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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
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Agree this particular can of worms just is always a problem.
Both poor packaging and late complaints.
When i ship i make certain the item can be used as a football in a really ROUGH game, or dropped 20 feet. Because both have happened to stuff i got.

The 'used as football' came from China, and the foam saved the item 100%, I was amazed.

And yeah the idiots who stick a heavy item in a box of loose peanuts wins the idiot award every time.
And shipping is the senders problem. Any damage ultimately goes to the sender as the fall guy, if insurance fails to cover it.

I buy scrap foam, solid, and have several inches around all sides if i do not have the original packaging.

As for late complaints? over a week after item received.. forget it. No longer my problem.
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
Equipment should be packaged to ensure safe shipping. Not all who sell are professionals though so, mistakes can happen more often than otherwise. Its a risk. Best for the buyer to confirm details of how gear will be shipped with the seller beforehand just to be sure.
foster_9
1,610 posts
 
You are a tough seller Elizabeth regarding issues after receiving a unit- So if there is any issue after 7 days beyond receipt of the product by the buyer, it's the buyer's problem and not the seller's? Seems a bit unreasonable to me. For me, due to a hectic summer schedule where I was out of town 2 weekends in a row, it was 9 days after delivery before I connected a newly purchased, used tube preamp in my system. When I connected it to my setup, it did not work properly, but there was no damage to the shipping carton or the preamp. It was packed properly, other than the tubes (8) being left in the preamp during shipping. I did not complain about this, although the tubes should have been taken out (in fact I did not think to mention the tubes being left in). I guess my inexperience with tubed equipment is why I did not think about the tubes being left in the preamp. I emailed the seller who is a real gentleman, great communicator and seems to be a very nice guy, and after discussing the situation with the preamp manufacturing service center, I'm shipping the preamp for service. The seller agreed to split the cost of service since the preamp is not working properly. I think this is reasonable and fair by the seller. I'm glad his attitude is not as rigid as yours regarding the days that have gone by since the preamp was delivered. I will say that it is "my bad" that I did not address with the seller, the fact that the tubes were not taken out of the preamp and boxed separately for shipping, but again it was my inexperience and forgetting one of the rules of shipping tubed gear. In fact, I should have remembered this rule since I once owned a tubed preamp (Cary SLP 05) with 8 tubes, and when I sold it, I shipped it with the tubes in separate boxes, the same way I received it.
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,355 posts
 
Careful handling during shpping would be nice, but now days the entire world's in a hurry, time = money.

I put fragile labels everywhere, with heavy insurance, things get thrown harder.

I witnessed it numerous times from the conveyors, the trucks, to the doorstep.

Pack well or pay later.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
You are a tough buyer Foster_9, I think Elizabeth's rule of 7 days is adequate. The buyer has to assume some liability in this transaction and checking the gear out promptly should be expected. After all, we are not dealers selling new product here, we are hobbyists selling used gear. I think a week is sufficient time for a buyer to check out for damage. If over a week, I'd be willing to help the buyer recover possible damage claims....but you snooze, you lose in the used market. Overall I think if you don't have time to listen in a timely fashion that should become a factor in your purchasing decision. Maybe you need to buy from a dealer instead of a hobbyist. After all, how long is the seller suppose to be strung out? 10 days? 2 weeks? 1 month? 3 months? 1 year? In a previous reply here, I said I had a buyer come back to me 6 weeks after purchase and say he finally got around to trying the phono stage and that it was not working. It worked perfectly when I shipped it, how long should I wait for a buyer to honor his end of the bargain and check out the gear?

This is off-topic, since the OP did not indicate that there was a time delay before opening his new toys. If the items arrive and damage is immediately noted, the seller should hold full responsibility.
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