Fuse burned out in shipping? ?


Okay, I bought an amp--a Halfer DH220--from a 'gent' who assures me it was in perfect working order prior to arriving. It arrives and one channel doesn't work. It was poorly packed, so I wasn't surprised, but it also had a burned fuse on the channel that no longer worked. Bad sign.

So I write this 'gent' who continues to insist that the amp was functioning at the time of shipping and he can't imagine why a fuse would of burned out. ---- He suggested that perhaps something happened in shipping to cause the fuse to burn out!! ---- Okay, I'm not an electrical engineer, but I smell BS. However, I decided I would give his story one tiny modicum of the benefit of doubt and come here and post. Soooo.....

Is there ANYTHING that could happen to an amp, packed inside a friggin box and not plugged in, that could cause it to burn out a fuse? I think this is complete crap, but hey, I'm not gonna crucify someone if I'm wrong.
aewhistory
It sounds like the seller did a VERY poor job of packing it, and he should have known better. Amplifiers are usually quite heavy, and a mere 1" of packing material all around, between it and the shipping box it came in was quite absurd on the seller's behalf. He should be responsible for any damage due to such poor packing. 3 or 4 inches of strong, protective material should have been the bare minimum, especially if it is a heavy amp.
Ive heard that you should not turn on an amp without speakers hooked up.Can damage be done to the RTch since it was turned on without a speaker attached?
Yes it can. Tube amps have to have a load on them to be turned on. If you turned on the amp without the speaker connected, you could possibly be the reason the amp is damaged.
Solid state has no worries about this, but tube amps do.