What is the value of Classe P401 ?


Hi,I am every week reader but first time posting here. My Classe P401 (400W/Ch at 8ohm, 800W/ch at 4 Ohm), a predecessor of CA-401, developed some noise on both channels so I shipped it to factory for checkup and possible repair. It was otherwise working just fine. Without naming the packing and delivery company here, I want to say it was both externally and internally damaged when it arrived at repair facility. It wont even turn on, heatsinks were bent, handles we bent, the transformer cover was broken inside, so it did look like it took a serious hit. The repair cost estimated by the company is over 5000 dollars, I think because now they have to check everywhere as the unit does not even turn on. I had declared the value of the amp at 5000 dollars, I thought was a fair upper limit for value for a 400W/ch high end amplifier given it is over 25 years old. I have filed a claim with the packing/delivery company but it keeps getting rejected because they cannot establish its value. The only place they can establish a value is from some used goods website which tells them that the value is 3 dollars (quite a joke but people who have to pay a claim would love it :-)). The only other place I can find the value of this amp is with a Chinese seller who lists it at close to 4000 US dollars, but the company will not accept a foreign value, which honestly is a lame excuse because we trade with China for everything and the conversion value is well established by Federal Reserve (I sent them the conversion and also the phone number of the vendor in China). So I am wondering if anyone here has the same amp and what would you all think is the fair value of this amp ? Thanks in advance
saumil
Huh... I did not know that there is a separate insurance, the shipping cost depended on the value I declared, so my guess was that it was the insurance that was costing more. The agent never asked me if I want to insure my package. So I know for sure I did not insure if that was separate from the additional cost that I paid to ship.
I told the claim agent that for $3 we cant even buy a original brochure for this unit :-)And yes, you are absolutely right, they are responsible, they packed it and they shipped it. And yes, just the capacitors and transformer will cost 1000s. I have asked the claim agent if they can infer the cost of P-401 from other amplifier made by Classe. Common sense tells us that one should at least be able to establish a minimum value of a 400W amplifier by just multiplying the cost of 300w/ch amp by 1.33, specially when specs are identical. In reality, going from 300W to 400W is quite a challenge and the cost could be even a larger factor than 1.33. But it is also noteworthy, that CA-301 is for 3K which translates to 4K for P-401, and this is identical to the cost estimated from the chinese seller. Here is the listing for the exact item in Chinahttps://www.taobao.com/list/item/wap/561872232885.htmThe current currency conversion is 1 Chinese yuan is 15 US cents. So for them to disregard this information to me is solely based on their convenience. They could just purchase the unit from chinese seller and replace my unit. That would be one way to resolve this. And yes, my time's worth in dollars is a lot :-) I did get a Classe 2300 (and that was 5800 dollars for 300w/ch) to replace this unit because I knew this claim is going to drag on for some time. Classe does not even make a 400W/ch unit now.

The case is being escalated. I told the claim agent that common sense dictates that I would not ship a $3 item and pay close to $500 just in shipping costs. If this is not resolved then I will definitely go to small claims court, which I told the claims agent will not be good for anyone. Lets see what a judge thinks of $3 value :-) and all of their ill logical reasoning.

Classe support did help to take pictures and send me all the information needed to file a claim. The problem is to get a used value for P-401. They did send me a letter stating the original value but what the shipping company needs is used value, and thats why the information from CA-301 and chinese seller above is extremely helpful.
Oh that sucks that 3 of your shipments were damaged. Did you pack them yourself ? In my case, they packed the unit so they should have known better. Did you try small claims court ?
It seems that what is more important than the used value is the cost of repairing it. Have you made that distinction with the carrier?
I also have to ask if this is the first time you have shipped an item f value, because I find it hard to believe that you didn't think about insuring it as you said.
I hope that you're able to recoup something.
You have a very good point, the settlement should be based on the value of repair and not the used value. Because if I interpret what you are saying correctly, their responsibility would be to either get my unit back to the original state or replace it with an equivalent unit. But maybe they would consider this as a total loss. I am not sure how they are treating this. They do have the repair cost estimate from Classe.
Yes, this is the first time I am sending anything of such value using a carrier. I have learnt many lessons this time :-)

Hi all,
Good news, the carrier accepted the settlement amount I had sent their legal department in my demand letter. A check for $3113.50 is on the way. So there are people with some common sense and can immediately see that the value of a classic amp like P-401 is not $3.Thanks everyone for suggestions.Best, Saumil