Resolved: Reverb woes

[MultiScaleMale]

When you buy something on Reverb, guess where the $ goes and who ships the item? Reverb Inc.

There are companies that exist online only and their infrastructure, accounting and shipping is all handled by Reverb.

I looked for something that Reverb actually ships. Can you show me one? Are you sure you're not thinking of Reverb Sites? That allows you to use Reverb's infrastructure to have your own site / own domain. But you still handle the inventory and shipping. This is being discontinued sometime in April.

Reverb itself lists 4 items:

Reverb Merchandise

 

[CereBassum]

So are you saying that reverb doesn't have the option to repair the instrument?

I am saying what I said.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I am saying what I said.

Ok, you know they do.

 

[CereBassum]

Reverb Merchandise[/QUOTE]

I looked for something that Reverb actually ships

You are looking at the wrong stuff. What you cited are items that Reverb sells to customers directly.

We are discussing items where Reverb acts as a broker for a seller, which is generally the case, as in the transaction being discussed on this thread. You would not know about this unless you dealt with Reverb extensively in buying and selling, examined bank statements, bills, etc. - such as I have done.

 

[CereBassum]

Are you sure you're not thinking of Reverb Sites?

The issue at hand has nothing to do with Reverb Sites, which is a hosting and e-commerce service for musical instrument dealers, etc.

 

[9c1ny]

I was driving and missed a call, very frustrating to find that the number rings to a female voice that tells you to go online and use their chat help and hangs up

Also there are not even times to schedule a return call today , this should shed some light on who the "insurance" is actually through






hope all is well. I'm sorry I missed you by phone earlier today. I totally appreciate the concerns you've raised. You purchased Reverb Safe Shipping for your sale of this Rickenbacker. That means we're illuminating the carrier from the conversation in regard to damage and lost shipments. We review and payout all claims directly to the buyer or seller when an item is lost or damaged in shipping. This includes the return shipment for orders like this.

We're not able to come to a conclusive decision on the damages to this guitar based on the documentation from the buyer and the original listing photos. Based on what we're seeing, we don't' believe this is a total loss and that the buyer is not in a place to get this repaired themselves. That's always our first go-to option. The buyer has chosen to move forward with a full refund and return. From this point, we work out the next steps with you the seller.

Without an assessment from a luthier stating the extent of the damages, I'm not able to provide a full estimate for the claim payout. I can offer to cover the return shipping costs and cover your bench fees to get this looked at with a guitar tech. Can you please confirm your return address on file is current?

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I can also offer to have this shipped directly to the repair tech of your choice. Can you let me know how you would like to proceed?

If you'd like to speak over the phone, you can schedule a call here at your convenience.

Best,

 

[9c1ny]

My response


Reverbs gone down hill significantly since Etsy took over, not being able to return a call or even schedule a return call on the same day is ridiculous.
I was driving and missed your call by 2 minutes.
I'll cut to the chase and save you the trouble.
Go ahead and close out my account.
I'm NOT giving you permission to use and banking or card information I have on file.


You know it's great Reverb wants to mitigate it's losses and collect money on each and every sale and rolls the dice and wins on 90% of them, now when there's an issue it's supposed to fall in to my lap??

Yeah. No


First off the sale is from a month ago, the money is long spent.
I am on unemployment due to Covid and just unexpectedly lost my dog to an accident and have a myriad of vet bills.

I simply do not have the money to return.

I also much like the buyer (whom I feel very bad for) do not have anyone that could or would look at refinishing a 1 of 27 custom finish Rickenbacker.

I have asked for documentation and clarity in regards to what the supposed issue is with the bass and still have nothing but hyper pixilated pictures.

If the bass isn't actually damaged I shouldn't have liability in that regard.


I've also repeatedly asked about assurances and logistics about returning the bass as to not sustain damage

The item was already damaged through wanton disregard back when it had an adequate case and an adequate box.

Neither concern has been addressed.


I know Etsy would love to throw it back on me and let me spend weeks or months out my money haggling over estimates so I can get a menial amount but again, not going to happen.

It was a good run while and lasted and for a few years Reverb was my prefered manner of selling musical instruments.

Nothing personal

Regards

 

[MultiScaleMale]

The issue at hand has nothing to do with Reverb Sites, which is a hosting and e-commerce service for musical instrument dealers, etc.

You said that Reverb does inventory, shipping and whatever for sites. I just asked for one, because I can't find any. Focus. Focus.

 

[CereBassum]

So are you saying that reverb doesn't have the option to repair the instrument?

It depends on the instrument. In this case, since it was a limited edition, new and unplayed , repair is impossible.
The limited edition, new and unplayed instrument is unfortunately gone forever. The seller - the OP - is looking at a total loss.

 

[9c1ny]

In case anyone missed it here it is -



"You purchased Reverb Safe Shipping for your sale of this Rickenbacker. That means we're illuminating the carrier from the conversation in regard to damage and lost shipments."

" Illuminating" sounds more like insulating aka they have no insurance with the carrier

They are short selling coverage and then trying to weasel out of it when their luck craps out

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It depends on the instrument. In this case, since it was a limited edition, new and unplayed , repair is impossible.
The limited edition, new and unplayed instrument is unfortunately gone forever. The seller - the OP - is looking at a total loss.

Ok, if you had the same bass and dropped it on stage resulting in the same ding, would you throw it away? Of course not. It's not a total loss, it is repairable.

 

[C Stone]

Update for the day


I appreciate the points you've raised in your response. I'm going to pull all of this together and submit this to my team for review. The photos as well as the buyers location are speedbumps I'd like to get over to get this resolved. At this time, the guitar is not considered a total loss and a full refund is not an option. My team and I will take a deeper look at this and see what options we can find. Thank you for your understanding.

Yea after reading this the other day I kind of assumed they were goin to put the repair or estimate on the the buyer since they said he was not not entitled to receive full refund for the carrier damage

 

[CereBassum]

Focus. Focus.

You're the one who cited the wrong stuff, not me. So maybe you should be 'focusing'?

At any rate, sometimes you don't know this until you deal with someone. I know of one that I have dealt with. That was over a year ago. I am not going to research that now.

I can just assure that I have no horse in this race and I know what I'm talking about from numerous experiences dealing with Reverb.

Reverb is a very large and complex operation and maintains several different sorts of relationships with the vendors on there. Some are just regular people trying to sell their gear, like the OP, some are big outlets, like Sam Ash or CME that use Reverb as another sales portal, some are completely virtual outfits that do all their business through Reverb, the list goes on.... and each one has a particular sort of deal with Reverb about shipping, selling fees, etc. It's all BIG business, not just classifieds like on TB.

 

[CereBassum]

It's not a total loss, it is repairable.

It is repairable? Maybe so. Is it a 'limited edition, new, un-played instrument'. No.

In this case, for the OP-seller it is a severe, if not total, loss.

Outta here.

 

[Jeff Scott]

In case anyone missed it here it is -



"You purchased Reverb Safe Shipping for your sale of this Rickenbacker. That means we're illuminating the carrier from the conversation in regard to damage and lost shipments."

" Illuminating" sounds more like insulating aka they have no insurance with the carrier

She probably said eliminating, not illuminating. So, the carrier is out of the equation and it is between Reverb, the seller and the buyer to work out a solution, it seems.

Weird, given it was the carrier/shipper that caused the actual damage.

 

[CereBassum]

" Illuminating" sounds more like insulating aka they have no insurance with the carrier

"Illuminating" sounds like a typo (spell checker/auto complete) - should be eliminating.

 

[9c1ny]

She probably said eliminating, not illuminating. So, the carrier is out of the equation and it is between Reverb, the seller and the buyer to work out a solution, it seems.

In other words there is no insurance
They take money for ' insurance' and hedge their bets nothing bad will happen.
When it does they reserve the right to arbitrarily make whatever judgement they deem fit

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

In other words there is no insurance
They take money for ' insurance' and hedge their bets nothing bad will happen.
When it does they reserve the right to arbitrarily make whatever judgement they deem fit

Time to Lawyer up I'd think.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You're the one who cited the wrong stuff, not me. So maybe you should be 'focusing'?

At any rate, sometimes you don't know this until you deal with someone. I know of one that I have dealt with. That was over a year ago. I am not going to research that now.

I can just assure that I have no horse in this race and I know what I'm talking about from numerous experiences dealing with Reverb.

Reverb is a very large and complex operation and maintains several different sorts of relationships with the vendors on there. Some are just regular people trying to sell their gear, like the OP, some are big outlets, like Sam Ash or CME that use Reverb as another sales portal, some are completely virtual outfits that do all their business through Reverb, the list goes on.... and each one has a particular sort of deal with Reverb about shipping, selling fees, etc. It's all BIG business, not just classifieds like on TB.

Apologies for citing the wrong thing. I guess I misunderstood what you're saying. Reverb is just like a music-specific eBay, and yes, SamAsh lists on Reverb and they list on eBay.

I think the confusion with this situation is that what one might think "Seller Protection" and what it provides via the specifics may be different. The Buyer is owed the money he paid for the bass. OP will receive the instrument and will be reimbursed for the repair costs and a new case. If every claim resulted in a full payout, nobody would be able to afford the insurance.

I also don't think this is over for OP and it's going to cost him more in the long run. The Terms of Service allow charging credit card or bank account for amounts due and any legal fees incurred.

So, I guess I'd just recommend cutting risk by selling only CONUS or allowing the interface to calculate shipping and select FedEx if you're shipping internationally so there isn't a handoff to another carrier. And don't spend the money until the buyer receives the item and is satisfied.

 

[9c1ny]

Thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate your feedback about this case and will pass it along. I apologize if I didn't address your concerns about getting the guitar safely back to you.

We will provide the buyer funds to make sure this is professionally and safely packed. If the shipment is damaged in return, you are fully covered for any hypothetical damages that occur because of shipping. The buyer does not hold the responsibility to seek repair. Please let me know if you have questions about this.

Based on the photos on the listing, and the documentation from the buyer, we are unable to assess the damages to the neck of the guitar which is why we are looking to get a professional assessment. Any help you can provide in getting this resolved for you and your buyer is greatly appreciated.

If the bass isn't damaged, that's great. We can get this relisted and I can get you covered for the cost of the case at the very least. If the bass is damaged, we'll pay for it. With the refund, you have a 14-day period to get make up the negative balance with additional sales on the site.

Please let me know if you have any questions.