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I need some advise on a shipping disaster.

I recently purchased a pair of speakers on Audiogon.  The price I offered was accepted and I sent the payment promptly.  The seller in return shipped the 2 speakers promptly and sent me the tracking numbers.  One of the speakers was delivered the next day and UPS has lost the other speaker.  The seller has put in a lost package investigation however UPs has not recovered the speaker.  It has been 8 days since the lost investigation has started.
I come to find out that the package was only insured for only half of what I paid for the whole package and it would cost twice that to replace the lost speaker new. So even if UPS cannot find the speaker and pay the insurance claim I cannot even replace the missing speaker for the amount of the claim.  
I'm not sure how to go about solving this issue.  I purchased and paid for a full set of speakers and only have 1.  
Any suggestion on what I should do next?  Has anyone ever experienced an issue such as this?  Does Audiogon have policies around issues such as this?

Thank you,
Vince
vtdragani
oldschool1
36 posts
 
Funny, no one in this thread mentioned use of PayPal. They cover the buyer and seller. I wouldn’t buy anything without using PayPal. It doesn’t matter if you buy through Agone, Craigslist, or any other internet market. Just to CYA, whenever you buy anything of value, do your due diligence and get on the phone with PayPal and ASK QUESTIONS> I bought an Anthem P5 and made sure everything was straight before sending funds. This unit weighs in at a hefty 135 lbs. The UPS store packed it, I had it insured and a few days later it arrived at my local UPS depot. I wasn't gong to chance one more person handling this behemoth package than necessary.
Another thing to note, Anytime you ship, take it to a UPS store or FedEx store and have THEM package it. Even if you have the original packing material, which should be sufficient because thats how it was shipped to the selling dealer when new. I make sure everything is double boxed and FedEx does the packing. Let them take the responsibility! It’s worth the extra cost!
I hope you receive your speaker undamaged.....
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Funny, no one in this thread mentioned use of PayPal. They cover the buyer and seller. I wouldn’t buy anything without using PayPal.

Actually, the only value of PayPal is the ability to use a credit card.

The one time I had a problem receiving a damaged preamp about 10 years ago, Audiogon and PayPal proved absolutely worthless.

The bank that backed my credit card used through PayPal saved the day. They refunded my money, and had me ship the preamp directly to PayPal, thereby leaving me and my bank out of the transaction.
Now it was down to PayPal and the seller. I assume PayPal won, but who knows?

I have never heard of PayPal protecting a seller.
That would make an interesting story....
leotis
151 posts
 
PayPal helped me out on a bad transaction once. Worked out well. UPS lost a receiver on me once. Got a refund, though I had to hassle with eBay a bit. The receiver showed up a month later, looking a bit beat up.
UPS lost a subwoofer on me once. Seller sent me a replacement and it arrived somewhat beat up. I managed to repair it. I’ve had other items damaged in transit (Equitech 2RQ = 90 lbs) Shipping heavy items can be a gamble. Shipping expensive stuff always a worry. Prefer local purchase when possible, even if more expensive.
gregorybraun's avatar
gregorybraun
21 posts
 

PayPal and a Credit Card are a buyer's ONLY protection. Audiogon has no means of protecting the buyer, as I recently found out. The Audiogon specialist I spoke with had no way of resolving the problem so I called PayPal and they refunded my purchased within 24 hours!

Here's what I got from PayPal the next day!

We have concluded our investigation into your case and have decided in your favor.

We were able to recover $2,479.61 USD and this amount has been credited to you. Please allow five business days for this adjustment to be posted.

If you are due any additional funds, we will make our best effort to recover the balance from the seller.

If the seller's account has insufficient funds to complete the refund owed to you, please be assured that we will take appropriate action against the seller's account, which may include limitation of the seller's account privileges.


PayPal saved the day, as the Audiogon seller had no intention of refunding my money, he lied to both me and the Audiogon agent about having issued a refund when he had not.

It was PayPal that protected me, and took the money from his account to reimburse me.

I've bought several items on Audiogon and aside from this one problem the sales have always gone without a hitch, but it only takes one bad experience to make you appreciate PayPal's buyer protections.

  -gb-

iloveromy
3 posts
 
The Audiogon rep's advice was right on and was solved my problem when my purchase went very bad:  contact Tammy at Audiogon.

I bought a pair of amps from a dealer in Florida--my first Audiogon transaction. Not only did he ship me the wrong amps, but he also refused to cancel the sale. He insisted that I send back the wrong amps, and he would then send me the ones I had bought. The amps he sent me, however, arrived in damaged crates--one had the lid swinging open--so sending them back was problematic.  And so was agreeing to complete the transaction.

When I brought this to Audiogon's attention, Tammy was right on it.  She even called me promptly to help.  And when she contacted the dealer, he was suddenly very eager to make things right. Soon thereafter, the dealer's driver picked up the amps, and I had a full refund.

Yay, Tammy!
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