bad packaging on an eBay purchase (Peavey Express)

Pete24v

So i'm after a decent solid state amp for a few gigs and i have fond memories of my old Peavey Bandit 112 with the teal stripe.. This Express amp came up on ebay for £50 and a whopping £18 Postage.. but i thought why not.

So it arrives today, and i'm not happy!

This is how it arrived

When I informed the seller this is the response.. 

"hi there, the amplifier has been gigged with for the past 10 years and never had bubble wrap around it! one van journey and its damaged. I need photographs of the damage that way I can claim from UPS. please send me photos. keep hold of the amp. UPS may collect it for inspection. will the knobs not just go back on? its a great sounding amp can you not fix it up for a partial refund? either way let me know."

 I send the photos and get this

"

hi there no photos came through trust me i deal with UPS every day of the week, if id have boxed it up they would have thrown it about! ive sold hundreds of amps over the years and if you leave the handle exposed they usually take care! anyways that's besides the by. leave it with me until tuesday, rest assured you will be getting a full refund. i may be able to swing it that you can keep it for free too"

"
sorry just seen the pictures. I can fix that easily if its still working then its just superficial can you test it?"

Really hope the refund goes through ok, can't believe he didn't use a box!

John_A

I've had a DSL combo wrapped in bubble wrap, and a Gibson Les Paul in a bin bag, and both arrived OK by some miracle, yes it's amazing how stupid some people are, I always pack assuming it'll be chucked around.

TTony

Always annoying when something arrives damaged, but ...

He might have a point about the packing tactic.  If it's in a box, it could be more liable to get chucked around.  As it was, everyone can see what it is, and so you've got a chance that it'll not get chucked. 

And, if you get a full/partial refund you've either got a free/even-cheaper amp with a couple of bust knobs.

That's assuming that it does still work though!

ICBM

I know old Peaveys are tough, but there is a limit.

He'll be lucky to fix that easily and *properly* - those pots aren't that easy to get and they are definitely broken - internally as well as the shafts. Some sort of bodge involving a different type of pot and knobs that don't match is not really good enough. The Edge one looks like it may be bent too, and they often snap if you try to straighten them.

Idiot seller - leaving the handle accessible is one thing, not protecting the only vaguely fragile part of the amp is just stupid. I would insist on a full refund and look for another one, they're not that rare. Shame though…

The top right corner protector in the pic has been smacked extremely hard too, it shouldn't be at that angle.

Pete24v

He's gone a bit quiet now, I think he'll refund me.

I've no interest in keeping the amp, the search is on for a Bandit of some sort!

Any tips of which one to go for @ICBM ?

ICBM

Pete24v said:

Any tips of which one to go for @ICBM ?

It depends on what sound you want. If you had a Teal Stripe and miss that, either the same or the slightly older version with the same styling but no teal stripe, and no 'body' tone control on the dirty channel. Both are variants of the Solo Series Bandit 112.

http://peavey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14177

The previous Bandit 75 and the first ('square') Transtube series are great too. Older than the 75 and they start being more of the 70s-sounding ones (which I like) and don't really do that more compressed overdrive; after the square Transtube the build quality dropped a bit but they're still very good.

Pete24v

Brill, thanks. It's just a nice clean sound that I'm after, I always use pedals for overdrive. I remember the clean channel of the teal being very nice.

timmysoft

Bandits and studio pros are the ones! I like the silver & black ones the best

mellowsun

Sorry to hear about the amp, but your post brought back memories. A Peavey Express was my first proper amp, long since sold, but I'm tempted to look on eBay for one now!

I remember it having a really great clean channel, better than the Bandit imho, and a very different drive channel to the Bandit, much less smooth and compressed, crunchier and somehow less 'cold' sounding.

Hope the transaction works out and you get a refund and another Express

Cacofonix

Damage noted, but Peaveys are generally pretty robust.  This is where it fell out of the van.

Flink_Poyd

Pete24v said:

So i'm after a decent solid state amp for a few gigs and i have fond memories of my old Peavey Bandit 112 with the teal stripe.. This Express amp came up on ebay for £50 and a whopping £18 Postage.. but i thought why not.

So it arrives today, and i'm not happy!

This is how it arrived

When I informed the seller this is the response.. 

"hi there, the amplifier has been gigged with for the past 10 years and never had bubble wrap around it! one van journey and its damaged. I need photographs of the damage that way I can claim from UPS. please send me photos. keep hold of the amp. UPS may collect it for inspection. will the knobs not just go back on? its a great sounding amp can you not fix it up for a partial refund? either way let me know."

 I send the photos and get this

"

hi there no photos came through trust me i deal with UPS every day of the week, if id have boxed it up they would have thrown it about! ive sold hundreds of amps over the years and if you leave the handle exposed they usually take care! anyways that's besides the by. leave it with me until tuesday, rest assured you will be getting a full refund. i may be able to swing it that you can keep it for free too"

"
sorry just seen the pictures. I can fix that easily if its still working then its just superficial can you test it?"

Really hope the refund goes through ok, can't believe he didn't use a box!

The UPS driver who collected that needs a slap, I refuse to collect anything thats packaged poorly as this is what inevitable happens. As for if he boxed it up it would get chucked around is nonsense. Leave the handle exposed if you want but pack it correctly.

Pete24v

Turned out ok, the seller has refunded me. Now just waiting to ups to collect it.. I kind of feel I should box it up for him! I think it's just going to get trashed further with its current packaging.

ICBM

Pete24v said:

Turned out ok, the seller has refunded me. Now just waiting to ups to collect it.. I kind of feel I should box it up for him! I think it's just going to get trashed further with its current packaging.

His problem.

Although if it was me I'd probably put something over the knobs, at least. A piece of heavy cardboard folded into an angle would be better than nothing.

Pete24v

Yeah, I'm going to do that.

Bygone_Tones

Some people are real idiots on ebay. "one van journey and its damaged." yeah thats how it works mate. The guy that picks it up drives all the way with it himself.

fwiw Im pretty sure UPS are not supposed to collect anything that is not packed in cardboard. So that one should have been refused.

Also Ive had items arrive damaged here, the claim has been put in, then UPS have collected it for "inspection", and the item has never been seen again since! So I would advise against putting claims in with UPS if either party involved wants to see the item again.

Ebay's protection system is pretty solid for buyers if you follow it step by step. The full refund is guaranteed if you post the damaged item back to the seller.

OilCityPickups

I never cease to be amazed by what twats some sellers can be  .... 

Several years ago I bought a Squier standard Strat in a hard case ... hefty postal cost ... but hey. It arrived with just a label stuck on the outside of the case .... and the latches closed!!! Luckily it was still in there ...

bingefeller

I'd never heard of  the "if you package it properly it'll just get thrown around" excuse.  Wow.

Pete24v

I have the refund, and still have the amp.. The seller was going to get UPS to collect it, heads nothing so far.

Picked up a Bandit 112 today, pretty happy with it, just need to get the reverb fixed.

ragingben

Some people are idiots, I'm glad you got it sorted. I one bought a hollow body for a shop in London, it wasn't expensive but it isn't that common, a Cort CL1500. I phoned the seller and told him I'd buy a hard case for it, he said not to worry it already has one. Turns up in a cardboard box busted, needless to say I was fuming. I got the money back, but it still resulted in a trashed guitar. Silly thing is he could have made and extra £50 or so on a hard case but he obviously couldn't be bothered. Another time I I had blackheart little giant head turn up just bubble wrapped, no box, and it was fine.