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Audiogon members poor packing and shipping damage

Need to get this off my chest and hope it will help other members avoid shipping damage claims. I recently purchased a preamp and a pair of Magnepan 3.7 speakers off Audiogon. I am going to keep this general and leave out the member names. Both items arrived damaged and IMHO the root cause is largely very poor and careless packing.

The 3.7's had the ends of the box secured with one narrow piece of strapping tape on each end which came off during shipping and the ends of the box flapping wide open along with the outer box loose where it should have been taped. With the preamp the seller did not bother to remove the tubes or install the protective screws on the bottom that protect the internals from shipping damage.

In both instances I have taken on trying to get the problems resolved, so far at my expense, and I am just aggravated at having to do this.

I would never think of letting any piece of audio equipment leave my house so poorly packed. I routinely take hours to carefully pack and also to document the entire process with digital pics so if there are any issues with shipping I have good documentation. If you read my feedback it reflects the extra effort I take. No one will ever be able to say there was shipping damage due to my poor packing job and no box I pack is going to arrive open.

I don't know how other Audiogon members feel about this or how many other members have experienced this problem but I just want to point out that sellers have an obligation to the buyers to pack the items correctly. As we all know shipping damage claims are a super pain for all involved and especially the buyer. Right now I've got one claim going with a major shipping company and it will be weeks if I am lucky to get a resolution and my money back and also get the 3.7's back from the factory.

Just a ton of inconvenience and aggravation when I should have been able to unpack, set up, and enjoy.
etmerritt33
tbg
5,263 posts
 
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.
sabai
2,027 posts
 
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.
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,484 posts
 
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.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,668 posts
 
FWIW, for larger or more fragile more costly items that are more problematic to ship safely, I usually try to hold out for a seller that is closer to me whenever possible in order to minimize shipping risks involved. Ideally, I will wait for something to come up within driving distance so I can pick up and avoid shipping totally. I know this is harder to do for those who live in more remote locations, but still a worthwhile thing to consider for those who might benefit.
sabai
2,027 posts
 
I had a recent near-death experience with a pair of speakers that arrived within a fraction of destruction. The box was dropped from a height. I was lucky -- thanks to my insistence on TRIPLE boxing.

I was not so lucky recently with another poor-packaging shipment. The Ebay seller finagled a positive feedback from me with the promise of a refund. He ended up with the positive, the goods and the money.

This time round I hope I'll be lucky -- waiting on the PayPal claim.
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