Who pays for busted stuff?

Since the unit did show as advertised and the transport screw was left out, the seller is clearly responsible. There is no way to know how it got damaged but if you did not receive what you paid for, a perfectly working unit, you should have the seller pay for the repair or refund your money and take the unit back, especially since the transport screw was not in the unit when shipped. Its is the sellers job to deliver the product as advertised.

The seller because he did not fasten the screw.I had A Mcintosh Cd player shiped to me a few years ago with the screw not fastened,The sell was good enough to pay for the re alinment of the player.
Jeff keep after him .If he does nothing post his name.

Hi Jeff, I was recently in an identical situation. I bought a Nak Dragon here on Audiogon, it arrived in perfect cosmetic shape, no obvious damage to the box (like yours, mine was shipped in the original box w/original packing material), but when I tried to open the tape door, nothing. Some latch was obviously not releasing, power was on but no action by the door. I fooled around with it (gently) for a while, jiggling and reaching in to try and find an engaged latch, but couldn't solve the problem. I emailed seller, who originally had said he offered a money back guarantee. The door was working when he packed the deck. Since I decided that I wanted to keep the deck, even if I had to pay for the repair, I did not ask to return it for a full refund. Instead, I took it into a shop that sells and services vintage as well as new gear, and a week later had it back operating perfectly. Diagnosis: the "pressure pad lifter" was missing. Cost: approx $130, which included a cleaning, checking, and head alignment. Don't know how much the pressure pad lifter plus labor alone cost. Don't know what happened to the original pressure pad lifter; fell off in transit? Lost somewhere inside the deck? I assume if the latter, the repair shop would have found it and removed it. Anyway, I asked seller to contribute to the repair cost, which I said I thought fair, and he agreed without argument and shortly thereafter sent me a check for $35. I feel that that was honest and fair and am perfectly satisfied with him, the tape deck, and the way the whole deal went down. My deck was also shipped UPS Ground. Lesson: always double box, even if you pay more to ship. At least you then have a chance of receiving what you paid for.
If I had wanted to return the deck for a full refund, I think that the seller was obligated to accept it, since he had offered that from the beginning. If it had been anything other than a purely (I felt) mechanical problem with the door latch, like a function not working (eg the autoreverse or the autocalibration), I think I would have asked to return the deck, fearing that the cost of repair would be too high. I just felt the latch problem wouldn't be too expensive. $130 was steep, but then it was a vintage piece, not currently manufactured.

In my opinion, if the unit does not come as advertised, the seller is obligated to make good.