Buyer reports guitar arrived damaged

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Theleman

Hi All

I sold one of my Acoustic guitar, and it was packed in heavy leather-like soft bag and then in strong cardboard box with lots of protective stuff.

Guitar arrived in good time, and the buyer says that the packing box is intact.

But he says the guitar itself is damaged. The body of the guitar is cracked and split. He says his local luthier examined it, and says something heavy must have been placed on the top of it.

But I am just shocked to see the good acoustic guitar which was posted in perfect condition is now cracked badly, and also at the same time it is hard to believe for me that the packing box is perfect, and yet damage like this can happen?

What do you think?

If the box wasn't dented it was likely dropped from a truck or some other height and dropped straight down, landing evenly on the flat side. This wouldn't dent the box but the impact would damage the guitar. My best guess.

Sounds like you packed well and not your fault, but sadly, stuff happens.

I hope you insured it.

[Silly Moustache]

One of my guitars on ebay sold over the weekend. It was originally "collection only, but the would be buyer preferred me to send it.

I advised no returns which he accepted , and asked if he wanted it to be sent with full value insurance - he said yes and put in a bid which was over my asking price to include cost of shipping and insurance.

It was shipped in a case that was NOT a traditional Hard shell case - more a Soft "shell" case, and well packed in a guitar shipping box.

I took ot to the post office at 11 a.m. on Monday. It was sent with a 48 hour delivery forecast.

I have just been informed by the buyer that it arrived FIVE MINUTES LATE! but that he had unpacked it , tuned it up and was delighted.

All is well ...but..,I question the concept of insurance with a carrier. It is like paying them (a lot) extra NOT to damage the goods. Oh well.

[Shuksan]

Originally Posted by Theleman

yeah - I have bought a brand new OM acoustic from Amazon, and it arrived in cardboard box from another country = it was fine. No damage.

All retailers ship acoustic guitars in cardboard boxes, and I am sure most of them are fine.

The key words above are "most of them are fine". The question when shipping your guitar is, how lucky do you feel?

Big companies shipping lots of guitars can afford to lose some to shipping damage. Those of us who occasionally ship a guitar typically can't afford the loss. So take the precautions unless you want to try your luck. The precautions are a hard shell case in a sturdy cardboard box with packing material in the box such as styrofoam peanuts.

And, the hard shell case should fit the guitar. No movement of the guitar inside the case. Headstocks have been broken off inside ill-fitting cases in which the shipping box was dropped hard on one end (headstock down) and the headstock hit the end of the case on the inside and snapped off.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Theleman

This made me wonder. How is the box intact, but the guitar inside is damaged?

Because the guitar wasn't in an arch top hard shell case and therefore not crush resistant enough to endure the rigors of shipping. If you are going to ship something in a "heavy" gig bag, or even one of the foam core cordura covered cases you better have 3 or 4 inches of padding on either side of it if you want to ensure it's safe arrival.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Theleman

This made me wonder. How is the box intact, but the guitar inside is damaged?

If you drop a box from some height, let's say 8-10 feet but perhaps not even that much, and the box lands flush on its side, I'd bet the force could be enough to crack a guitar while the box, having absorbed the impact over a large area, would look relatively undamaged. And if the guitar had dried out a bit, it would be even more susceptible to damage in transit as I just described.

[rct]

Originally Posted by Theleman

Yeah I got the photos of the damage. He only supplied photos of damage in close up. So I asked for more photos for the whole guitar and then the box, and the box was fine. Box was as it was posted. Not even a scratch.

This made me wonder. How is the box intact, but the guitar inside is damaged?

No offense, but a team of detectives will not obviate the obvious. Yer on the hook, and that is too bad. Take it back, refund the buyers money, learn from this and move on. It sucks hard, but it is the way it is.

rct

[Theleman]

Yeah - it's been insured, so will have to go through the claim procedure.

Thousands of guitars are now being sold online, I don't think they are shipping all of them in hardcases, which is extra 40 - 100 dollars on the top of the guitar price.

And you must post guitars in hardcase in order to be safe is now myth, and simply not true.

I am sure if they want to destroy it, then even hardcased guitars would be destroyed with the hardcase with ease, and I have seen it in horror shipping stories in the forums.

Just wondered if you had similar case, and how you dealt with it.

[hearsedriver]

Originally Posted by Shuksan

Yes, buy a hard shell to ship it if you want to be sure it arrives intact.

Shipping in gig bags? You were just lucky.

Agreed 100%. They have to be able to take a 5 foot drop and stacked at the bottom of the pile. Boxed can appear undamaged as they spring back into shape a lot of times. I hope you had it insured.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Theleman

And you must post guitars in hardcase in order to be safe is now myth, and simply not true.

.

It's very true that it is MUCH more well protected. Especially when it's the exact, correct size and the guitar can't shift around inside it.

[hearsedriver]

Originally Posted by Theleman

Yeah - it's been insured, so will have to go through the claim procedure.

Thousands of guitars are now being sold online, I don't think they are shipping all of them in hardcases, which is extra 40 - 100 dollars on the top of the guitar price.

And you must post guitars in hardcase in order to be safe is now myth, and simply not true.

I am sure if they want to destroy it, then even hardcased guitars would be destroyed with the hardcase with ease, and I have seen it in horror shipping stories in the forums.

Just wondered if you had similar case, and how you dealt with it.

Well, you just confirmed that it is no myth.

[owen006]

I purchased a guitar from Musicians Friend. It was in the original, from the factory, cardboard box in a larger well packed cardboard box. Both boxes were in perfect condition.

The guitar was an acoustic with a cutaway. Upon close inspection after unboxing, the crossbrace where the trust rod adjust was cracked from the trust rod hole to the end of the brace. So, somewhere along the way, with no damage to the boxes, this broke.

Musicians Friend provided a return shipping label and shipped me a replacement guitar.

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by Shuksan

Yes, buy a hard shell to ship it if you want to be sure it arrives intact.

Shipping in gig bags? You were just lucky.

I actually have done that with banjos: buy a hard case in which to ship it. But that was only by arrangement with the buyer and the buyer paid for the case, the shipment of the case to my house, and the shipment of the banjo in the new case, along with the gig bag, to his home.

I doubt many buyers would be willing to pay all that extra money to have their guitar shipped in a hard case, and I'm sure as heck not shelling out extra to do so.

Also - bear in mind that any number of guitar makers ship their products in gig bags. Yeah - some get destroyed, but that's what insurance is for and it's a lot cheaper than buying a hard shell case just to ship.

[Gordon Currie]

I have gotten some cheap guitars (new) that were in cardboard boxes sans hardshell case, but I refuse to buy an expensive and used guitar without a case. If someone doesn't have a case for their prized Olson, I'm not buying it (in more ways than one).

[Dave JH]

Your luck ran out shipping guitars without hard cases. There is more risk of damage using no hard case. You found out the tough way.

I’m sorry it really sucks.

Originally Posted by Theleman

Hi All

I sold one of my Acoustic guitar, and it was packed in heavy leather-like soft bag and then in strong cardboard box with lots of protective stuff.

Guitar arrived in good time, and the buyer says that the packing box is intact.

But he says the guitar itself is damaged. The body of the guitar is cracked and split. He says his local luthier examined it, and says something heavy must have been placed on the top of it.

But I am just shocked to see the good acoustic guitar which was posted in perfect condition is now cracked badly, and also at the same time it is hard to believe for me that the packing box is perfect, and yet damage like this can happen?

What do you think?

This is why I photograph the process of packing a guitar (or anything more valuable than $200). If someone pops up later saying things I think are wrong I can hit them with the pictures. Or better yet, use them to plead my case with PayPal or whomever.

You are probably going to get at least somewhat shafted here due to lack of corroboration in what you state about the packaging. I feel for you, these situations are always that rotten clam in the linguine. If I was to ship a guitar without a hard case I'd use a minimum of 3" of foam on all sides or better yet put one of those thin, hard composite sheets on each side, because shipping without a case is asking for trouble I think. Shippers are not always delicate.