$1000 amp shot! UPS catastrophy

blhagstrom

Mad Scientist, fixer.
Subscriber
Fellow AK're bought an amp on eBay.
Going rate, $1000+
Sony TA-N77ES

Didn't work on arrival. Got it to me to check it out.

Instantly obvious what the problem is.

Absolutely stunning.

Seller is trying for insurance claim but my bet is UPS will say, "insufficient packing".


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It pulled all the screws out of the plastic chassis, broke the amp board in two, bent all the transistor leads, actually folding many over. Tore some of the leads off the board.

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Bye bye nice amplifier.
 
Man.. That is real sad. Hope the insurance comes through.
 
For that to happen to a TAN77es, it must have completely cracked the mounting for the entire heatsink on the G-chassis.

That's a hell of a hit- that stuff is like cement- but brittle.

We can rebuild him; we have the technology... (apologies to Oscar Goldman and the six million dollar man)
 
I had a similar UPS disaster a while back--purchased a tube preamp off that auction site and had it shipped to me (only a couple states away). The box arrived with one crushed corner, but it had been packed to withstand Armageddon--double boxed with 2" of styrofoam sheets between the boxes, and custom-cut high density foam rubber in the inner box. The inner box showed no damage, and the preamp showed no physical damaged when unpacked. However, it must have been dropped from some insane distance, because the force of the impact literally sheared the transformer off of the board which then proceeded to shift around inside the case and mangle pretty much all of the other components on the boards--total loss. Took lots of pics, seller refunded my money without question, but I don't know how his insurance claim ended up being resolved.
 
I ship a lot of things and get a lot of things shipped in to me.

When I pack, I aim to protect the gear but allow for the packing to cushion.
The box is expendable.
I anticipate dropping so cushion on all sides that can take a hit, crush to protect.

Double boxing is supposed to allow a soft area between the inner box an outer box to absorb an impact.

What I see is people trying to make a solid block around the units.
No allowance for crushing.
A double box without cushion between is not the intent.
A sturdy solid box is nice but will not crush and the impact goes into the package.

Corners are the worst.
Many times, I leave the corners empty or only filled with stuff that can crush or give.

This had to fall a long ways to get enough impart to rip the screws out of the chassis.
At 50+ pounds, I doubt it was thrown.
UPS does throw packages. I know people that worked there.

I have gotten packages that were bullet proof.
Actual hand made crates.
But they didn't allow for cushion and padding.
Things got bent and broken.
The box looked great.

Shipping packages should be like the new cars.
In a crash, the car crumples and folds but the people are protected.

The amp in this case looks fine on the outside.
A little corner damage on the wood sides in back but that may be old.

The buyer said the package was "a little crumpled".

I've read too many stories about UPS claims failing.
I've had trouble with USPS claims (they are getting pissy).
FedEx above $100 is a problem, never had one of those actually pay off.

I guess I wanted to post just to show what damage impact will do and tell everyone to think about padding and let the box take a hit but the padding to absorb it.
 
I've had a couple of damaged items come across to me... or ones that I sent.

Always immediately document the damage both in writing and with pics. And when you communicate with the buyer or seller, ALWAYS use eBay's messaging system. That way, all of the conversation is available to eBay to see what and how the buyer and seller are communicating... which can make a difference.

Promptly inform the shipping agent of the damage... again in writing and pics.

I've shipped mostly with FedEx, and with well-documented photos in a timely manner, I've been reimbursed... or the buyer has been reimbursed.

But I've never had something as costly as a $1000 amp.

Best wishes and good luck!
 
Anyone who ships with UPS deserves exactly what they get if damaged, that may seem like a cruel thing to say but if anyone took the time to see the sheer percentage of complaints on this and other forums involving UPS versus USPS or FedEx then they still ship with them well you got what you deserved.


Regards Snow
 
^^^ +1 ^^^

I have never had an issue with FedEx Ground. If packed properly, you'll be golden with them.
 
FedEx is my go-to.
100s of shipments. very few issues.
(although the NE US seems to be dangerous, I had some weird shit happen out there)

I've seen UPS handling facilities. Cruel!
Never, never, never, ever!
 
i try to avoid buying things that need to be shipped, but that ebay be a foul temptress, yar.

i've been lucky so far, oddly the only real problem i had was ordering a new yamaha avr on prime day or some such. opened my pristine amazon box, to find a yamaha receiver box with what appeared to be a forklift hole in the side.

it works fine, it's been in use for a couple years.
 
I shipped a quad of tubes to someone USPS--the box arrived with tire tracks on it. Tubes were unharmed, since I always wrap them in tissue paper and cut pieces of PVC pipe to encase them,--but still--tire tracks--really?
 
Looks like people will have to start disassembling and also packing internally. Maybe packing the inside and outside with those expanding foam bags. Can't stop physics when something hits a wall and stops moving.
 
i try to avoid buying things that need to be shipped, but that ebay be a foul temptress, yar.

i've been lucky so far, oddly the only real problem i had was ordering a new yamaha avr on prime day or some such. opened my pristine amazon box, to find a yamaha receiver box with what appeared to be a forklift hole in the side.

it works fine, it's been in use for a couple years.

Amazon packing is often quite the deal. I just got a package from them that was a box about 10x bigger than it needed to be, with my two items placed loose inside that big box, no packing material at all. Zero, zilch, nada. Each of the two items was individually packaged in their retail/display box, but...

Needless to say, the bigger, heavier of the two items beat the crap out of the smaller one as they duked it out in the cage match.
 
Amazon packing is often quite the deal. I just got a package from them that was a box about 10x bigger than it needed to be, with my two items placed loose inside that big box, no packing material at all. Zero, zilch, nada. Each of the two items was individually packaged in their retail/display box, but...

Needless to say, the bigger, heavier of the two items beat the crap out of the smaller one as they duked it out in the cage match.

I hear you there--my last Amazon order came in a HUGE box with a couple of those "air pillows" in it and the product in its retail package with acres of dead space to spare. I was amazed that it was unharmed.
 
Amazon packing is often quite the deal. I just got a package from them that was a box about 10x bigger than it needed to be, with my two items placed loose inside that big box, no packing material at all. Zero, zilch, nada. Each of the two items was individually packaged in their retail/display box, but...

Needless to say, the bigger, heavier of the two items beat the crap out of the smaller one as they duked it out in the cage match.

I see that a lot.
Sometimes a piece of packing paper to float around in there too.

Amazon and the packers have no dog in the fight though.
If the item doesn't make it, they can just send another.
Retail loss is built into the price.
 
I hear you there--my last Amazon order came in a HUGE box with a couple of those "air pillows" in it and the product in its retail package with acres of dead space to spare. I was amazed that it was unharmed.

Oh, yeah, air pillows. Hate those.

Now Mouser knows how to pack. its almost crazy how good it is.
Digikey also.
 
I've gotten to the point that I get out my phone to take pictures of the box before I even open it. Pics along the way just to show how it was packed, and then of the item inside. If all is fine I just delete the pics but I figure it might be useful in case I end up with something destroyed in shipping.
 
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