Here is a list of the SCAMS sellers are using to sell old gear...


    Shipping a pre-damaged tape recorder to you
 


Sellers often already know their gear
either needs expensive repairs,
or is already damaged beyond reasonable repair.

But They tell you 'it was fine before shipping' of course   !!!

They ship the gear without much or any padding or protection,
so the excuse they use is always 'it was damaged in shipping'...
knowing well that is a lie -
the gear was already damaged BEFORE it was shipped out   !!!

Recent examples that came into my repair shop...

A Revox was shipped out the to buyer unpacked in a large box.
Since it was heavy and was not protected, the box was
handeled as if it were well packed and protected.
And the machine bounced around in the box -
because there was no padding or protection for the machine.

When it arrived the buyer saw that the reel spindes were bent
which if you don't protect the machine via good packing material
will happen as the machine slides around in the box.
This is NOT the fault of the shipper, but the seller NOT packing
and protecting the machine well inside the box   !!!

Ah... but that wasn't all....
The machine has SEVERE Wow and Flutter.
The 82S123 PROM that drives the Capstan Motor transistors
is bad... and this is hidden well inside the machine,
and could NOT be damaged in shipping.

So the Seller KNEW the machine had severe Wow and Flutter,
and knew that any buyer would RETURN the unit and get a refund.
So he did not pack the machine up well,
hoping it would get some visable damage as the machine
slid and bounced around in the big shipping box,
which it did.     And then claimed of course...
"It was fine before it was shipped   !!"     A lie.


LESSON : Don't buy gear that has to be shipped to you -
especially if it's heavy... or fragile  !!!

Insist that anything is Double-boxed, and well padded and protected
By Foam blocks, and lots of Bubble Wrap   !!
If you are buying a Tape Recorder,  Insist that the Reel Spindles
are removed along with the Reel Tables, and packed well in
a small box.     Have the seller Rubber-cement a foam block
to the area between the reels then protect the face of the machine
with thick cardboard or foam over the VU Meters, Headstack, and the
rest of the front area to prevent any damage to the front of the machine...
Insist that the machine is tightly packed, nice and firm,
so it cannot move at all inside the box.
It's NOT expensive or difficult to do this !!!


Another client got 3 boxes of equipment....
Two were well packed, the Third not packed or protected at all.
Inside that box was a Tascam 2 track of course !
And once again, the reel spindles were damaged as the machine
bounced around in the unpadded box.

But the real problem was the Transport Card was cracked deep inside the tape machine.
It looked as if someone had tried to fix something, and the machine fell over
and cracked the exposed card.     This was well inside the machine -
Protected by the frame and panels of the machine itself.
It was NOT caused by the shipper !!!

Again the seller KNEW he'd damaged the machine, and purposely did not pack it well,
hoping some visable damage to the machine would happen as the machine
bounced around in the box - and did as the Reel Spindles got bent.
So again he told the Buyer "it was running perfectly before I shipped it out.."
Again a complete lie.

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