Shipping Damage - Dealing with the Verb

Grassdog

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Don't know how many of you have had to deal with Reverb on a freight damaged guitar, but I just did and it wasn't a terrible experience. I recently bought a Martin D-16RGT on Reverb that arrived with a nasty 8 inch crack in the rosewood side. I immediately e-mailed the seller and sent pics and he asked me to wait a couple days while he contacted Reverb. About 2-3 days later a Reverb resolutions specialist contacted me and asked me to send pics of the shipping box from all angles and to comment on how it was packed. Now in this case the packing job was not so good. I've seen worse, but in this case 1) the box looked like it had been used/recycled several times, 2) they didn't use those cardboard braces that you see in the top and bottom of the shipping box designed to hold the case steady inside the box, and 3) the packing materials were a mis-mash of newspapers, bubble wrap, and styrofoam. It just looked unprofessional. To make matter worse, the guitar was not secured properly in the case with wrapping around the sides. There was bubble wrap under the headstock but that's it. It was a Martin case but there was about a gap of about 1/4 inch all the way around the body inside the case so it was able to move around slightly in the case. Anyway, I took the time to give a thorough description and I said I wasn't trying to get the seller in trouble, I was just being honest. I got a thank you reply from the Reverb person and then they said they would be happy to pay for the repair if I wanted to go that route. I said no thank you, that I wanted to return the guitar and get a refund. A couple days later they sent me a return shipping label. I packed it up in a much nicer box, the way it should have been packed in the first place, and sent it on it's way. 2 days later (today) I received a message from Reverb saying my credit card had been refunded for the full purchase amount.

I hate returning things but in this case I had no choice. Having someone with Reverb acting as intermediary made it an easy experience. I'm curious what Reverb's interaction with the seller was like, but I'm just happy that with a little patience I got my money back. Just wanted to pass this information along to those of you that buy on Reverb.
 

bronzeback

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Sounds like it worked out as it should and you got your refund. I'm always nervous shipping a guitar I've done it many times on both ends without a problem yet. Good to know Reverb has the buyers back.
 

Guildedagain

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Did the outer box take a hit so severe that went it through the case and actually struck the instrument through the case?
 

Grassdog

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Did the outer box take a hit so severe that went it through the case and actually struck the instrument through the case?

No evidence of anything like that, no punctures in the box, no damage to the exterior of the case. All I can figure is the box was dropped or subjected to some sort of blunt force. You just never know. It's a shame, it was a beautiful guitar.

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Cougar

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...A couple days later they sent me a return shipping label....

They even paid for return shipping? Good deal!

I had a similar experience, from the seller's side. Sold and shipped a guitar. No shipping damage, but the buyer just didn't like the tone. And he somehow wanted me to pay for return shipping. (Ever since, I've always gone with "No returns unless not as described.") Reverb stepped in and paid for return shipping, which went OK. Full refund. Not happy with buyer, but I wasn't out anything either.

Reverb is a darn good outfit in my book.
 

twocorgis

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Glad you had a good and hassle free resolution. After shipping at least 100 guitars and basses all over the world at this point, I have found that by far the most important thing is to completely immobilize the guitar inside the case. It's all the sloshing around, and resultant "whiplash" that causes the vast majority of damage. Removing the endpin, or packing tightly around it if it has an output jack, is also critical. It's OK for boxes to be a little beat up, because they're there mostly just to protect the case.
 

Guildedagain

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Physics wise, I'm not sure it's possible for a hit on a outer cardboard box, if there ever even was one, could cause a crack like that, especially with the case being unharmed. You're lucky that Reverb had your back, because there's no way FedEx/UPS would ever give out a cent unless the box has a big hole in it, and then it's like "was the box good enough" and if it's not, you'll not see a cent.

I'm starting to think it might be of vital importance to make sure that acoustic guitars stay hydrated on their journeys. How impossible would it be that it cracked from being excessively dry, and that there was already a huge amount of stress in that area?

All the same, many sellers have 2 week returns where the reason doesn't even matter.
 
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