Audiogon members poor packing and shipping damage

When buying or selling are we able to communicate directly without having to "publicly post" our email or private number for the world to see?

Ever since the web format changed it's not possible, which is really dumb if you ask me.

Polk432,
OK, I'll go ahead and post the details here to warn others -- in case it might help.

I bought a Quantum Symphony tweak about a month ago from joe0506jj. He had one negative feedback but the positives looked legit. He was shipping the item from Australia to me in Asia by EMS courier. The item arrived at the EMS office here a few days later but since I live in a remote area I could only pick it up a couple of days ago. According to the seller, since it took me a month to complain my complaint has no validity. I explained to him that I live in a remote area and it took me that time to pick it up. I didn't mention being holed up with bronchitis which added to the delay this time. I have to wait for pick-up of all the audio equipment I have shipped here so a delay of several weeks is normal for me.

The item arrived in a single flimsy cardboard box -- 1mm to 2mm thickness -- that was placed inside a thin plastic postal envelope with no padding. There were a few pieces of Styrofoam popcorn in the box but the AC adapter was sliding around freely on top of the black box. The adapter was cracked. In the ad photo there was scotch tape around the adapter and I assumed it was to keep the spec label attached to the adapter since this is an old item -- rated 7/10. But now I suspect the tape was possibly to keep the adapter from falling apart because there was an all-the-way-through crack in the adapter on the side that never appeared in ad photos -- where the two halves of the adapter join together.

Also, the jack in the back of the box was not aligning with the hole in the black box. I found this odd. I shook the box gently and the contents were rattling around inside. I took a close look. It was clear the back of the unit had been removed and replaced back-to-front. The item had been tampered with in some way. I plugged the AC adapter in the wall and the light in the front of the unit did not come on.

I emailed the seller immediately. He said the item was mint when he shipped it -- not 7/10 as stated in the ad. His response was everything from "you're kidding me" to "are you nuts". In fractured English he responded "To have someone like you insisted on $200 10year old packed in a box filled with styrofoam and yet you insisted "must be double box" You obviously have no common sense of commercial ..."

The seller started to make outlandish statements. He said because I live in a third world country that must be the reason for the damage -- the post office must have abused the package. Next he said the tampering must have been dome by EMS. I pointed out to him that the package was flimsy and that in all the years I have been receiving EMS packages I have never had a single problem. We have FedEx and DHL here and I have never had a single problem with them either. Of course, the seller needed to find SOME reason to dismiss the validity of my report. Anything he could make up would do.

When he started to write insults I filed a PayPal dispute. He upped it to a claim. That's it for now. The $246 will not kill me if I lose it. That's not the point. The point is that he is saying I am responsible for the damage and the loss and that if I had wanted it double boxed I should have asked. Does this mean sellers are not responsible for proper packaging and that the onus is on the buyer in this department?

When I ship audio equipment -- and I ship all lover the world -- I make sure to double box and to put ample foam, bubble pack and/or Styrofoam peanuts in the boxes. I never ask the buyers what they want. They sometimes ask about boxing and I let them know the item will be carefully double boxed. In all the years I have never had a single problem with buyers regarding packaging.

Rx8man, yes, that is why I dislike the new Audiogon procedures.

Sabai, your only real recourse is negative feedback but that is quite limited in Audiogon. All that I can say is that I have had only two instances were packing was totally inadequate cause damage. One I noticed and refused it. The other I just got a broken piece and ended up repairing it enough to use.

Tbg,
I have submitted negative feedback to Audiogon. It has not appeared. I don't imagine it ever will. I am awaiting the decision from PayPal.

I find it rather humorous that the seller rated his offering at 7/10 on Audiogon but once I submitted my report to him and PayPal he started referring to it as mint. The condition of the unit magically improved after I reported damage and tampering.

Sabai,
Hope you get some restitution with this mess, only thing you can do in the
future is get ALL information up-front as much as entirely possible, covering
ALL necessary areas and probabilities, esp with high buck, heavy gear.

I had a horrible experience years ago shipping a pair of VAC monoblocks
that got destroyed from a FORKLIFT, went through the double boxes,
across the faceplates and crushed ALL but one KT-88, to say I was pissed
would be an understatement.

Luckily the buyer was an understanding dude and accepted the situation,
we got past it jumping through various hoops and bullshit.

Tbg,
Something needs to be implemented with this stupid email system between
members, it's ridiculous and I'm pretty darn sure people don't feel cozy
posting their private contact info publicly.