[UncleDavid218]

Hi all,

I shipped an amplifier to a buyer in California last week from Minnesota. It was packaged in the factory double box surrounded by foam and very well secured. It arrived yesterday so I shot the guy a quick email asking if it arrived in sufficient condition and if everything seemed to be working alright. He messaged me back informing me that it physically arrived intact (at 56LBs this is a good thing!) but there was humming from the left and right channels. The amp was in perfect working condition when I sent it away as I had listened to it 10 minutes prior to shipping. Anyway, he wants a refund and I guess I can't disagree with him. The problem with audio equipment, though, is that the humming could really be coming from anywhere within the system and it's completely possible that it is something in his system (he insists it isn't).

So my real question is, if I have him return the amp to me and I refund him the money ($500) how does the UPS insurance process work? I already spent the money he sent me, but I can swing $500 as long as I know I'm going to get it back. I just don't want to be left with a broken amplifier that I can't sell or otherwise use (and I already bought a replacement so I really don't have any use for it). And if it is a problem within his system, I will be out almost $60 in shipping and then I'll have to deal with reselling it. It was insured for $500 and I have pictures of the packaging. The seller did not mention if there were any signs of drop damage, but that's what would have caused it.

Does Head-Fi have any insight (it was sold on AudiogoN)? Thanks.

 

[UncleDavid218]

By the way, the peanuts are just there for filler. There is a styrofoam insert that the amp is sitting in.

 

[vcoheda]

UPS: Damaged Package Claims Process

my guess is that if there is no damage to the box, they will claim inadequate packaging.

 

[UncleDavid218]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif UPS: Damaged Package Claims Process my guess is that if there is no damage to the box, they will claim inadequate packaging.

Which I'm afraid of and really don't understand. It was boxed excellently and the amp had no wiggle room at all save for the padding the foam had around it.

 

[koven]

First of all, if there's no visible damage to the box, don't even bother filing a claim, it'll be a waste of time.

Second, is he sure it's not a ground loop? It sure sounds like a ground loop to me.

The reason I say this is from my past experience, I've also bought a used amp from a very reputable seller who told me it was working perfectly, I believed him but was quite puzzled at what was causing the hum. After getting some advice, all it took was $3 for a ground loop adapter from RadioShack, and the hum disappeared.

 

[DaveBSC]

My guess is also a ground loop. UPS will reimburse you only if you can show them that the box was damaged, or if the driver reported that the box was dropped. Does the amp show any signs of impact on its case? Ask him if he's willing to try plugging it in with a cheater plug.

When I sold my old Parasound I put a cheater plug in the box with the amp because they are notorious for ground loop hum.

 

[UncleDavid218]

I have been asking him via email to check for ground loop and he just seems to ignore that part of the email. He's being completely uncooperative. He opened up a Pay Pal dispute and wants me to refund him the money before he sends it back to me. I keep telling him that UPS will come TO HIS HOUSE to look at the amp and it will require literally no interaction from him (he just leaves it on his doorstep before class/work/whatever). He thinks I'm trying to scam him. So I gave him all my info: address, full name, phone number, email address, Social Security Number (kidding on that last one).

 

[the search never ends]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleDavid218 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been asking him via email to check for ground loop and he just seems to ignore that part of the email. He's being completely uncooperative. He opened up a Pay Pal dispute and wants me to refund him the money before he sends it back to me. I keep telling him that UPS will come TO HIS HOUSE to look at the amp and it will require literally no interaction from him (he just leaves it on his doorstep before class/work/whatever). He thinks I'm trying to scam him. So I gave him all my info: address, full name, phone number, email address, Social Security Number (kidding on that last one).

I may be wrong, but if he is not willing to work with you, keep all communications, and he probably will lose the dispute, if not, I don't understand why. It only seems reasonable that he has to work with you to at least some degree.

 

[koven]

It seems like he just regrets his purchase and is being shady about it. Sucks that you got such a bad buyer, those are rare, did you check his Audiogon feedback first?

In any case, definitely do NOT refund his money until you get the amp back in your hands.

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleDavid218 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been asking him via email to check for ground loop and he just seems to ignore that part of the email. He's being completely uncooperative. He opened up a Pay Pal dispute and wants me to refund him the money before he sends it back to me. I keep telling him that UPS will come TO HIS HOUSE to look at the amp and it will require literally no interaction from him (he just leaves it on his doorstep before class/work/whatever). He thinks I'm trying to scam him. So I gave him all my info: address, full name, phone number, email address, Social Security Number (kidding on that last one).

Your situation sucks but unfortunately you don't really have much say in the matter. Since he's filed a dispute, you won't have to refund his money until you get the amp back but from experience, they will in all likely hood rule in his favor. He will be forced to pay shipping back to you and you will have to refund his payment in entirety upon receipt of the amplifier.

That aside though, why would UPS need to come look at the package? There's no damage to the external box which means you have no chance at a claim. Even if there was evidence it was dropped, it's very hard to get them to claim responsibility without physical damage to the amplifier itself. Second, you want him to leave a $500 amp on his doorstep while he goes off to work? I'm sorry to say I wouldn't agree to that either. The best course of action here is to just have him ship the amp back and cut your losses.

 

[UncleDavid218]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your situation sucks but unfortunately you don't really have much say in the matter. Since he's filed a dispute, you won't have to refund his money until you get the amp back but from experience, they will in all likely hood rule in his favor. He will be forced to pay shipping back to you and you will have to refund his payment in entirety upon receipt of the amplifier. That aside though, why would UPS need to come look at the package? There's no damage to the external box which means you have no chance at a claim. Even if there was evidence it was dropped, it's very hard to get them to claim responsibility without physical damage to the amplifier itself. Second, you want him to leave a $500 amp on his doorstep while he goes off to work? I'm sorry to say I wouldn't agree to that either. The best course of action here is to just have him ship the amp back and cut your losses.

He also will not tell me if there was damage or not - I don't know if there was or wasn't. Also, I was kind of exaggerating on that leaving it on the doorstep

Sarcasm doesn't rub off to well online sometimes.

He has good AudiogoN feedback but he really doesn't have a lot of feedback.

 

[mrarroyo]

Just have the buyer send the amp back to you on his dime. Then and only after you receive it do you refund the monies. If the amp works fine leave the appropriate feedback.

FWIW, I think the buyer is remorseful he purchased the amp and is being shady about it so he can get a refund. If so that sucks big time.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif It seems like he just regrets his purchase and is being shady about it. Sucks that you got such a bad buyer, those are rare, did you check his Audiogon feedback first?

This might possibly be the case.

I once sold a perfectly fine amp to someone here. He got the amp, told it fine. A week later, he told me it had noisy hum, which I doubted. Anyway, I agreed to take it back and refunded him. To my (un)surprise, when I got it back, the amp worked like charm. It sucks to have shady buyer.