Amazon item arrives in badly damaged box

[lxskllr]

No damage, keep it? How do I know if it's damaged or not? A cursory inspection is not sufficient proof, and I am not capable of a thorough examination and testing procedure.

It's a turntable. It either works or it doesn't. There isn't any subtlety involved in 100 year old tech.

 

[Perknose]

I'm not shy about Amazon returns (items not as expected), but I do order frequently too (63 orders in last 6 months). In this case, I'd open and inspect for actual damage before returning. No damage, I'll keep it.

^^^ This. You've documented the package damage. It's entirely possible your turntable is undamaged. But if it is, as EVERYONE here has stated, Amazon returns of this sort are easy, painless and free.

 

[Muse]

You are wildly overthinking this. Open it up, if it works as expected keep it. If it is damaged Amazon will make it right.

While I'll admit I cringe a bit when stuff shows up with internal boxes damaged I also realize that it's in Amazon's best interest to minimize packaging to the point that maximizes profit.

Fragile things shipped in floppy bags etc annoy me but in 20 years of Amazon purchases I've had maybe $200 worth of damage. That's basically zero considering what I have spent.

Viper GTS

The fact that it's the inner box that' damaged and the outer box is undamaged is proof that it was NOT damaged in shipping but sustained the damage previously. Almost for sure in a warehouse or in another part of the preshipment transport process. Likely as I said a careless forklift driver.

 

[Muse]

It's a turntable. It either works or it doesn't. There isn't any subtlety involved in 100 year old tech.

No subtlety? Well, this thing works until it doesn't, if it works to begin with. What battery of tests do I do? Is this if matched against the same brand and model if working as apt to last as long? Is this apt to fail before one that hasn't suffered the smashup? YES. That in and of itself is great reason to return it. Yes it puts me out, puts out the delivery services, puts out Amazon, puts out the manufacturer conceivably. But for full retail I want the best chance of satisfaction from my purchase.

I am not the fussiest shopper. If I don't like my dinner I rarely complain to the waiter. But I like to think I am a careful shopper and look over my merchandise. Would I buy this off a store shelf? Only if significantly discounted.

 

[rh71]

If you're still thinking about it this much, just get it exchanged. Usually it's a UPS store drop-off. But there's sometimes an option for free scheduled UPS pickup. If you don't see that, just hit up their Chat and they will hook it up, no issues, I'm sure.

I still stand by what I said though. I agree if it's a monitor then I wouldn't chance it. This thing can't be nearly as sensitive all around if it's already working. They won't punish you for opening it and finding out first. These are the same people who sometimes credit you $5/$10 just because a package is 1-day late.

 

[lxskllr]

It's a turntable... Plug it in, put record on, and listen using analog ears. Got music? It works! No music? It's broken :^(

 

[LikeLinus]

I am not the fussiest shopper.

Yet the amount of time that you've spent complaining on here with all these silly questions, you could have gotten in contact with Amazon and already had them ship out a new one.

I'd check the original package contents. There's a good change it may just be superficial damage to the box and everything inside is just fine because it's all protected by. You don't know till you look. Amazon will take it back if you still don't feel comfortable.

 

[Fritzo]

Yeah, Amazon takes back nearly anything if there's package damage. You can even take it back to Kohl's (if you have one near you) so you don't have to bother with shipping.

 

[nakedfrog]

No subtlety? Well, this thing works until it doesn't, if it works to begin with. What battery of tests do I do? Is this if matched against the same brand and model if working as apt to last as long? Is this apt to fail before one that hasn't suffered the smashup? YES. That in and of itself is great reason to return it. Yes it puts me out, puts out the delivery services, puts out Amazon, puts out the manufacturer conceivably. But for full retail I want the best chance of satisfaction from my purchase.

What are you basing this on? You think the impact somehow slightly damaged the capacitors so they'll fail sooner? Or tweaked the rubber drive belt just enough that it will fail a year earlier than another specimen?

 

[Viper GTS]

At this point we should just admit that the most likely explanation here is that Bezos has it out for you. It's clearly quite personal, and you stand no chance of surviving against a man of such determination and unlimited resources.

The true genius here is how subtly he's fucking with you. I'm sure it's just the beginning, but this is a masterclass. A record player! Truly inspired.

Viper GTS

 

[Muse]

What are you basing this on? You think the impact somehow slightly damaged the capacitors so they'll fail sooner? Or tweaked the rubber drive belt just enough that it will fail a year earlier than another specimen?

Maybe the tone arm will fail sooner, maybe the alignment of the cartridge changed enough to affect the tracking. Maybe the bearing on the TT itself suffered. Maybe the hinge on the cover was stressed enough to make it fail or fail sooner. Maybe some connections have been compromised. Not all connections make electronics not seem to work when failed, but it compromises the performance nonetheless. Maybe maybe maybe, I'm not an engineer for fuck's sake. It's not my job to evaluate this in terms of a refurb, it's going to be Amazon's problem.

 

[Muse]

At this point we should just admit that the most likely explanation here is that Bezos has it out for you. It's clearly quite personal, and you stand no chance of surviving against a man of such determination and unlimited resources.

The true genius here is how subtly he's fucking with you. I'm sure it's just the beginning, but this is a masterclass. A record player! Truly inspired.

Viper GTS

You should call Bezos, clearly he'd like to talk to you. Well, maybe not, but you apparently would like to communicate with him. I have no such aspirations.

 

[Muse]

At this point we should just admit that the most likely explanation here is that Bezos has it out for you. It's clearly quite personal, and you stand no chance of surviving against a man of such determination and unlimited resources.

The true genius here is how subtly he's fucking with you. I'm sure it's just the beginning, but this is a masterclass. A record player! Truly inspired.

Viper GTS

You (and Bezos) can kiss my ass. 🙂

 

[Muse]

Just called Amazon. They will get UPS to pick it up tomorrow, I'm getting refunded. No label needed, I'll just put it back in the outer box it came in and put a note on it. I'll order from B&H, who will get one to me by Thursday. Done, it's coming Thurs. from B&H.

 

[dasherHampton]

Amazon has surprised me at times.

A dumbass friend of mine who uses Turbo Tax ordered the latest CD version not long before the deadline - or so he thought. He accidentally ordered 2018 instead of 2019 and didn't realize it until he was in the process of installing.

In a panic he downloaded 2019. He decided to try a return on the 2018 and to his surprise Amazon green lit the return.

They allowed a return of OPENED PC software. I haven't seen anything like that for at least 20 years.

 

[nakedfrog]

Buys one of the cheapest turntables on the market, has concerns about performance potentially being impacted by a damaged shipping box...

 

[Muse]

Buys one of the cheapest turntables on the market, has concerns about performance potentially being impacted by a damaged shipping box...

Oooo, you're trying to paint me a fool? Get fucking lost.

There are far cheaper turntables, even USB for sale. I don't plan to use this much, but I want it to work well when I use it. I read the reviews, it's relatively big bang for the buck and reliable. Can't say the same for you froggie.

 

[nakedfrog]

LOL, you're getting mighty wound up about this thread, after being on ATOT for nineteen years, it's kinda funny. Maybe you should take a deep breath and relax, fella.

Also, for the record, I can 100% guarantee I'm a MUCH better bang than you are, and eminently reliable 😉

 

[pete6032]

Did the thread title get changed?

 

[Muse]

LOL, you're getting mighty wound up about this thread, after being on ATOT for nineteen years, it's kinda funny. Maybe you should take a deep breath and relax, fella.

Also, for the record, I can 100% guarantee I'm a MUCH better bang than you are, and eminently reliable 😉

Uh, I said bang for the buck, not bang a frog. Don't get all excited... What a jackass thing to say. Pfft! You think you're hot shit, eh? Well you may be 1/2 right, but it ain't because you're hot. And reliable? Probably reliably nothing.

Buys one of the cheapest turntables on the market, has concerns about performance potentially being impacted by a damaged shipping box...

I never said I expected studio grade performance from this TT. I have a professional TT, a Technics SL-1200Mk2. I would use it for this purpose but at ~17" wide it won't fit in the space. The TT this thread is about is small enough, the more expensive ones aren't. That and it's reliability (I read the reviews) factored into my decision.

 

[Muse]

Did the thread title get changed?

Yes.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Just called Amazon. They will get UPS to pick it up tomorrow, I'm getting refunded. No label needed, I'll just put it back in the outer box it came in and put a note on it. I'll order from B&H, who will get one to me by Thursday. Done, it's coming Thurs. from B&H.

And to think you could've just done that to begin with instead of wasting your own time with this thread.

 

[manly]

Amazon has surprised me at times.

A dumbass friend of mine who uses Turbo Tax ordered the latest CD version not long before the deadline - or so he thought. He accidentally ordered 2018 instead of 2019 and didn't realize it until he was in the process of installing.

In a panic he downloaded 2019. He decided to try a return on the 2018 and to his surprise Amazon green lit the return.

They allowed a return of OPENED PC software. I haven't seen anything like that for at least 20 years.

Amazon customer service is extremely good; they'll allow a typical customer extra leeway once in a while and just ban the return abusers.

And to think you could've just done that to begin with instead of wasting your own time with this thread.

OP is a curious one, and we should cut him some slack. He encountered a new situation for him, and posted for advice. Little did he know the ATOT mob would descend to skewer him. I think it's a fair question and the easiest solution is to just return the turntable. Personally I wouldn't call that box "badly" damaged.

 

[snoopy7548]

Yes.

But not OP's diapers! 😛

 

[Muse]

And to think you could've just done that to begin with instead of wasting your own time with this thread.

Well, I didn't mind the thread except for the snarkiness. Anyway, explaining it all gave me the idea of going B&H. I didn't have that originally. I probably would have gotten a replacement by Amazon, which I think would definitely have been a mistake because I know of two of these that came in damaged boxes within the last few weeks from Amazon. Thinking about it all (while explaining) let me put it all in perspective. It would have been easy to pick up the phone and call Amazon but I decided to post here about it and hope for some clarity about what to do. Of course, ATOT is often a minefield because of, well, assholes.