A better Reverb support experience

[Aahzz]

So, since I posted a thread about Reverb support that was less than glowing after my buyer wouldn't sign for a shipment, I have to post again when they do something right.

I wasn't sure I was going to sell on Reverb again, but after a couple Eastman acoustics weren't getting any love on Craigslist, I waded back in. My AC222CE sold pretty quickly, and was delivered quite fast. The buyer immediately left good feedback and said the guitar had arrived as advertised. 12 hours later, he sends me a message that the bridge is cracked, with a pic of an obvious crack pulling away from the saddle that anyone would have noticed on first inspection. So, I'm wondering what he did, but stayed calm and told him it must have happened in shipping, and I had purchased Reverb's "Safe Shipping" insurance.

I contacted Reverb support, told them the story, and sent a pic of the intact bridge before shipping. They said it could take up to 5 business days, but someone would be in touch. A day later I heard from Phil at Reverb support that he was on it. A couple days after that, Phil emailed me again and said the buyer wasn't responding, could I get in touch with him. I did, and the buyer gave me another email address. Phil got in touch with the buyer, then let me know that Reverb had issued him a partial refund, and my payout would remain intact.

TL/DR - Reverb's safe shipping insurance covered me completely.

 

[RickP]

Glad to hear it! I’ve never needed to use the coverage, but it’s nice to know it might actually be worth the cost if I did.

 

[JasonE]

Could you tell for sure that the picture he sent you was of the guitar you sent him? It sounds like he either messed it up himself and wanted to then send it back or the picture was of a different guitar and he was trying to get the partial refund that he ended up getting. Either way it seems like a dishonest buyer, at least with the information we know.

 

[Max Headroom]

It's a harsh sellers world.
Unfortunately there are a few bad apples everywhere and it is getting worse.
I sell on eBay a lot which can be brutal but does have worldwide coverage.
Couple months ago I sold a tape deck, get FedEx message saying delivered, literally 5 minutes later I get an eBay message saying buyer filed a claim not as described with a load of description of playback tests he had done.
Hmm, very suspicious.
So I told the buyer, sure return it in packaging and condition it was shipped in and when I had checked it internally for all the UV markings I had added I would issue a refund.

Case was closed by them 10 minutes later.....

Buyer and seller beware!

 

[JasonE]

It's a harsh sellers world.
Unfortunately there are a few bad apples everywhere and it is getting worse.
I sell on eBay a lot which can be brutal but does have worldwide coverage.
Couple months ago I sold a tape deck, get FedEx message saying delivered, literally 5 minutes later I get an eBay message saying buyer filed a claim not as described with a load of description of playback tests he had done.
Hmm, very suspicious.
So I told the buyer, sure return it in packaging and condition it was shipped in and when I had checked it internally for all the UV markings I had added I would issue a refund.

Case was closed by them 10 minutes later.....

Buyer and seller beware!

I really hate reading things like this. It just proves that our society is going morally and ethically bankrupt. People have read things on the internet about people getting partial refunds and now try to come up with ways to get one as a way to get a discount on an item. Your really have to watch yourself on both ends of the internet purchasing equation these days. I prefer to buy things from a business for this reason. A good deal from an individual used to be my preferred method to purchase. There are still some good sellers and buyers out there. I feel like I really have to pay attention to spot the bad ones. If something feel even a little off, I walk.

 

[Lewguitar]

I really hate reading things like this. It just proves that our society is going morally and ethically bankrupt. People have read things on the internet about people getting partial refunds and now try to come up with ways to get one as a way to get a discount on an item. Your really have to watch yourself on both ends of the internet purchasing equation these days. I prefer to buy things from a business for this reason. A good deal from an individual used to be my preferred method to purchase. There are still some good sellers and buyers out there. I feel like I really have to pay attention to spot the bad ones. If something feel even a little off, I walk.

I don't think there's a way to read a BUYER'S feedback on Reverb before accepting the order and shipping.

That would be nice. There should be.

I sold a 30 year old Taylor guitar to a guy on Reverb and described it accurately with many photos.

He still asked for a partial refund because it had the fret wear I had both described and photographed in the listing.

I stayed calm and answered every message he wrote politely, but I didn't initiate a refund.

His messages got more aggressive and I asked him to keep it for a few days and see if he fell in love with it...because if he was any kind of musician I knew he would.

It was a great playing and sounding guitar.

I assume he did fall in love with the guitar, because he stopped writing to me and never contacted Reverb for support.

I also sold a set of SE pickups to a guy and he immediately wrote to me telling me one was defective.

I didn't want the hassle so I refunded 1/2 of his payment and told him to keep the pickup.

The same day he wrote me back and apologized. Said he'd miswired the pickup and now it worked fine.

He couldn't refund my refund so he mailed me a check.

Good guy!

I think the good guys out number the "other" guys by a wide margin.

 

[RickP]

I tend to think of online buying person-to-person as a real crap shoot, but considering my actual experience, the average buyer/seller are pretty straight shooters just looking to make a deal. Based on feedback, I’ve been involved in 1200-1300 transactions since the 90s. I’ve only had 5 or 6 issues, with two of those (33.3%) being the auction sites themselves. In truth, the problems have been few and far between, but they do sting and leave a lasting impression.

I imagine the big music dealers could tell us tales that would make us cringe, but I’m also betting they’re overall average is the same. But it’s the horror stories that stick out to us all.

While there are certainly some seriously sucky people in this country, your average Joe is alright, much like me or you. As we’re all buyers and sellers, I suppose he is me or you.

 

[JasonE]

I don't think there's a way to read a BUYER'S feedback on Reverb before accepting the order and shipping.

That would be nice. There should be.

I sold a 30 year old Taylor guitar to a guy on Reverb and described it accurately with many photos.

He still asked for a partial refund because it had the fret wear I had both described and photographed in the listing.

I stayed calm and answered every message he wrote politely, but I didn't initiate a refund.

His messages got more aggressive and I asked him to keep it for a few days and see if he fell in love with it...because if he was any kind of musician I knew he would.

It was a great playing and sounding guitar.

I assume he did fall in love with the guitar, because he stopped writing to me and never contacted Reverb for support.

I also sold a set of SE pickups to a guy and he immediately wrote to me telling me one was defective.

I didn't want the hassle so I refunded 1/2 of his payment and told him to keep the pickup.

The same day he wrote me back and apologized. Said he'd miswired the pickup and now it worked fine.

He couldn't refund my refund so he mailed me a check.

Good guy!

Good guy that jumps to conclusions before checking his work. That can be a pain in the butt too. I wonder what he would have said if you asked him to please check his wiring on them because you just took them out of a guitar where they were working and you did an ohms measurement on them before packing them up? Would he have gone off on your or found his mistake then apologized for jumping too fast?

I tend to think of online buying person-to-person as a real crap shoot, but considering my actual experience, the average buyer/seller are pretty straight shooters just looking to make a deal. Based on feedback, I’ve been involved in 1200-1300 transactions since the 90s. I’ve only had 5 or 6 issues, with two of those (33.3%) being the auction sites themselves. In truth, the problems have been few and far between, but they do sting and leave a lasting impression.

I imagine the big music dealers could tell us tales that would make us cringe, but I’m also betting they’re overall average is the same. But it’s the horror stories that stick out to us all.

While there are certainly some seriously sucky people in this country, your average Joe is alright, much like me or you. As we’re all buyers and sellers, I suppose he is me or you.

It is encouraging to read that you have had only a few issues. I had one issue that cost me some money and I have been leery ever since then. I bought a Fender bass off of eBay and when I received it there was a lot of really deep buckle rash on the back of it, even in the neck plate, that was not disclosed in the sale ad. I was mortified and had an instant pit in my stomach that I had just got ripped off. I contacted the guy and he said that he noted in the ad that it had normal play wear on it. I told him this was not normal wear, it was abused. We gave each other a day to cool off then emailed back with cooler heads. He gave me a partial refund but it didn't cover what I lost when I sold the bass. I didn't want to keep it because it was in worse condition than what I wanted. The lesson I learned was to not buy from an ad with few or bad pictures and ask a lot of questions. I am unfortunately now that guy that asks a lot of questions. However, I only do it on things I am serious about purchasing so if the answer and pictures line up I will buy it. If something feels off, I walk.

 

[Aahzz]

Could you tell for sure that the picture he sent you was of the guitar you sent him? It sounds like he either messed it up himself and wanted to then send it back or the picture was of a different guitar and he was trying to get the partial refund that he ended up getting. Either way it seems like a dishonest buyer, at least with the information we know.

It certainly looks like it - grain and pick guard patterns match.

In his message he said "I ran my finger over the bridge and felt a crack", then he posted this picture, so my guess is that he ran his finger over it, found maybe a slight groove, and then somehow pulled it apart.

Here's the before

 

[JasonE]

Yep, looks like the same guitar. I am not even sure how you make a crack like that happen without something else getting damaged. I zoomed way in on your before picture and I can't see any sort of crack there at all.

 

[Aahzz]

Yep, looks like the same guitar. I am not even sure how you make a crack like that happen without something else getting damaged. I zoomed way in on your before picture and I can't see any sort of crack there at all.

I agree!

 

[László]

I really hate reading things like this. It just proves that our society is going morally and ethically bankrupt. People have read things on the internet about people getting partial refunds and now try to come up with ways to get one as a way to get a discount on an item. Your really have to watch yourself on both ends of the internet purchasing equation these days. I prefer to buy things from a business for this reason. A good deal from an individual used to be my preferred method to purchase. There are still some good sellers and buyers out there. I feel like I really have to pay attention to spot the bad ones. If something feel even a little off, I walk.

I prefer trading guitars or amps in, or selling to a dealer, too. I'm sometimes willing to take the financial hit to save myself aggravation. I also like to buy pro audio gear locally, unless I've done business with a vendor many times and with good results.

I shipped a Mesa Blue Angel head and speaker cab to someone on Ebay. The head must have been damaged by a long fall, because the head shell was broken into pieces. So I had to deal with an insurance claim that UPS was reluctant to pay, the buyer, and yes, the thing was ultimately resolved by my UPS insurance, but the whole experience was an annoyance for a couple of weeks. Not worth the time and aggravation.

Same thing happened with a very nice, loaded Kurzweil synth/sampler that I kept in perfect condition. Because I hadn't saved the factory box, I took it to the UPS store to have them pack it, which was pretty expensive. However, the buyer received it dented because the idiots wrapped it in a single layer of bubble wrap and put it in a box that didn't fit it properly. Fortunately, the buyer got a partial refund, and was happy. But, it was an unnecessary headache.

I had a guy who gave me a hard time because I required a delivery signature for an expensive item. I mean, why would anyone not understand why I wanted to make sure the buyer got the damn thing?

Finally, a brand new Two-Rock head was delivered to my driveway. Just the driveway. In a snowstorm. No doorbell, nothing. Fortunately, though the box was wet, the amp was packaged in a heavy duty plastic bag and the shipping material inside the box protected it. Needing it to be shipped couldn't be helped because there were no local dealers.

I figure I'm not in the business of dealing in music gear. If someone gives me a lower price but is willing to undergo the hassle of being a dealer, great - they've got every right to make a buck. There are times it's a better choice (for me, YMMV).

 

[Gtrbldr]

This sucks. I do a lot of selling through a dutch site and i always check the buyers feedback before doing business. And guitars: always in person, never trough mail. Firstly to prevent this kind of crap, but also because it is always fun . You have the most interesting folk coming by (or you visit them) and it always results in a pleasant moment.

 

[archtop]

Unscrupulous buyers/sellers seem to have increased in the past few years. Maybe it's the influx of people taking up guitar during the pandemic who don't have the history of respect and appreciation for instruments, or maybe it's the Amazon culture of "order everything, use it, then return what you don't want".

 

[Bogner]

I prefer trading guitars or amps in, or selling to a dealer, too. I'm sometimes willing to take the financial hit to save myself aggravation. I also like to buy pro audio gear locally, unless I've done business with a vendor many times and with good results.

I shipped a Mesa Blue Angel head and speaker cab to someone on Ebay. The head must have been damaged by a long fall, because the head shell was broken into pieces. So I had to deal with an insurance claim that UPS was reluctant to pay, the buyer, and yes, the thing was ultimately resolved by my UPS insurance, but the whole experience was an annoyance for a couple of weeks. Not worth the time and aggravation.

Same thing happened with a very nice, loaded Kurzweil synth/sampler that I kept in perfect condition. Because I hadn't saved the factory box, I took it to the UPS store to have them pack it, which was pretty expensive. However, the buyer received it dented because the idiots wrapped it in a single layer of bubble wrap and put it in a box that didn't fit it properly. Fortunately, the buyer got a partial refund, and was happy. But, it was an unnecessary headache.

I had a guy who gave me a hard time because I required a delivery signature for an expensive item. I mean, why would anyone not understand why I wanted to make sure the buyer got the damn thing?

Finally, a brand new Two-Rock head was delivered to my driveway. Just the driveway. In a snowstorm. No doorbell, nothing. Fortunately, though the box was wet, the amp was packaged in a heavy duty plastic bag and the shipping material inside the box protected it. Needing it to be shipped couldn't be helped because there were no local dealers.

I figure I'm not in the business of dealing in music gear. If someone gives me a lower price but is willing to undergo the hassle of being a dealer, great - they've got every right to make a buck. There are times it's a better choice (for me, YMMV).

Now I Remember Why I Never Sell Anything...LOL.

 

[László]

Now I Remember Why I Never Sell Anything...LOL.

If you have the space and/or can handle the clutter, more power to ya!

I have a very large storage/HVAC room adjacent to my studio space, but unfortunately, it's filled with shelves and piles of stuff we will never use again, some of my mother's stuff from when she passed away, my kid's things that have been here since they graduated college and won't ever pick up, several large trunks full of cables from my analog studio, moving boxes from ten years ago still filled with crapola that was so excessive I didn't even unpack it, and shipping boxes for gear in case something needs to be shipped for service.

I'll never need 99% of it. But I'm so past the point of being able to run up and down the stairs with boxes to get rid of it that I'll have to hire a company that does it and hauls the stuff away.

 

[JasonE]

Unscrupulous buyers/sellers seem to have increased in the past few years. Maybe it's the influx of people taking up guitar during the pandemic who don't have the history of respect and appreciation for instruments, or maybe it's the Amazon culture of "order everything, use it, then return what you don't want".

I think the latter point you make is a big part of it. People forget that a person to person sale isn't the same as a purchase from a company. If the situation was reversed they sure wouldn't like having done to them what they do to others.

I think too many companies have too liberal of return policies. I would like to see the bottom line numbers of how Guitar Center's return policy is working for the business. I know some of the guys I have bought from on a regular basis there always complain about it because someone will return something after they have been paid a commission on the sale then the commission gets taken out of their next paycheck.

 

[jamrcat]

Recently sold a guitar on Reverb and had a problem with shipping it. I wanted to ship UPS because I live 1 mile from a regional hub. Fed Ex is a 20 mile round trip drive and the cost was about 30% more. Reverb's site wouldn't let me access UPS for my shipment. After phone calls, live chat etc. I ended up using Fed Ex to expedite the sale for my customer. I was mad because it cost me more and was a hassle I shouldn't have had. A day or so later Reverb called and apologized and said it was putting a $50 credit on my account to help ease the pain. I actually appreciate their effort and have done more business with them without issue.

 

[JasonE]

Recently sold a guitar on Reverb and had a problem with shipping it. I wanted to ship UPS because I live 1 mile from a regional hub. Fed Ex is a 20 mile round trip drive and the cost was about 30% more. Reverb's site wouldn't let me access UPS for my shipment. After phone calls, live chat etc. I ended up using Fed Ex to expedite the sale for my customer. I was mad because it cost me more and was a hassle I shouldn't have had. A day or so later Reverb called and apologized and said it was putting a $50 credit on my account to help ease the pain. I actually appreciate their effort and have done more business with them without issue.

I bought a Fender case from a guy on Reverb last year. He either didn't check the shipping cost or they messed him over on it. He left me 5 star feedback as the buyer but in the feedback he put a comment "just to let me know" that it cost almost as much as I paid for the case to ship it. I tried to discuss it with him because I have shipped cases with guitars in them for less than half of what he paid to ship an empty case. I found out he paid the UPS Store to package it and ship it. I was thinking about sending him more money to help offset the cost a bit and he said it was all his own fault. If he had been a little nicer during the conversation I was willing to help a little but he kind of cut me off so he ended up getting about $20 for the case in the end.

 

[Broseph]

Always use the insurance! I sold a silver sky that got chipped when ups tossed it around. Reverb offered to refund the buyer or offer a partial refund and have the guy go to a local tech. He was thrilled with the outcome. I was grateful I didn’t get screwed over. That insurance saved me quite a bit had I not had it. I’m sure ups insurance would have been a nightmare and long.