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Question about shipping damage

I recently sold an amp and when the buyer received it he contacted me stating that the "speaker a" binding post were broken but the smp powered up and worked fine. Then I received another message from the buyer stating that one channel went out and the other was distorting.

I had taken the amp to a UPS store to have it packed and I watched the attendant pack it. She did a really good job of packing it with several sheets of bubble wrap and foam and then double boxed it (packing peanuts in the outer box).

The buyer even commented on how well it was packed. I insured it for more than the value so I think I'm covered.

My question is how to proceed from here. The buyer said the box was undamaged so I am mystified as to how the binding posts could get damaged and further more what could cause the amp to distort.

Has any one ever had this happen? If so what course of action did you take with UPS. Should I have the amp sent back and file the claim or contact UPS immediately and then have a pick-up scheduled.

Any direction or words of wisdom are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
chrshanl37

Showing 2 responses by elizabeth

elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
UPS stores are actually net very good at packing. Right off 'bubble wrap' is crap on heavy items. It cannot 'hold' the amp in place, the amp has way too much mass. So anything sticking out will get wacked.. like the speaker posts.
IMO the UPS store is responsible for 'poor packing'.
Bubble wrap an amp is rediculous. Yo need solid foam to hold it.
Bubble wrap is for a few ounces. not 40 pounds of steel.
If the person at the UPS store is too dumb to know what to do to make the package safe then they are responsible.
Just because they think it is what they are supposed to do does not protect them. they are just idiots disguised as experts. They do not know crap about packing anything.

So sueing the UPS store.. and realizing UPS stores are useless at packing and know that you failed to protect the shipment and should just pay up is the other option.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I go to a foam wholesaler. They always have tons of foam scrap CHEAP. As much as I can carry $8.

The foam is dense. White when new it soon (a year of so) starts to turn yellow.
Cuts with a knife. (needs to be sharp. and needs resharpening when cutting foam)
3" thick dense foam all around, and Yes you can drop your item 6 ft onto concrete and no problem.
(though depending on transformer and how it is stuck in there it may want to move in a different direction than the rest of the Amp case... Nothing you can do about that unless you open the case and support it.. usually big standard square types are in danger, toroid usually are bolted down really well)

i have shipped heavy amps using this sort of foam. Never a problem.
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