Amp damaged in shipping, what would you do

[pat5150]

I bought a used Peavey Combo 115 from guitar center and had it shipped to me. The box arrived looking beat up and when I unpacked the amp I see that the upper left hand corner is smashed in, right next to the input jack. The front panel is also a little tweaked. I plugged it in and everything works and sounds 100%. I called up the Guitar Center that the amp came from and they said that I had two options: They can give me a return shipping label and refund everything, or we could kind of "re negotiate" the price and they give me store credit as a gift card. I won't know for sure until Sunday when the store manager is in, how much they might offer me back. I paid $199 for it, and I like how it sounds, also don't want to be without an amp...but then again, maybe there's some damage to the amp that's not readily apparent and it's gonna crap out eventually because of it. What would you do? On one hand I want to keep it because i could use the reimbursed money towards more gear, on the other hand if it dies then im **** outta luck.

[bassteban]

I'm not that picky about appearance, but THAT is too gnarly too live with; I'd want the full refund

[wabbit]

I would send it back and get another. Like bassteban alluded to, a few nicks and scratches add character. That, my friend, is off-the-deep-end, I-create-works-of-art-out-of-my-own-feces loony.

[Tvrtko]

Send it back.

[mattbass6945]

another vote for send it back......and all my gear looks abused, i don't normally care about appearance, but.......

[Kmonk]

If it works fine, I would take a gift card. That way you still have an amp that works and can get something else as well. I would also put in a claim with the freight carrier.

[mjac28]

That has to go back and if you live close to a Guitar Center always have it shipped to the store that way you can take care of everything right there.

[Mtnman]

Originally Posted by mjac28

That has to go back and if you live close to a Guitar Center always have it shipped to the store that way you can take care of everything right there.

^My vote is for what he said

[pat5150]

I'm leaning towards sending it back. Unfortunately the nearest Guitar Center is over three hours away. The cost of gas for my truck to make that trip would cost more than the amp probably. It depends on the amount of the gift card though. If I could get a hundred bucks, then I would consider keeping the amp.

[arai]

I like how it still works, good old Peavey.
My old Peavey took some horrid falls and never skipped a beat.
I would have a look inside and if the is no apparent damage to the circuitry inside, I would keep it and glue the bit of wood back in place and touch up the joins with black paint.

[chadds]

Send it back.
Some other damage may rear it's ugly head.

[map34157]

Originally Posted by mjac28

That has to go back and if you live close to a Guitar Center always have it shipped to the store that way you can take care of everything right there.

Couldn't agree more with this statement. I recently purchased a vintage acoustic cabinet from GC. I specifically had it shipped to my local GC just in case it was damaged during shipping. I believe GC has a 30 day return policy so you shouldn't have an issue getting your money back. However, I'm sure you'd rather just have the item you bought, arrive in good condition.

[alaskaleftybass]

Originally Posted by Kmonk

If it works fine, I would take a gift card. That way you still have an amp that works and can get something else as well. I would also put in a claim with the freight carrier.

I wouldn't keep it but he's right. File a claim against the carrier. Even though it's used, you're also right that it might have sustained some internal damage you won't know about until you're onstage and everyone's listening... Take it back and file a claim..

[alaskaleftybass]

Call them and ask them to email you a prepaid return label. They will do that.

[Joe Nerve]

Hard to tell exactly what that gash is all about in the pic. If it could be glued and painted, I might wait to see what they offer. Shipping, and then reselling it to someone else is going to cost them (and they already shipped it TO you), so it might be in their best interest to offer you back $100 or more. If that were the case I'd keep it. If not, I'd send it back. Least I'd take if I thought I could doctor it up would probably be $75, but again, it's hard to assess the damage with that 1 pic.

Curious what offer they make. Whatever it is, if you're considering doing it, tell em you'll do it for $25 more than what they say. Remember they're not giving you cash back, it's store credit, so $100 to you isn't a $100 to them.

[DiabolusInMusic]

If the offer is good I take it and rock the Peavey... are you planning on playing it or keeping it as a show piece? All my gear eventually gets hurt and if it cost me $200 for the whole thing I could care less at this point in my playing career.

As far as will you have problems down the road, maybe, but probably not from this. I used to drag around a Peavey TKO 115 that was very similar to yours. It took a lot of beatings from me including going through a window, never once did it quit working. I also used to push the snot out of it (since I was young and didn't know better)

This is all assuming that thing doesn't rattle or anything, I would push it HARD to make sure it doesn't have any weird rattles now.

[Downunderwonder]

Tough as Peavey is I wouldn't be wanting to chance it after that beating. There are plenty more of them around.

[rapidfirerob]

Back it goes.

[JimmyM]

I reserve an opinion till they make an offer. Anything less than $75 off and I'd likely send it back. Anything more than that would have me on the fence, and if the offer you $100 or more off, that would make me keep it. Peaveys are pretty hard to kill, and the damage is cosmetic and looks like it could be fixed up a bit if you wanted. Had there been damage to the cab part, it'd be a different story.

[Munjibunga]

Send it back.