Today was supposed to be a great day

floresjc · « **on:** 2 Jul 2009, 03:31 am »

Well today was the day my HT3's from Audiogon arrived. I had been much anticipating this, having the wife all ready to send photos. They arrived bright and early, but alas, FedEx damaged them on the trip. The top rear corners look like crushed milk cartons and the veneer has been mangled and ripped off at those locations. So needless to say I was pretty upset.

Not to worry, I spoke with Jim and he looked at the photos and can fix it. The shipper filed a claim with FedEx and hopefully they can come out and view the damages and take them off to Jim's shop. My wife said the speakers were just gorgeous otherwise.

robinje · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 03:59 am »

Wow, that's a shame. I hope you get 'em fixed up soon...

vintagebob · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 04:08 am »

Dang. Sorry to hear that. I hope everything turns out alright.

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 04:25 am »

Oh, that must be very aggravating. You are fortunate, however, that you purchased Salk speakers, since Jim will be able to make them right. We know you were looking forward to the speakers, and I am sorry to hear about this frustrating incident. Hopefully, FedEx will settle the claim quickly. (With that heavy jostling, I suspect that they also damaged the crossover, and you will probably also require the crossover upgrade.)

It's nice that you wife liked the speakers. It's good for the both of you to enjoy your time listening to music together. I am envious. I am going to make a concerted effort to engage my beautiful and wonderful wife in enjoying some time together listening to music. I even played some Eagles last night in the hopes that she might join me. I think the the time for "Two speakers, on chair" has come to an end. "Two speakers, one loveseat" sounds more romantic. Can anyone recommend a good love seat?

dB Cooper · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 04:44 am »

I used to work at a place that used fedex, and between that and packages I received personally, I have never seen a shipper that ****s up as many packages as fedex. One in particular looked like one person held the box while somebody else punched it. Sorry to hear about your speakers. Hope it won't be too lengthy a process to get it straightened out.

funkmonkey · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 06:17 am »

That sucks that they were damaged, but very cool that Jim is going to fix them for you. I was more than a little anxious while mine were in transit, but once they arrived and I saw how well they were packaged I knew it would take a lot to cause them any harm.

Were yours shipped in the original boxes & foam from the seller? From your description of the damage it sounds like somebody misjudged the weight and dropped it.

On a side note to Jim (if your reading). When I first received my HT3s, I remember thinking that the boxes should be marked FRAGILE, and HEAVY. Only the packing tape used to seal them marked the boxes as fragile. I thought that was too easy to overlook, and didn't even notice the words until I actually looked for them. Perhaps a good sized stencil and a can of Krylon (spray paint) would make it more obvious to the handlers, and help to avoid some future damage. I can imagine that all those boxes look very much the same to them after moving hundreds or thousands per day... ..just a thought.

Very sorry to hear that yours were damaged, floresjc. I hope that all is resolved quickly, and your HT3s are back home and good as new ASAP.

cujobob · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 06:30 am »

I've had my own troubles with damaged speakers recently, but with UPS. They were pretty tricky to work with for reimbursement.

floresjc · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 06:39 am »

Bob (the seller) said that he used the original packaging. My wife noted that it was extremely well packed, with reinforcement boards along the sides and foam, but it still got damaged, ostensibly the corners are probably the weakest point. I don't really know how they did it, considering if they dropped one, they would not drop the 2nd one.

I'm not super upset, the outward appearance is mangled in only 3 select spots, and Jim said he can patch that up pretty nicely. My wife doesn't note any obvious damage to the speaker drivers or ribbons, but I was thinking the same thing, that jolt could've messed up some internals. When Jim gets them I'm sure he'll hook them up to make sure they are sounding the way they should. Hopefully its only a patch job.

mchuckp · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 12:33 pm »

Hopefully the seller paid to insure with Fed Ex. I had an issue a while back with UPS. It was not a piece of audio gear, but something work related. I shipped something last December via UPS and did not insure it. It was a part worth $1500 and they lost it. I filed a claim and since I didn't insure it, it was only covered up to $100. Needless to say that I insure anything over $100 now as my company taking a $1400 hit didn't go over very well. I don't know what Fed Ex's policies are.

Hopefully the seller did insure it.

Good luck!

sedah · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 12:54 pm »

That's horrible... I second the "hopefully insured" comment. Thank goodness Jim said he should be able to patch them up.

barnestn · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 01:07 pm »

As the seller of the HT3s in question, I think that I am more upset than Josh. The speakers left my house in perfect condition and were my pride and joy for three years. New Salk's may be in my future down the road; but if so, a road trip to Michigan to personnally pick them up might be considered. They were packed with original packaging, and I used a marker to show the bottom for proper orientation, and also marked each "Handle With Care". I really hate this for Josh, but hopefully Jim can make everything better.

TomS · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 01:10 pm »

Really sorry to hear this, but you couldn't be in better hands than Jim Salk's in this situation.

Just a few words of advice- Be absolutely sure you do NOT ship them back for repair until Fedex has done ALL of their inspections first. I had a loss on a tube phono preamp (double boxed with 2" foam even). Fedex inspected the packaging at the buyer's location and sent it back to the shipping origin (Kinko/Fedex). Because I wanted to make it right immediately for the buyer, I shipped it back to the manufacturer who repaired it and drop shipped it directly to my buyer again (within a couple days - BIG plug for Jud Barber at Joule-Electra). Unfortunately if it's over a certain claim limit (this was $2500), they needed another independent inspection at the point of origin to honor the claim. I photographed everything at the Fedex/Kinko's store (who packed and shipped it), a long battle ensued, but I eventually prevailed and got most of my money back to pay Joule.

Best of luck to you, enjoy the speakers, and oh, by the way, thank you(!) for your service.

Tom

carusoracer · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 01:12 pm »

Sorry to hear that. It is great to hear from Jim and it sounds like he can repair them. Great support and I compliment Salk Sound. Let us know when you get them back.

I had the luxury of living only 4 hrs away. Needless to say my speakers where put in the back of my Suburban with Jim's assistance and taken out with my neighbor with his help into my living room. I feared the shippers.

Good luck!

droht · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 01:19 pm »

I use a local place to ship gear. I have come to trust them quite a bit. They generally use Fed-Ex, but UPS sometimes as well. They have advised me that insurance claims are getting much trickier to resolve on items packed by the sender. They are recommending bringing in single boxed item and having them do second box. Not so easy with HT3s. Best of luck on resolution.

Nuance · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 01:30 pm »

My sympathies to you, Josh. That's just rotten! I've had some bad experiences with couriers and cringe whenever one of the big three is mentioned. I am glad that Jim is patching things up, though. I look forward to the re-arrival of your HT3's.

HerculePirate · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 08:55 pm »

Oh Hell....Man...
I can't imagine the pain of damaging Salk speakers...
I had mine shipped through I Q Global to the Middle East and they arrived in good shape....Thank God for that.
Will he be able to match the Veneer or are you getting them re done...
Best of Luck.
Regards

HP

Bill Baker · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 09:07 pm »

I don't know if it has already been mentioned but Fed. Ex will most likely not honor the claim the first time it is submitted in hope that you will say okay and move on. If they deny it the first time around, be sure to resubmit it.

mbakes · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 09:27 pm »

I had a successful speaker claim with fedex. They want to see the damage to the box. Take pics of the damage to the box and the corresponding damage to the speaker. They paid in my case but it took months. Good luck. Those were almost mine. At least you know that you can get them fixed by Salk.

boycephoto · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Jul 2009, 09:50 pm »

Sorry about your speakers, I am sure with a little time you will have what you really want.

I make sure to insure my equipment when shipping. One of my best friends (a UPS driver) calls all his co-workers "the gorillias", he said he dosen't belive how badly some packages are handled.

In 1976, a friends Sherwood S7900 receiver was being delivered from repair, UPS put a forklift fork completely throught the box, there was about a 7 inch hole with light at the other end when you looked at the box. It was insured and they bought a new one for him.

Good luck
Dave

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Jul 2009, 12:00 am »

I shipped a Super 70i yesterday to AVA to be upgraded to a U70. The previous day, I went to the local UPS Store to purchase a heavy box to use to package the amp myself. The owner asked me what I was shipping, and when I told him that I was shipping an old tube amp, he recommended that I pay him to package the amp in case there was any damage. He stated that UPS is more likely to honor a claim if the UPS Store packaged the amp, even though his store is an independent entity. I don't know if this was marketing hype, but I paid the few extra dollars to have him package and ship the amp. Obviously, shipping the amp is different than shipping speakers that already have excellent packaging.