Subwoofer damaged thanks to UPS and lazy seller

[Gremal]

After upgrading my N802 pair to 802D and immediately identifying the advantages of the Rohacell/Kevlar cone over the paper/Kevlar in the bass response, I decided to sell my ASW800 and buy an ASW825. I found one for sale listed in excellent condition and quickly made a deal with the seller. I pleaded with him to double box but he assured me it would be fine in the original box.

On Tuesday, the box arrived looking like it had been used in free-fall experiments off the top of the empire state building. The box had gashes and creases. I would not have signed for the box had I been in my office when UPS delivered it, but I was at lunch and the receptionist signed.

Unboxing the sub was like a bad dream. The top was protected somewhat by B&W's packing material, but even that was not in its original condition. No original packing was used on the bottom. The seller just threw a couple small squares of styrofoam from a different box and a folded-over piece of cardboard. To add further insult, the sub was double-bagged in black trashbags!

After removing the trashbags, the first thing I noticed was that the grille had been jarred with enough force that the grille fittings had broken off into the four holes in each corner of the front of the cabinet. Second thing I noticed was the fins on the heatsink were badly bent. On closer inspection the bottom corners on the back were damaged and there were a couple minor dings to the cabinet and the B&W badge on the wood (not on the grille) had been stripped off.

The good news is that the sub functions flawlessly--sounds significantly better than my old sub (which I carefully DOUBLE-BOXED in ample packing and shipped to the buyer). Amazingly, unless you look closely or see the heatsink on the rear panel, you wouldn't notice anything wrong. I even fished the grille fittings out of the holes and glued them back on the grille so it can be placed over the front and the B&W badge appears normally. I will want to replace the grille and heatsink and get a little compensation for the other dings, but otherwise I'm happy with the purchase. It's just a shame the seller couldn't have taken an extra 15 minutes to double box the sub and use appropriate packing. There is no reason this beautiful speaker should have been dinged up.