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Buyer is claiming damage that was done by him!

Hi group,
I sold a pair of mint Harbeths. I shipped them in original double boxed carton with original bonnets covering them. I just received this EMAIL from the buyer. I know that many ruin these speakers trying to pry  the magnetic grills off incorrectly. What is my recourse with this issue?
Thanks  much for your input!

This is the EMAIL I received from the buyer!

Hi. I picked up the speakers from FedEx yesterday. They arrived with some minor dents around the front top corners near the grille on both speakers. When I opened the outer box, I've noticed that one side of the inner box wasn't sealed on top and as a result the speakers came out of the top foam speaker holder. I guess the damage occurred from speakers bumping against each other. The grill cloth is also ripped near the dents. I've sent an email to Harbeth asking how much replacement grills are going to cost. I could probably live with those dents but grills might be replaced at some point. I'm still waiting on my amp to come back from service, so I have not even plugged the speakers in yet. Hopefully the drivers are ok.    
yogiboy
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Your call of course!
No idea what the cost of a pair of grilles are for these speakers, if a small % of value of the sale then yes it might be worth it. Or maybe offer half the cost of the grills?

I guess you need wait and see how they respond first to your pictures request and what their general tone and attitude is and take it from there.
chazro's avatar
chazro
635 posts
 
I wouldn't pay for anything.  Tell him to send the units back.  My guess is he won't!
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,793 posts
 
I'd suggest you wait for pictures before venting your anger here as just maybe your at fault and he is being honest. we are all Human and make mistakes so before you blame the person here why not look at their evidence first and then make a judgment. If after, it seems fishy then deal with it best you can. I'm sorry for this as damaged goods can-are a pain to deal with. 

This is why I always ship with full insurance on the items being shipped. This usually requires the shipper to repack or confirm packaging but that way if there is an issue there is recourse for reimbursement if damaged during shipping.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
As fate would have it even getting full insurance sometimes can’t save you. Because it’s much more difficult to get the postal services to pay off on damage claims. It’s not automatic, you know. They’re not giving money away. This is a case in point. The postal service can simply say, it was damaged because you didn’t pack it properly. If you had packed it properly it wouldn’t have got damaged. Make sense? There’s also a time limit of three months to settle IIRC.
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,793 posts
 
geoffkait. 

In Canada they will not insure anything over $1 k that was not packaged by them or opened and packaging confirmed by them ,it's  the same for the UPS Stores as well as FedX here. Not sure how the USPS works as I'm not there.
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