Purchase on Audiogon arrived not as described


Hello,

I purchased a speaker pair through Audiogon that was listed as a 10/10 falwless pair. The speakers arrived damaged. They were not properly packed they were piano gloss finish and only packed woth a single layer of a very thin fabric cloth and one layer of bubble wrap in a flimsy single layer cardboard box single boxed.

The speakers arrived 11/30 (Thursday) and due to work I wasn't able to open the package until the night of 12/1 (Friday). I took photos of the unboxing process and I was surprised to see how little packaging therewas for a 50lb+ speaker pair with piano gloss finish. I was extremely careful unpacking the speakers and after unwrapping them I saw the damage. One speaker is busted on the bottom with a crack, the other speaker has 3 large strike marks and chips to the edge.

 

Within minutes of seeing the damage I contacted the seller. I have no way of knowing if the speakers were damaged in transit due to poor packaging or if the seller scammed me. I contacted the seller within minutes of seeing the damage and explained the situation. The seller immediately became defensive and said I had plenty of time to evaluate the speakers and that I probably didn't like them so I purposely damaged them. This offended me and was quite ridiculous. The speakers were at my house for one day and I didn't unbox them until I had the time the next day. The speakers have remained in the original packaging taking up space since this date.

 

I tried to communicate with the seller and the seller completely stopped answering messages through audiogon. I filed a dispute through Audiogon and linked the seller Audiogon's policy on selling and items not arriving in the condition listed. The staff at Audiogon managed to get ahold of the seller and told me the seller was not being reasonable. They advised me to file a PayPal claim. I filed my claim on 12/3 after spending two days communicating with the staff and trying to have them be a middleman to communicate between the seller and I. The seller never responded.

 

I have now been waiting for weeks on the dispute with paypal. The seller responded to the dispute and is fighting to keep my money. I offered to send the speakers back to the seller from the beginning and properly package them how I would have liked to receive them packed. I am worried about paypal being so slow and have heard stories of paypal siding with scammers before.

newtoaudio100

Guess I was lucky on my first and so far only purchase on Audiogon. Got exactly what was described. Personally, I would never buy monitor or bookshelf sized speakers that weren't listed as shipping in original packaging. For floor standers, regardless of packaging,  I would only consider sellers within a 3 to 5 hundred mile driving distance for a 'local' pick up. In our hobby, buyer's remorse really sucks because it usually has a high price tag and even higher expectations attached to it. Hope there is a happy ending for the OP.

First you have to ship the speakers back , just  ship and don’t say anything ,no signature required, once you do this call your credit card company if that’s how you paid  and file a claim ,either way even Ppal will not refund you until the item is returned, I had this happen and then the seller refused shipping , 

Be smart just ship ,No Signature required and take pictures showing the speakers how received , any damage to boxes 📦, and re ship. But ship back asap , and follow tracking. Once back you have to get a refund. And with PayPal escalate the claim  but 100% it has to show they were shipped back and tracking and Delivery 

I have been through this several times in the past.

Not having the original boxes is usually a deal breaker especially speakers.

Did the pictures in the ad not show those areas of the speakers? And did the pictures appear "stock"? Another red flag. I have been very fortunate with my hundreds of purchases. One negative hundred dollar used dac that did not work. Wrote that off. 

 

Considering the poor and insulting response from the seller, it seems possible that the speakers were, in fact, damaged prior to shipping. Packing poorly makes it easy to blame the shipper or buyer for the damage. 
 

The more I get to know people, the more I like my dog. 

I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. It’s horrifically sad when there are those that simply choose not to take care and pride in quality components and the community in whole. The very reason for this is for others to be able to experience the joy you’ve had with a piece of equipment, or get even better use out of something that may not have worked out for you - at a better price than retail. It’s a system that should be predicated on trust. Until some selfish problematic jackhole decides to screw that up. Hope PayPal comes through for you 🙏🏼