Hi
You perhaps remember the Olwell Pratten style flute for sale on woodenflute.com. The price in euros was quite correct (1200€) (there was a thread about price in usd vs euros at this time), so I bought and paid in euros.
The seller is a Spanish man, I’m in France; not too far then.
I’ve been waiting for it for 3 or 4 weeks… No news. I called the man who confirmed the flute was sent on time. Nothing.
One day, 1 month later, we discovered that the flute had been broken during shipping , in the Spanish airport. The flute was likely insured, but I had no proof of all that. You know how it’s difficult to rely on people over internet.
Today, 4 monts after I bought it, I was fully refund.
Good news, after such a bad news…
Lucky me, the Spanish guy was a gentleman…
Lucky me, the Spanish guy was a gentleman<<
Most of us are.
Con gusto y sueter que su frauta fiasco se arreglo.
DM 
Good on you PHcook! Glad you got your dough back, I guess one has to be careful and make sure a quality instrument is insured before shipping.
The loser was the “Spanish guy”, since the flute is wasted and you got your money back.
You are right, he IS a gentleman.
I hope he can get the flute repaired and recover his loss.
Mary
At the risk of starting a flame war, may I suggest that whomever pays for the shipping is the one to decide whether or not to buy insurance.
In the U. S. if you are the seller and are paying for the shipping, you still technically own the merchandise until it arrives at the buyer’s residence, and are responsible for what happens to it in transit. If you the buyer are paying for the shipping, you own the merchandise as soon as it goes on the truck, then you must decide whether to buy insurance or not.
I don’t know about international shipping though.
Monster - I agree with you.
One thing I learned a few months back when a fife I mailed was taking much longer than the 3-4 days the Post Office said it would (it may have been 2-3 weeks in transit) was that if you have a claim for lost goods, or are making a claim for a damaged/broken insured package, it can take months to obtain payment.
So, there is a good chance the 4 months for the Olwell seller was simply waiting for the Spanish PO to pay the claim.
Regardless of the time to get paid for lost or damaged goods, insurance to me is a must for any instrument floating through the mail over about $20.
Eric
You all are right;
of course you have to insure the flute, but What I want to point out is that you have to verify that insurance was taken; I mean, always ask the seller to send you the proof that the flute is insured BEFORE it’s shipped. For instance, sending by fax the post’s invoice.
Now, of course, the delay was due to the wait for insurance’s refund. But who can really know what happen at the other side of the net?
Best