Bsimpson, you have had some terrible luck.
I have only had a couple bad buys here on AudioGon, but in both cases the seller made good. One was an Arcam integrated amp that was almost DOA. The seller took it back immediately. Another was a pair of speakers which received some damage to one speaker. The seller refunded half the price of the sale. That was more than reasonable.
There were a few items I've bought that didn't live up to the hype. But that isn't the seller's fault.
My really bad experiences were on ebay. Things like speakers in a box with zero padding. And the seller said "they were well packed" when I complained.
I have only had a couple bad buys here on AudioGon, but in both cases the seller made good. One was an Arcam integrated amp that was almost DOA. The seller took it back immediately. Another was a pair of speakers which received some damage to one speaker. The seller refunded half the price of the sale. That was more than reasonable.
There were a few items I've bought that didn't live up to the hype. But that isn't the seller's fault.
My really bad experiences were on ebay. Things like speakers in a box with zero padding. And the seller said "they were well packed" when I complained.