Hollowbody Heartbreak! My beautiful new guitar in pieces...

Sorry to hear about the damage on this one, it's a terribly bad surprise especially when there is otherwise no obvious sign of trauma on the outer box...
That said don't be too hard on the seller because what you describe above is exactly how every single SE, Core, and Private Stock guitars I bought was shipped by PRS to the dealer (and thus from the dealer to myself).
There was one exception (Music Store Live I think) where they double boxed, but other than that it was always the hardshell case inside a box with hardly any room for padding (and thus no padding) on the sides, and then just the tiny piece of 4x10 bubble wrap on both ends as you describe. I don't consider that optimal either, though it happens to work out well enough on average...

I think that’s the key. Was the guitar shipped to you using the standards set by the manufacturer? I’m confident PRS knows how much protection is required for the care and handling expected from the carrier. If those standards were met, I’d say the responsibility is on the carrier.
 
So sorry to hear and see NGD dreams crushed.

Looks like the damage I’ve read about when the headstock isn’t supported and the case is jerked to a stop suddenly, like if it were standing and someone knocked it over. If the box was up off of the ground, on the back of a truck or a shelf, and fell to the ground, that could explain it.

These are the shipping instructions I received to ship my Paul’s Guitar to the PTC to have the middle pup added:

“Please pack the guitar in its original case and pack the case in a shipping box padding the ends of the case with bubble wrap.”

The PG is a core, so the case is square and there wasn’t much room in the shipping box to pad. I wrapped the ends so that the case didn’t really move around inside the box in any direction. Arrived with no issues. Got impatient when it was ready so drove from Alexandria to the factory when the traffic wasn’t bad to pick it up (about 2 hours round trip). That detail is to say that I didn’t receive it shipped from PRS, so I can’t compare their packing job to what I sent.

Looking forward to next chapter, the joyful NGD.
 
I'm sorry that you are experiencing this mess.

I'm no scientist, but I do watch Forensic Files. o_O
It looks like it was tuned to A#, then shot out of a cannon. If the damage was "Shipping Trauma" the box and case would be destroyed--and if so, I would hope that the carrier would make you inspect it at pickup. Maybe if enough pressure was put on the case, it could cause the string tension to snap the headstock off. I suspect it was shipped in that condition (based on the email bounce and no response to voicemails). Again, sorry.
 
All's well that ends with a beautiful and intact PRS hollow body!
I think Andra Fiolen (Swedish for "second fiddle") is even more beautiful than his poor injured brother. Plugged in my Nienaber Immerse and lulled my cats off to sleep last night.







 
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