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Shipping damage

Just received this from a reverb sale. Sellers photos showed the bass to be in excellent condition with barely a scratch. This thing was packed pretty well and Im a little suspicious, that’s a lot of thick poly finish smashed off ot that . Yet , the inside of the gig bag was clean , not a single remnant of the damage. The rest of the packaging showed no obvious signs of damage either. The seller has a 3 day return policy, I sent him pictures and told him it’s going back. I’ve had quite a Basses shipped this is a first for me, any suggestions?
 

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Yeah well I didn’t confront the guy with my suspicions on when that damage occurred. He has a 3 day return policy so I told him it’s going back and he asked me to hold off until he hears from UPS to settle the claim. The claim is his problem so shouldn’t he just take it back or offer me a substantial partial refund ?

Too bad for him to wait. That's his clever way of screwing you after his return policy is up, and Reverb will say you're too late. Reverb will make him take it back now, and have the seller pay for return shipping, too. His return policy, as well as Reverb's, are written/on-screen guarantees.

I bought a bass that involved the seller being an insanely rude liar, and even after a week or so talking to PP and mostly Reverb, I got all of my money back. These sites have you covered (most of the time). Btw, sellers can make phony feedback if they're determined enough.
 
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I was similarly scammed by a store once. Well, an insurance company was.
Bought a guitar online, which arrived pretty much in the same condition as OP's, with the outside boxe being in perfect condition, no loose bits of varnish anywhere.
I wrote them a mail. The answer went "oh, should be the transportation company! happens every now and then! no worries, their insurance company will cover that, send it back for an exchange."
Ten days later, got the new guitar, this time pristine.
My guess is that guy in the store had hit the guitar at some point and needed a customer to send it to so that it wouldn't be his fault.
Can't think of another explanation.
 
Yeah well I didn’t confront the guy with my suspicions on when that damage occurred. He has a 3 day return policy so I told him it’s going back and he asked me to hold off until he hears from UPS to settle the claim. The claim is his problem so shouldn’t he just take it back or offer me a substantial partial refund ?
Yes. The claim is his problem, not yours. Sounds like he spent the money already. TFB.
 
Ask the seller if he had pics of the box he packed, before shipping... if so, compare with what you received. And I don't mean damage, necessarily... I mean, the exact same box he shipped.

These days, I wouldn't be surprised what (insert whoever you want, here) would do to cover up a mistake, as opposed to just owning up to it.
 
Whenever shipping damage occurs UPS policy is to go by the receivers and examine the damage as it supposedly arrived. then they submit their report to the seller as to whether they will cover the claim. If the sender returns it before UPS inspection they usually refuse to cover the item. This one does sound like the seller is trying to scam UPS for an insurance claim. But I do know that even a legit claim may be voided if UPS policy is not followed.