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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
sabai
2,027 posts
 
Polk432,
I just read where I will have to pay for return shipping to the seller. That means upwards of $100 not including the $46 in shipping I have already paid -- for a $200 item. I decided to end the dispute. It does not make any sense to throw good money after bad. I was caught in a similar bind a while back and PayPal requested the seller put the money back in my account. He did not follow through and there was nothing to stop him. Then PayPal reversed themselves on a technicality. The seller ended up with the goods and the money. Which could well happen again in this case. The heck with it. This is not worth all the hassle.
polk432
1,142 posts
 
Send some pot to the local police station in his area with his return address on it and a note stating that the cops will never stop him.
sabai
2,027 posts
 
Polk432,
I appreciate your sense of humor.
polk432
1,142 posts
 
Sabai, I wasn't being funny. If you win the case paypal pays you back then goes after the seller. The whole police dept. would be loaded before I got through with that seller. I wish you and/or anyone else that is in the same situation the best of luck. Sounds like payback time.
sabai
2,027 posts
 
Polk432,
I threw in the towel. The cost of shipping the item back plus the fact that I can get screwed even if I do puts an end to this. I was caught in this bind before with PayPal. They reversed themselves and the seller ended up with the returned item and the money. I'm too old to play these games anymore for a couple of hundred dollars.
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