NEED ADVISE ON AN AMPLIFIER TRANSACTION


I am hoping you folks can give me some opinions on what you would do in my current situation/transaction.
I listed an integrated amplifier here on Agon, a gentleman purchased it and I boxed the unit as absolutely bombproof as possible. From looking at the buyers other transactions it seems he is somewhere in South or Central America as he has a shipping agent in Miami that receives his shipments, and then sends packages on from there. It took quite a while to get to him and I received an email from him saying that the unit was not working. When I sent the unit it was in perfect working order. There is a little bit of a different turn on process with this amplifier as it has a power switch on the back that you turn on first, then you push the button on the front panel which puts the unit into standby mode. You then push that same button again to get it going into warm up mode which takes 9 seconds. I have explained this to him and the buyer says it is still not working. I then sent the instructions which I found online at the manufacturers website to make sure he understands. I don't know if there is a language barrier or not but I asked if the boxed was damaged and have not heard anything back. I would assume the buyer would have notified me if it was damaged as soon as he got the amplifier. What would you folks do in my situation? I have perfect feedback as I would never try to scam anybody and I over describe whatever I sell...I also package everything as bombproof as possible. So if the unit was working and there is no damage to the package what would you do? Refund his money and hope I get the unit back? Thanks for your insights and opinions.
sean34
then sent the instructions which I found online at the manufacturers website to make sure he understands. I don’t know if there is a language barrier or not but I asked if the boxed was damaged and have not heard anything back.
Do absolutely nothing and enjoy your Holidays.

You sent him the instructions along with an email asking if the box was damaged and have yet to hear back. I would say the ball is in his court so don’t worry about it until you do.
Thanks everybody. I had not thought about it from a scam perspective as the buyer had good feedback and someone had mentioned in his feedback the process to the agent in Miami went smoothly. I guess we'll see if he responds back to me after receiving the instructions. If not, great, if so and he says it is still not working, I will have him send it back before refunding his money. Thanks again.
Give him money back and do as i do ONLY deal with lower 48 states as foreign buyers have a language problems and shipping problems as well.I also do not sell to Canada as well.Good luck.

" I have to disagree with the above two responses. According to Audiogon policy, the buyer's money should be refunded before the amp is returned."

It's easy to do the right thing when it's not your money. If it was AG's money at risk, do you think they follow the rules they set for you? You're obviously not trying to take advantage of anyone here, so protect yourself.

As far as the rest of it goes, you need to be careful. First, its not an international sale. You shipped the amp to Miami, not S America. Assuming it was damaged in shipping, which shipping company was responsible for the damage? The one that sent it to Miami, or the one who sent it to S America? No one in their right mind would ship a used amp like that to another country without checking it first, so you have to assume the damage was done after your transaction was completed. And that would be when the amp was delivered to Miami. What happened after that has nothing to do with you. 

Also keep in mind that the "shipping agent" (most likely a friend or family member), was too cheap to get the proper insurance when they sent the box to S America, so they're using you to fix a mistake you didn't make. 
Very sorry to read of your predicament, Sean.

You appear to be a stand-up guy with a genuine interest in doing the right thing, always a good thing, but sometimes we unintentionally get involved with someone with another intent.

Sounds like you have followed the right steps. Keep documentation of all correspondence along with dates. Don’t have a weak moment and let the money get away from you until you get the right acknowledgements (preferably the amp back in working condition) from the buyer.

I really hope it works out well for you.

Best to you Sean,
Dave