Bad experience with forum member in Flea Market

lukewayne

After several weeks of trying to resolve this privately, I have gotten nowhere.

I purchased a CS350LS Center Channel Speaker from Polkie918 in the Flea Market. It arrived damaged due to poor packaging. Here is my post from the original thread, I'm posting it here to get a bit more exposure, and hopefully some action from him.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89591

The speaker came to me HORRIBLY packaged. It was in a McDonalds coffee cup box that was very thin walled as it was designed for holding a couple of pounds of evenly distributed weight. The only packing materials used was a small box folded into a triangle and stuffed into the larger box.

The grill was broken off of the speaker at every mount point and every stud was jammed into the speaker. The corners of the speaker are bashed in some. There are signs of damage from the grill banging against the speaker during shipping. There are scratches and dents that were not present when it was posted for sale.

Here are some visuals:

The box:








The "Packing Materials":


The Speaker:








As you can see the box was destroyed, in fact, the flaps and corners of the box weren't even closed all the way when I received it.

The grill cannot be replaced. The speaker cannot be undamaged. It arrived no longer in the condition in which it was listed. With advice from other active members I asked for a refund, as the damage is OBVIOUSLY as a result of the HORRIBLE PACKING.

I tried to be as civil as possible even though I was pretty pissed off at how lazy and insulting the packing was.

Polkie918 agreed to a refund of the total price minus the shipping cost which i accepted and felt to be almost fair.

Then he reneged on his offer and wanted me to send the speaker back at MY COST.

Now he is completely ignoring my messages, but he continues to be active on the forum.

Perhaps airing this laundry will get some results.

Until something changes I recommend that BUYER BEWARE when dealing with Polkie918 !!

Conradicles

That is the worst packaging job I have ever seen.

KASR

Conradicles wrote: »

That is the worst packaging job I have ever seen.

...in the history of packing!

I think the initial refund minus the shipping is fair enough, but having to send it back at your expense on top of that...well...that part kinda bites. It's easy (and cheap) enough to add insurance to packages via usps and especially UPS, if it was a matter of expenses to ship, then money management would have been in order. Lack of materials isn't really a viable excuse since UPS stores sell all that stuff you need and it's not like there's a shortage of cardboard,
egg-crate or newspapers...just SOMETHING other than a whole lotta air!

Hope you get it resolved, brother.

dorokusai

Please forward his personal information to me, including any emails that you still have in your inbox.

mln@polkaudio.com

comfortablycurt

Wow...that's got to be the worst packing job I've ever seen.

He seriously thought that would be sufficient?

I'd say that the full refund minus shipping is fair...but if he's wanting you to send it back at his cost, that's some BS.

It's his fault that it arrived VERY POORLY packed...that extra cost shouldn't fall onto you.


I hope everything is made right for you Luke.

hearingimpared

I heard of your plight Luke and hope this gets resolved amicably.

F1nut

I tried to help Luke get a refund from Polkie918 and have been kept abreast of their correspondence. I even sent PM's to Polkie918, but they went unanswered.

I can tell you that Polkie918 stated that he has shipped other items in this fashion and doesn't see a problem with it, which I find deplorable.

Nothing less than a full refund is in order.

lukewayne

dorokusai wrote: »

Please forward his personal information to me, including any emails that you still have in your inbox.

mln@polkaudio.com

I'll send you everything i've got.

By the way when he wanted to get the speaker back his offer was to give me $25 bucks which was completely different than giving me the purchase price minus shipping.

thanks for the support guys.

Pycroft

Good luck getting this resolved! This is why I almost NEVER sell things and ship...

Tony M

I've had two pr. of speakers shipped to me that way. I personally don't know why someone can't find SOMETHING to fill a void in the boxes.

The M5's arrived destoyed. I actually think Ups used the box as a football somewhere.

Then the pr. of Monitor 10's bouncing around in the same BIG box (like a dryer would come in) arrived with loose(un-attached) grills but otherwise made it here great.

I don't know what to expect coming to me but I sure try to pack my items for that occassional football game they have somewhere in the transit route.

hearingimpared

I've shipped dozens of items and never had a problem.

That pack job was simply a disgrace and his lack of follow-up is even more disgraceful!

leroyjr1

That's the exact reason why local craigslist is my friend. He should give you a full refund including shipping costs.

tcrossma

By far the worst packing job I've ever seen. If something is packed like that and doesn't get wrecked in transit, then it's complete luck. That packing goes against everything the shippers tell you to do, and it goes against common sense. A full refund is in order on this one.

KASR

I think people shouldn't have any illusions about how UPS handles packages...don't expect them to handle like their 100yr old heirloom...most of the time it's more like a game of kickball!
Pack accordingly.

Retro152

Good luck with this Luke. Would have expected much more dealing with a fellow polkie. Pretty sad, no class.







Pat.

janmike

I pack better when I am moving to a new house. Sad, very sad.
I hope you get 100% resolution.

george daniel

Do you have his home address?

dkg999

Totally unacceptable and negligent packaging job. The seller should compensate the buyer for every dime of expense on the buyers part. This ain't eBay and we expect a different (ie higher!) level of care to be put into things sold in the FM. Time for the seller to man-up, get a clue, and admit to their error on this.

LessisNevermore

KASR wrote: »

I think people shouldn't have any illusions about how UPS handles packages...don't expect them to handle like their 100yr old heirloom...most of the time it's more like a game of kickball!
Pack accordingly.

Agreed, but the pics say it was handled by USPS, not UPS.:p

Not only should the buyer recoup all of his costs, but I think an idiot tax should apply here for the packing job. What the hell were you thinking? Make it right.

The for sale pics clearly show the damage was done in shipping, due to the packaging. (or lack of)

dpowell

That was a horrible packing job. If you're going to sell a heavy speaker shipped, you should intend to pack it well or just sell local. He should be tarred and feathered just for ruining a nice vintage speaker.

shack

The packing job is one of the worst, I've seen. Probably even worse that the guy who sent me a pair of floorstanders in a single wall box with a few packing peanuts. :rolleyes: I pack stuff to take to my office in the back seat of my car better than that.

The original deal was fair. It needs to be honored.

BaggedLancer

Wow what a disaster of a packing job. A full refund is definitely in order, including shipping costs.

ViperZ

Something like this (poor packaging, poor communication, being irresponsible) deserves a negative feedback in the flea market forum, to make sure that other people will know who they are dealing with.

Libertyc

That thing is trashed. The box was a POS, light-duty to begin with. He should send you a full refund.

bsoko2

The photos and the shipped speaker don't look the same. Polkie918 either used a set of photos from another center and the center shipped is not the one he displayed in his ad. The sale photos show clean speakers, not dirty, ratty, and scratched like the center that lukewayne got. I believe that this is a case of bait and switch. I can't see how a speaker would get that much damage even with poor packing.

Bill

thsmith

Unless he comes forward on bended knee I suspect he will not much support around here.

I hate stuff like this.

Kex

Shocking, shocking job, IMO. The buyer was willing to accept a reasonable offer, short of a full refund, but the seller seems to be sticking his head in the sand ... or up his poorly packaged arse, maybe.

Insurance would probably be TOTALLY USELESS, BTW, since no shipper will accept any blame with such inadequate packaging. I truly hope the seller helps to resolve this correctly.

zarrdoss

Nothing short of a FULL refund is in order, if he wants the piece of garbage back then issue a call tag on it. shame on you Polkie918 you bring dishonor to this forum.

AudioGenics

... Unacceptable ...

A total refund to make whole.

already alot of time and effort has been lost

disneyjoe7

A full refund indeed is needed here.

Sherardp

This is straight up bad business and a black eye for the Flea Market. Hopefully this gets resolved, so we can continue to maintain those high standards we expect here on the forum period. As mentioned the OP deserves a full refund, and the seller needs to man up on this and fix it ASAP.