Advice Sought: FedEx broke my amp - UPDATE: VICTORY

[Rayneman]

So:

I sold my like-new Bogner Twin Jet to a forumite. I packed this Twin Jet in the packaging in which it came - the Bogner box and original packing materials (basically a thick foam "skeleton" that fit around amp as it sits in the box). I shipped it FedEx ground (as I always do in the 25+ amp sales/trades I've made) valued at $2,250 (original asking price, pretty much what they go for used, give or take). I've had amps delivered to me with nothing but styrene peanuts and I've never had anything like this happen when getting or shipping amps.

Anyway, the amp shows up to my buyer, he opens the box, and notices the bottom right side is completely split at the joint, with wood fragments and whatnot. The power tubes look shifted and he said the transformer(s) appeared to be loosened or moved. So, needless to say he wants nothing to do with the amp of course...who knows what could be wrong with it. He didn't turn it on and it sits where it was delivered.

I filed a claim with FedEx, and althought they've assigned a case number to it, they cannot proceed until they receive documentation via mail or fax. They are looking for basically photos, proof of value, etc...

I've never had this happen so I am wondering if any of my fine brethren here have gone through this and have any advice or "must-dos" when this happens. I am assembling a package to send them which includes the documentation of the full retail of the amp, the proof that I purchased it, the proof that the buyer purchased it from me (PayPal documentation) and before and after pics. I've also tried to find some used Twin Jets on ebay but none are to be found, so I had to print a few older for sale ads which show the used prices of the amp at around the $2,250 I valued it.

SUMMARY: sold like-new amp, Fedex somehow drops amp or does something with it to cause the amp's shell to crack and probably cause other internal damage. Opened claim with them, am putting together documentation.

I would hope the a manufacturer's packing material would be deemed sufficient for FedEx, and if so, it seems pretty cut and dry and they busted the amp in shipping. However, from what I've read, they will screw me irrespective of the proof. I have been advised to then go to small claims court!! Uncharted territory for me for sure!

What say ye besides "you're fucked."

I've posted a similar thread in another forum, fyi.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

You'll need the following.

1) Proof of value, what you paid, what the buyer paid, or eBay completed auctions of the amp.
2) Pictures of the box, packing, damage to the amp.
3) File a claim (you can do this online I think) using your tracking # or on the phone. If you can file online, you can upload pictures of the damage.
4) They will contact you for inspection of an insured item of $2200, as they would for any damage over $300 I believe.

I've had to do this 6 or 7 times in six years of shipping with Fedex Ground. Keep in mind, I ship out 80-90 packages per month, so based on 1000 shipments per year over 6 years, that's not a ridiculous amount.

Now UPS? Just f**king shoot me, please. I got my first shipment of my new metal handles in two days ago. They shipped three boxes to me, one had the entire corner ripped off four inches tall, three inches wide. Haven't checked to see if any of those handles are (or how many) are damaged, but you know there's going to be a few with that size of hole. In keeping track of UPS damaged packages shipped to me, this makes 15 out of 19 in six years.

I did have to sue UPS in small claims for one package, and I did win. I've never had to do that with Fedex.

 

[RockStarNick]

Everything that Jim said, and:

Next time - double box!!!!!

 

[nbarts]

I'm finding it hard to imagine the length of the distance it should have been dropped for such damage.

 

[Rayneman]

I'm finding it hard to imagine the length of the distance it should have been dropped for such damage.

No shit.

We've all seen the infamous vid where the one guy (who I think is a forumite) trips and drops his Uber onto the cement and IT DOESN'T BREAK. That was staged of course, but the point being that we've seen amps fall with no protection and not break (at least the headshell)...what could they have done to cause this?

 

[Roland]

THIS

You'll need the following.

1) Proof of value, what you paid, what the buyer paid, or eBay completed auctions of the amp.
2) Pictures of the box, packing, damage to the amp.
3) File a claim (you can do this online I think) using your tracking # or on the phone. If you can file online, you can upload pictures of the damage.
4) They will contact you for inspection of an insured item of $2200, as they would for any damage over $300 I believe.

Tell your buyer he needs to take pictures of the amp for you and e-mail them to you.

You have one of two options:

1. Your buyer paid for insurance, it wasn't your fault FedEx killed the amp; buyer waits for claim to end to get his money

2. You refund the buyer his money and you wait for the claim to come thru

From what I understand about Bogner, I've filed a claim on an UBerKab once, all their boxes are regulated to pass FedEx and UPS's claim requirements. On the cab, I was shit out of luck. The buyer made me wait; I was fine with that I paid for the insurance, but the fucking bitch keep the money and I had tell UPS to go get fucked and they couldn't have the cab back. It was a new cab and the box was pierced twice and the cab had two small tolex tears. I'm guessing they made the sell refund the check that they gave him.

 

[Sixtonoize]

I've got no advice, but I'm sending you all the mojo I can.
Good luck, man. I hope you get compensated.


...



This is why I buy all of my Ubers with pre-broken headshells

 

[Ancient Alien]

I was paid in full for 2 amps. One from Fedex, the other UPS.
Like Jim said, if you have all the documentation, you will be fine.
It may take a week or so, but they will pay.
I can't stress enough how important it is to tell the claims person that it WAS factory packaging.
They MUST pay as per their own guidelines.
And stay on top of them to speed up the process.

http://images.fedex.com/ca_english/ship ... ochure.pdf

 

[Roland]

I'm finding it hard to imagine the length of the distance it should have been dropped for such damage.

If you've ever been to a UPS shipping faculty then you know how easy it is for this type of shit to happen!

I picked up my ENGL Powerball I had ordered and it was coming via UPS. The drive said I wasn't home but that cock sucker is a liar, I was home all day with a view to the street. As I was waiting guys were unloading trucks (USP vans) and as they were rolling along non powered metal roller belt (see image). One of the packages placed wrong (all done by humans) on the metal rollers was sent on it's way down to the next guy in line. I saw it veered off and fall at least 5 feet to the floor. One of two guys said, "looks like some one has to file a claim," then they both laughed and continued working while the big box lay on the floor with it's contents possibly broken.

The metal roller conveyor belt was about 3 feet high, and it stood on top of a 3-4 foot cement block. It ran from one side of the building to the other; this was after 6-7pm. A few of the UPS shipping vans were backed up to the belt and were being unloaded.




Bottom Right side
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/06X ... b/610x.jpg

 

[Roland]

I can't stress enough how important it is to tell the claims person that it WAS factory packaging.
They MUST pay as per their own guidelines.
And stay on top of them to speed up the process.

http://images.fedex.com/ca_english/ship ... ochure.pdf

VERY IMPORTANT POINTS!

I have to get back to work. I hope this works out for you bro. I'm really sorry this happened to you.

You need to get on the buyers ass to not be such a fucking douche bag. This happened to both of you! If he keeps fucking around they could deny your claim. You have to be mindful of stupid people. If he leaves the package outside and it gets stole, that's it! DONE SON!

 

[Rayneman]

I've got no advice, but I'm sending you all the mojo I can.
Good luck, man. I hope you get compensated.


...



This is why I buy all of my Ubers with pre-broken headshells

I still have that headshell. My ultimate goal is to cover it with some crazy-ass tolex and put my XTC into it.

Thanks for all the advice. My buyer did take pics which he sent to me. There's no doubt the damage is there. I suppose FedEx will come and get the amp from him...

There's just levels of awesomeness here. I started out on this fucking quest to get some $$ for the Twin Jet to pay for some sudden bills that popped up. Since nobody wants to buy the amp, and I'm sniffing around the classifieds...I start to get the itch. One thing leads to another and though I find a buyer for the Twin Jet, I also buy another amp!! Hooray!! Then, fucking my new amp shows up on the very day Fedex busts my Twin Jet! Hooray. FUCK. Talk about a shitty NAD. Of course I know my Twin Jet guy had a shitty NAD as well.

So, I now I have a new amp HOORAY...and a busted amp, which is essentially a several thousand dollar cloud of shit hovering over my head. Awesome! Oh well. Things could be worse.

But, damnit, they broke this amp. Fucking FedEx.

 

[RedB4Black]

Suck to hear man. Hopefully it works out for you.

I for one assume they are actually trying to fuck up my stuff when I ship. I always end up double-boxing everying (even amps where I pack it in the manufacturers box) and use alot of cushioning. Always take pictures as I'm packing to prove the way it was packed.

I just got a box from UPS yesterday that looked like an accordian. Fortunately, It only held a speaker cable, which wasn't damaged.

 

[NinjaRaf]

I almost always ship USPS. I shipped an amp few months back that got there damaged. Got a couple pictures from the buyer, screen shot of what he paid, and a copy of the insurance receipt. I was able to file a claim online and attach everything to it. 5 days later, I get a check in the mail. Couple years ago, we had a new USPS delivery guy, and Im pretty sure he stole about 180 dollars of stuff from me including an mp3 player, some tshirts, a pedal, and some other random things. They never got to me. Of course, the shippers didnt insure, so I was SOL in those cases...all happened in a weeks time too. ALWAYS GET INSURANCE. I typically find USPS to be faster and more reliable, considering all the horror stories I hear about fedex and UPS, plus they are usually cheaper too.

 

[Mailman1971]

I almost always ship USPS. I shipped an amp few months back that got there damaged. Got a couple pictures from the buyer, screen shot of what he paid, and a copy of the insurance receipt. I was able to file a claim online and attach everything to it. 5 days later, I get a check in the mail. Couple years ago, we had a new USPS delivery guy, and Im pretty sure he stole about 180 dollars of stuff from me including an mp3 player, some tshirts, a pedal, and some other random things. They never got to me. Of course, the shippers didnt insure, so I was SOL in those cases...all happened in a weeks time too. ALWAYS GET INSURANCE. I typically find USPS to be faster and more reliable, considering all the horror stories I hear about fedex and UPS, plus they are usually cheaper too.

+100 on this!

I shipped an amp to a guy thru USPS.
Fully insured.
Amp got there fine but the tubes were broken.
Took some pics of the Broken tubes.....had my receipts. Filed a claim online...
within 3 days I had a check for the replacement costs of the tubes.

 

[nateispro]

well when i bought my mark iv combo from guitar center, it was shipped UPS and grant it everyone has problems with UPS, but this thing was 90 pounds. so it sat on the floor of the trucks, when i opened it up, it was double boxed had foam inserts AND packing peanuts and the side of the combo was split apart just like your head. We had before and after pictures and UPS still denied my claim. It took me 6 months before anyone budged on who was going to pay for it, so don't give up, eventually you'll get it figured out

 

[Rayneman]

Here's some funny shit. I assembled all my documentation to send to Fedex. I took this to Fedex to overnight to them, and....oh shit, they won't deliver to themselves because their claims department is a PO Box. Fucking employee won't help me find the street address so I call them from the store (I call Fedex from Fedex to see about Fedex shipping to Fedex) and they say the claims department has no street address. I just wanted to either go batshit or just lay down and cry. However, I went to the post office where they thankfully would mail my shit to Fedex.

What a day.

 

[Zacman0126]

Here's some funny shit. I assembled all my documentation to send to Fedex. I took this to Fedex to overnight to them, and....oh shit, they won't deliver to themselves because their claims department is a PO Box. Fucking employee won't help me find the street address so I call them from the store (I call Fedex from Fedex to see about Fedex shipping to Fedex) and they say the claims department has no street address. I just wanted to either go batshit or just lay down and cry. However, I went to the post office where they thankfully would mail my shit to Fedex.

What a day.

Yo dawg we herd you like Fedex so....

 

[bikerdude2]

Been thru this a few times. What sucked, was one was a Bogner Fish Preamp well packed, and the other was a Mesa Mark 2C+ Combo shipped in a Roadcase no less. Besides for following the advise that has been given, I also wrote a letter to UPS, stating I have had over 120 Transactions on Ebay, 100% positive feedback, sold countless other high end guitars and amps since 2003, and those facts didn't bear out that I would be trying to file a fraugilent(spelling?) claim. The Fish claim was paid (repair sent to Bogner) The Mesa claim, the buyer chose not to release the amp to UPS to inspect as he didn't want to give them the chance to damage it again, but there's no doubt UPS would have paid the claim by following the good advice listed above. Best of luck!

 

[Rayneman]

Here's some funny shit. I assembled all my documentation to send to Fedex. I took this to Fedex to overnight to them, and....oh shit, they won't deliver to themselves because their claims department is a PO Box. Fucking employee won't help me find the street address so I call them from the store (I call Fedex from Fedex to see about Fedex shipping to Fedex) and they say the claims department has no street address. I just wanted to either go batshit or just lay down and cry. However, I went to the post office where they thankfully would mail my shit to Fedex.

What a day.

Yo dawg we herd you like Fedex so....

 

[155]

hate to say it but you are fucked , I got totally screwed the same way they look at your package and determine it was improperly packed and determine they are not liable, Fuck FED EX! you cannot win, sorry