2. amps-preamps
  3. 127539-13093

NEED ADVISE ON AN AMPLIFIER TRANSACTION

I am hoping you folks can give me some opinions on what you would do in my current situation/transaction.
I listed an integrated amplifier here on Agon, a gentleman purchased it and I boxed the unit as absolutely bombproof as possible. From looking at the buyers other transactions it seems he is somewhere in South or Central America as he has a shipping agent in Miami that receives his shipments, and then sends packages on from there. It took quite a while to get to him and I received an email from him saying that the unit was not working. When I sent the unit it was in perfect working order. There is a little bit of a different turn on process with this amplifier as it has a power switch on the back that you turn on first, then you push the button on the front panel which puts the unit into standby mode. You then push that same button again to get it going into warm up mode which takes 9 seconds. I have explained this to him and the buyer says it is still not working. I then sent the instructions which I found online at the manufacturers website to make sure he understands. I don't know if there is a language barrier or not but I asked if the boxed was damaged and have not heard anything back. I would assume the buyer would have notified me if it was damaged as soon as he got the amplifier. What would you folks do in my situation? I have perfect feedback as I would never try to scam anybody and I over describe whatever I sell...I also package everything as bombproof as possible. So if the unit was working and there is no damage to the package what would you do? Refund his money and hope I get the unit back? Thanks for your insights and opinions.
sean34

Showing 3 responses by lucidear

lucidear
88 posts
 
Nope!
Receive your item first before issuing a refund... Period.
just like going to a store: first you hand over the cash then your item is handed to you, if you decide to return it then first you'll hand'em the item back they check it to make sure... Then you're handed your refund.
simple as that and no other way.

when you shipped it to him it was his or his agents responsibility to check for damages due to shipping and to inform him or you of the damages incurred so the shipping company you sent it through could inspect the item and verify if the damage happened through shipping. You are usually allowed a very short time period to inform your shipping company of this for good reason.
if there were no damages to the item due to shipping and it was just Doa, then he can send it back to you to inspect and then issue a refund. (Many companies require the same packaging as was used when shipped and not repackaging by the buyer to make sure it wasn't damaged in shipping)

remember though a transaction should always be based on good faith, meaning that if the item was really doa or whatever guarantees you provided him (if any was offered by you)  then he should be refunded his money once you get the item back in the same shape you sent it to him.
also hope both your electricities are the same, in other words he didn't connect a 120v item to 220v plug etc. ...
just my two cents
good luck.
lucidear
88 posts
 
Sean34,

so you know; PayPal gives the buyer 180 days to file a claim and would probably freeze the amount of purchase in your account.
they require the buyer to send the item back to you in the same shape it was sent to them, upon receipt ot the item and your approval of the condition you're required to issue a refund unless you file a claim that it was not in the same shape or a different item (different serial number etc.) was returned where they take it to another level and would review the case themselves and make a final judgement.

so I'd recommend that for future transaction you take pictures including the serial number and keep it for your protection.
hopefully this case won't go that route.

lucidear
88 posts
 
Sean,

at this point and if it was me I wouldn’t worry about this, the worst that can happen is he sends it back to you undamaged and you issue a refund.
in all probabilities like you said he figured how to turn it on.

to those who say don’t sell overseas, I humbly disagree. I sold many expensive photo equipments on ebay and the buyers were from all over the world: Hong Kong, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia etc.
never had a problem but one from Taiwan who said he didn’t receive a $450 filter I sent via USPS with proof of shipping and insured, but they didn’t provide online tracking, as he didn’t want to pay for fedex because "it was expensive"... Postal service said they checked with their counterparts in Taiwan and they informed that it was delivered but couldn’t provide proof... That was good enough for the post office to deny my insurance claim but not for paypal & ebay to rule against me.
So I learned my lesson to cover myself all the way, only send it with the likes of fedex, UPS, DHL etc. where they provide online tracking & fully insured with informing the buyer in the ad that customs delays or expenses are their responsibility... If they don’t wanna pay for those services then they can buy their stuff elsewhere. Never had a problem again.
like I said I wouldn’t worry about this until The buyer responds.
Good luck and Happy Holidays

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