who has shipped and received my share of gear, I've experienced a fair number of "rejected" claims. I discovered that UPS states that properly-packaged item can survive a 2 foot drop. This is a good rule of thumb for packing on my end, regardless of shipping method, and instructing shippers on the other end. It appears that you had a conversation with the seller related to "proper packing" and they did not follow your specific instructions. I think you have a valid reason to request an adjustment from the seller due to the fact that they did not follow your reqquest. If you have an audit trail (via email?) you have a better case. I once bought a hand-built musical instrument and provided them specifics on how much impact the item would be subject to via shipping. Pack accordingly. It came in damaged. They made an adjustment. I would have preferred that it arrived non-damaged, but atleast the shipper had to pay for their mistakes. Best luck. |
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