Michael,

I've had several "bad" experiences with carriers involving damaged goods. In most cases they simply stand by the "company line" that the item wasn't packaged properly. If you hope to get any type of monetary compensation you need to be extremely persistent and not take no for an answer.

Good luck!

That's absolutely TERRIBLE CryBaby. So sorry.

Honestly, the first thing you should do is contact the seller and (nicely) ask him, as the sender, to deal with filing a claim w/US Post. Not you. If he is a straight-up person, he will do that. He should be the one to do that.

I suppose you can deal with filing a claim with German Post.

Take pictures of the box and the drum, by the way.

If nothing comes of either of the claims, I would then ask the seller if he would be willing to give you some $ back. Again, if all else fails and the package was NOT insured or covered and you cannot get either Post to pony up some $, a decent seller with some morals should give you some sort of refund.

If it was USPS insured or one of the shipping options which provides insurance, I thnk you have a fair chance of success. The thing with damaged instruments is, usually USPS wants the entire instrument handed over to them, I think (for an entire insurance coverage).

so here it goes...

i will not get a refund or insurance amount by DHL or USPS cause they indeed claim that the drum was not properly packed. they said they could take it but were 100% sure that headquaters would deny it. btw. i as the receiver of the package HAVE to do the claim cause i now have/own the package...

so i contacted the seller again, and he will give me a refund anyway to have it fixed.

i already contacted a vintage drum guru here in germany who seems to have done quite a few of thos repairs before. He said those cracks along the seam are not a huge problem and can be fixed up easily and cheap 40 dollars for a fix. anyone has experienced/done that before?

anyway my mood is risin'.....