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How to deal with customer in receipt of damaged guitar?
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constructordeguitarras
Posts: 1677
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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 RE: How to deal with customer in rec... (in reply to machopicasso)
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You are absolutely correct, and thanks, MachoPicasso. I am going to start doing that, using the messages that GJ provided above. Thanks again, GJ.
And HolyEvil, I appreciate your message, too. This was a special case where the customer kept saying she didn't think it happened in shipping, and I knew for a fact that I shipped a pristine guitar. Anyway, I didn't say that to her.
_____________________________
Ethan Deutsch
www.edluthier.com
www.facebook.com/ethandeutschguitars
www.youtube.com/marioamayaflamenco
I always have flamenco guitars available for sale.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 25 2014 15:45:50
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gj Michelob
Posts: 1531
Joined: Nov. 7 2008
From: New York City/San Francisco
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RE: How to deal with customer in rec... (in reply to constructordeguitarras)
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more or less...
A. We can ship the guitar using a carrier of your choice; in this case you, the customer, shall be solely responsible for cost of freight, insurance, damages and risk of loss, FOB [Luthier's address].
B. We ship our guitars via [ UPS/FEDEX etc.] fully insured for the value paid by customer.
According to shipping company’s rules, in order to make a claim that an instrument was damaged during shipping, the customer must; (i) inspect the instrument in the presence of the shipping company’s employee delivering the package, (ii) file the claim within the carrier or insurance time limits.
In the event you should find that any damage has occurred, you agree to collaborate in the preparation and filing of the claim with the insurance, as such carrier shall direct, by documenting the damage (photographs, description etc.) and by providing the insurance company any information it requires to process the claim and issue a refund.
We will return to you the amount actually paid for the instrument only in the event the insurance does not refund you or only refunds a portion of the purchase price (in which case we shall refund to you the difference between the insurance proceeds and the purchase price). However, you agree to direct the insurance to pay to us any duplicative refund, after we have refunded to you the purchase price in whole or in part, and if necessary execute an "assignment of claim" or any other document required for the purpose.
C. We carefully inspect the instrument before shipping. However, although rare, any apparent manufacturing defect must be reported to us, within Five (5) days of delivery of the instrument.
D. Before you return any instrument to us, you must follow our "return policy" procedure and receive our authorization to do so.
E. We shall not be responsible for any deterioration, damage or any other malfunction caused by ordinary wear and tear or customer’s negligent use.
_____________________________
gj Michelob
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 25 2014 21:09:48
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gj Michelob
Posts: 1531
Joined: Nov. 7 2008
From: New York City/San Francisco
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RE: How to deal with customer in rec... (in reply to aarongreen)
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quote:
That being said, you are not protecting yourself at all, and in fact wasting money if you buy insurance through the shipper (IMO). They don't even call it insurance, they call it "declared value" and they write the rules so that unless they run over it with a forklift, they won't have to pay out. They might even weasel out of it in that case too.
Well, I disagree. "Declared Value" is a form of insurance (pay a premium to cover the declared value of lost or damaged goods up to $50,000). It is generally the best way to deal with these problems. I had many a case that I always settled well, and even had a personal experience; I received full refund for an instrument I shipped with Fedex to a luthier for repair and was delivered in need for more and more serious repair. Regrettably, it was a bit of a struggle, as it always is when dealing with Insurance claims (they try to argue in favor of paying for repairs v. refund), but ultimately we sorted it out satisfactorily.
The key really is "inspection upon delivery".
Generally if a Guitar is damaged during shipping, so is its case (thus ruling out that the damage occurred before the guitar was handed over to the carrier) It is important to document the damage well, with photographs.
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gj Michelob
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 26 2014 1:21:21
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aarongreen
Posts: 367
Joined: Jan. 16 2004
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RE: How to deal with customer in rec... (in reply to gj Michelob)
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quote:
Well, I disagree. "Declared Value" is a form of insurance (pay a premium to cover the declared value of lost or damaged goods up to $50,000). It is generally the best way to deal with these problems. I had many a case that I always settled well, and even had a personal experience; I received full refund for an instrument I shipped with Fedex to a luthier for repair and was delivered in need for more and more serious repair. Regrettably, it was a bit of a struggle, as it always is when dealing with Insurance claims (they try to argue in favor of paying for repairs v. refund), but ultimately we sorted it out satisfactorily.
The key really is "inspection upon delivery".
Generally if a Guitar is damaged during shipping, so is its case (thus ruling out that the damage occurred before the guitar was handed over to the carrier) It is important to document the damage well, with photographs.
I understand we are discussing the minutia of legal wrangling. It seems odd to me that "declared value" is now the byword where it used to be "insurance". It does not seem to be done for the sake of clarity to protect the buyer or shipper.
In any case you are playing with fire if you trust the shipper to pay out. I've seen it before and in fact am dealing with them right now on a unrelated issue that I am stuck holding the bag for. It had to do with returning a guitar that was sent to me to sell. The manager at UPS actually told me I should not have listened to the UPS driver who picked it up, as they were speaking out of their knowledge about how to proceed. Silly me, listening to the guy wearing the UPS uniform. So now I get to pay. Arguing with them is a losing proposition time wise among other things…so thats how it goes.
In any case, be that as it may, the only insurance that is proven to me to be worth the paper it's written on is from a provider that deals specifically with musical instruments and understands the intricacies of what it takes to keep them from being broken. You still have to cover your butt, take pics as you pack, of the guitar and the box etc…but I have yet to get burned by them.
Aaron
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 26 2014 14:24:32
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