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
My family live there so if you scam me, they will pay you a visit, ahah joke only Merry Christmas to all and a happy New year...
Its your decision to refund, but if you do and there's any type of shipping claim, both parties have to work with the shipper in order to process any type of claim. If you refund the money before a claim is settled, you lose. 

In the event of a claim, what I do is get the process started and tell the shipper not to send payment to me, but have it go right to the buyer. Then, I contact the buyer and give him all the info on the claim so they can follow the process themselves. This puts the buyer at ease because they can see what's going on and not wonder if you are telling them the truth. The buyer will also be required to fill out paperwork and make arrangements to get the amp back to the shipper. This way works well because you already got paid for the amp and you have leverage with the buyer so they follow through on their end, as well. The whole thing just takes care of itself.

I'm assuming, of course, that the amp is still in the US and a legit shipping claim can be made. If the amp is somewhere in S America, keep your money in your pocked and the above infor for future reference.
I agree on everything you said. The amp is in Chili and I've heard nothing since asking for pictures so at this point I'm not inclined to go any further.

Hi Sean,

How was the transaction paid for? PayPal and shipped to the verified address on file? Wire transfer?
Yes it was paid for via PayPal and shipped to the verified address. I still have not heard back since sending instructions on how to operate the amp and asked for pictures of any damage, so I think the buyer probably got it turned on.