Buyer reports guitar arrived damaged

[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?

[Dwight]

It's happened to me so I know how you feel. The buyer will be refunded and you will deal with a broken guitar. Best of luck with it.

[Earl49]

It sucks, but it happens. Only a durable hard case can protect it from being crushed by a heavy object -- which often won't visibly damage the box itself.

[Jeff Scott]

Why did you ship the guitar in a gig BAG?

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Why did you ship the guitar in a gig BAG?

The alternative being to buy a hard shell case just to ship it?

I've shipped guitars in gig bags when I had no hard cases for them.

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Why did you ship the guitar in a gig BAG?

Not just in gig bag, but heavy cardboard box too.

Sold guitar a few times like that, they arrived fine. Also guitars I bought arrived in just cardboard box arrived fine without damage before.

[Theleman]

I was wondering how a guitar could be damaged during transit when the box has no single damage at all?

[Shuksan]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

The alternative being to buy a hard shell case just to ship it?

I've shipped guitars in gig bags when I had no hard cases for them.

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.

[mz-s]

File a claim with the shipping insurance carrier.

No insurance? You'll be giving the buyer a refund and paying for return shipping before long.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by Theleman

I was wondering how a guitar could be damaged during transit when the box has no single damage at all?

Cardboard is flexible. Something sharp will penetrate it, and something really heavy will distort it enough to show tearing damage, but something heavy enough to crack a guitar (like your box being on the bottom of the stack that includes my wife's cat litter order - 40 lb boxes, especially if the cat litter is tossed into the truck so it's got velocity going for it) will deflect the cardboard and crush the guitar without visible damage to the box.

Your recourse is to the shipper under insurance or otherwise, which will likely deny the claim because they'll blame the damage on what they will say is your inadequate packing/protection. If you have independent insurance (eg Heritage, Clarion, etc.), they'll pay, likely nothing else will. Shipping acoustics is a crapshoot. I bought one one ebay that came in a gig bag packed in a box, and I held my breath while I opened the box, but mine was fine. Lucky.

[JakeStone]

Tough position.. Sorry this happened

I would ask for pictures.

Did the buyer report this the day received?

What is buyer asking for ?
Refund or partial refund?

Was the shipment insured ?
Make sure they do not throw away packaging.
Call the shipping carrier and start a claim.

[Theleman]

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 have bought a few new guitars from retailers, none of them have arrived in hardcase.

All of them have arrived in cardboard box, and they were fine.

[Theleman]

It was not just in gig bag.

It was in heavy gig bag, and then it was put into a heavy cardboard box with loads of protective material before posting.

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

Cardboard is flexible. Something sharp will penetrate it, and something really heavy will distort it enough to show tearing damage, but something heavy enough to crack a guitar (like your box being on the bottom of the stack that includes my wife's cat litter order - 40 lb boxes, especially if the cat litter is tossed into the truck so it's got velocity going for it) will deflect the cardboard and crush the guitar without visible damage to the box.

Your recourse is to the shipper under insurance or otherwise, which will likely deny the claim because they'll blame the damage on what they will say is your inadequate packing/protection. If you have independent insurance (eg Heritage, Clarion, etc.), they'll pay, likely nothing else will. Shipping acoustics is a crapshoot. I bought one one ebay that came in a gig bag packed in a box, and I held my breath while I opened the box, but mine was fine. Lucky.

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.

[Theleman]

Originally Posted by JakeStone

Tough position.. Sorry this happened

I would ask for pictures.

Did the buyer report this the day received?

What is buyer asking for ?
Refund or partial refund?

Was the shipment insured ?
Make sure they do not throw away packaging.
Call the shipping carrier and start a claim.

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?