Beware of Audiogon

I posted an item for sale on Audiogon and let it go through the 30 day process, and I turned down lower offers as I planned to relist if I didn't get what I was asking. I also had gotten an offer from some guy suppossedly in Russia, which was obviously a scam, so I did'nt even reply, which, no reply is the same as a turned down offer, no need to reply.

A few days ago, I decide to relist the item and go to mypage and to the classifed...to my shock, it was listed as "Sold" and to the Russian guy!

Earlier, I had recieved an email from Audiogon titled:

"Classifed ended with no win to seller"

And the content of the message:

"Unfortunately, your listing “(name of item)” expired with no suitable bids or offers. Please follow this link to re-list your item or visit your expired table in your My page.

Thanks,
Team Audiogon"



I have sent 4 messages to them in the past few days and have yet to get a response...

I would warn anyone of posting now or in the near future on Audiogon, as obviously they are being hacked, have a virus or both.

I have been reading lately of virus attacks from searching Audigon and basically just a deteriation of the website...

 

Weird. Let us know how it turns out.

 

I'm not certain if this will help but it can't hurt to contact her.

DMCA Agent:
Amy Strahan

Address:
Audiogon, Inc.
PO Box 8376
Greenville, SC 29604

Email address: [email protected]

Telephone: 704.500.2576

 

Thank you for the contact information, I will try her next!

Right after posting this yesterday, i sent another message to audiogon, and about half an hour later I get a return "robot" message saying they recieved my message and they will be contacting me shortly...same message I have gotten with the others.
As of now, still no contact from them.


Again, thank you

 

Lots of problems there. Chris ven Haus, a nice guy, a good photographer, and an excellent DIY cable contributor and purveyor of fine goodies for cable guys, has decided to pull out of advertising on the 'GoN after 10 years.

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/61/615386.html

 

I shouldn't bump a three year old thread, but I am in a situation with Audiogon as well.

Short version: sold a phono cartridge (not a cheap one), and it left here intact. Buyer claims it's DOA. And on top of it, he right away claims I'm a scammer, not considering there could have been UPS damage (despite it being double boxed and well padded), or that possibly he made a mistake and damaged it during mounting. (Which I doubt, as he is no stranger to mounting cartridges.) Of course, he's strutting like a peacock about his "perfect" feedback, where I had none ("so, who's the scammer?"). The scammer claim doesn't even play out, as if I had shipped out something that wasn't bad, with PayPal usually favoring the buyer, I would have lost anyway.

Before even contacting me, he files a dispute with PayPal. I elevated it to a claim, and then after a couple of back-and-forths, I get this notice the claim is settled, the buyer having ended it "amicably." So, I enter a claim with UPS--who knows if they kicked it around, exposed it to high magnetism or ESD? I get notice today that he has not allowed them to inspect the packaging for damage, and that UPS has closed the claim.

Good guy that I am, I would probably have just settled for taking it back, dead or not, to put it behind me. I can always sell the stylus assembly. Yet his abusive attitude throughout the pre-sale process, and constant accusations, set me off, and have me doubting his claims. At this point, I'm thinking: 1) the cartridge was damaged during mounting; 2) it was damaged in shipping; 3) buyer's remorse--he either didn't like what he paid, or didn't like the sound, and is using "DOA" as an excuse to send it back.

If I do get it back, I will be taking a video of me unpacking the box and testing the cart. That way, I am covered if he initiates another PayPal dispute, and the cartridge is working fine. I had considered sending it to Ortofon for analysis, but they have not exactly been responsive in past issues with me either.

So, why the Audiogon issue?

I opened a dispute with them, and like the post above in this thread, I have received nothing but automated responses. I specifically relisted the item a third time when I made this sale, presumably for "buyer/seller protection" offered through Audiogon. As I've learned, that protection is non-existent, as is any type of service or support from Audiogon. I have continually emailed them the entire time as requested, with status updates, and still...nothing.

Not to mention the checkout process was flawed: I listed that I would pay shipping, as I did not want buyers asking me to ship it uninsured and/or without an adult signature guarantee. Yet at checkout, the buyer was charged $15 for shipping; I have no idea where that ever came from. Even in the final transaction total, it shows $17 rather than $15, so the whole deal makes no sense. I quickly refunded the $15 to the buyer (who of course, had jumped on me with accusations of cheating him out of $15 ), even including an extra $5 refund in good faith just to shut him up.

An acquaintance of mine once worked with them, and along with passing along the email addresses of the owner and his son, he did clue me in that their service and support were lacking compared to how they operated in the past. Looking up their BBB ranking, I notice they have a grade of "C". They have six complaints total, four of which are from the past four months, all for various issues. Some of these I think complain about a lack of communication on Audiogon's part. This is not a good sign. I paid $4 each time to list this for sale, and paid another $7 when it closed. Even the link @Metralla posted above hints at how unhelpful and uncommunicative they are.

I'll keep this thread posted with the progress. I do want to urge that I recommend not using their classifieds service. I don't really have an issue with the users who are honest there, as it is just a marketplace, but I fully expect that when I buy or sell through a "system" that charges me a fee with the implication that there is some sort of buyer and seller protection, that I be able to utilize it when needed. As of this moment, Audiogon's promises are nothing but "vaporware".

My next step is to file my own BBB complaint. The buyer? He's impossible to deal with; this is why I need Audiogon to step in and at least make sense of it all. So, where are they?

Film at 11...

 

Weeks later...

1) Buyer refused UPS access to inspect the package. Another strike against him.

2) Buyer might have sent the package back--I received a bill from UPS for $10+, stating the package is "undeliverable." Hard to believe, since 1) I know the driver well, as he's been here often, and 2) no door tag left if the package needed a signature, and UPS attempts delivery three times. So, now I have to get on the phone with UPS to dispute the charge, and/or threaten them with having PayPal pull it as a fraudulent charge.

3) Audiogon still has not replied to multiple complaints I have posted on my claim. I did tweet about my dissatisfaction, but all I got was a reply about the technical issues I had during checkout (shipping fees charged, when I selected it to be "shipper paid"...free to the buyer).

 

Yeesh..makes me never want to sell anything to anyone online ever. So many ways to chiseled.

 

I experienced all manner of technical glitches from the site with respect to Paypal linkages in late 2013 and early 2014. Both me and the seller sent multiple messages to Audiogon requesting help and never received any reply even automated. I finally had to send a money order. I also had a run-in with the staff about a bogus claim from a low ball bidder. In that case they contacted me almost immediately even though they could examine all the email correspondence themselves. So it is not true that they are paying no attention. They react immediately on anything fee related and slow roll the rest. I will never try to sell anything on there again and would only buy as last resort.