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Damn, I received two phones that I had purchased from E-pay today, one was a single line green 500 with a four wire line cord. When I opened the flat rate box, it was smashed. There were at least twenty bits of plastic in the box.

The second package I received today was a five line rotary green phone, and it was cracked in the front. This was not listed as cracked or damaged. I guess I can fix it with epoxy or something, (I will paruse a phone restoration forum I just found for some advice as how to do this properly).

I guess the smashed phone will have some useful parts... the base is good as is the handset. As I said, it appears to have the thicker four wire cord.

But I must say, I feel like beating my head on the wall... :bang:

Joe

why not contact the sellers and get your money back ?

I would

I indeed have done just that. I am not sure if they will do that or not, I have had mixed luck with e-bay sellers about damaged items.

What is so maddening is that I have bought phones and things before on e-bay, and have never had such bad luck. I am using an e-bay phone right now that came from Kirtland AFB, and it arrived as described...dirty, needing cleaning and polishing. I did just that... I cleanded and polished it, and it is a fine specimen, and only cost a few bucks with very reasonable shipping.

Oh well... win some and loose some.

Joe

if the seller wont make it good file with eBay /pay-pal under the buyer protection program

buyer protection

The package with the 500 set in it sounds like it was damaged in transit. USPS, UPS, whatever should go good for it, but I believe the shipper has to make the claim.

The 564/565 set might not have been seen by the seller if it was that dirty.

The serious collectors always tell the sellers something like this:

"I'm happy to be buying such a nice phone, and I hope you will take the time to wrap the handset separately with bubble wrap, so that it won't bounce around and break the rest of the phone. Please wrap the whole phone in bubble wrap, and put it in an inner box and an outer box."

There are many horror stories of phones that are really rare and irreplaceable being delivered as a pile of broken shards.

Yes, and now, on the day that we are supposed to start moving, we are having THE "50 year snowstorm"!

There is already 8 inches of snow on the streets, no snow plows are to be seen, and it is supposed to keep snowing like this until six or seven tomorrow morning. They are predicting 12 to 25 INCHES of snow by the time it is all over! (A six inch snow fall is considered huge here near Kansas City.)

The movers called to tell us they will not be here.

Oh well, I am well stocked with waterproof sandpaper and Novus plastic polish. I will work on a yellow 500 today, I guess. (This post relates to telephones as I am very anxious to wire our new home for the 1A2 set up that I have got working in the last month or so...)

Joe

Once again, I purchased an aqua phone listed as "green" (obviously aqua in the photo). I asked the seller to be sure to pack it well.

It arrived very quickly, and when I took the package out of my RFD box, it rattled. I know that sound. When opened, the phone was utterly smashed. Even the dial plate was damaged.

Packing? One folded sheet of paper on top of the phone.

This is getting quite irritating. If someone wants to sell online on e-pay and charge a premium 'shipping and handling' (yeah, sure) then at least pack the damned thing so it arrives intact.

Joe

reflect it in their ratings and file with ebay under buyer protection

I have been lucky when receiving "loose" pack purchases. However, my Ebay feedback will now include packing comments when appropriate. Such shippers need to be warned. My experience is that those sellers using the USPS "if it fits, it ships" are the worst.

I am going to have to file this one with e-bay. I gave the seller the courtesy of emailing what had happened, and his attitude was 'sorry, I shipped it in an approved box'... go bitch to the post office. He is refusing to refund my money.

You bet I will reflect this in his ratings!

It takes quite a bit to get me p****d off, but this one rubbed me the wrong way. Most people that I deal with on e-bay are decent and make things right. This guy wants to be a smart***.

Joe

Has ebay changed their policies again? Last I saw, sellers were required to insure all shipments, and were not allowed to include the insurance in the shipping charge. But ebay changes the rules about once a week, so don't qoute me on this...

Jim
**************************************************
Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

I learned the value of insuring for the RETAIL amount. I shipped a TD193 card to John Berry in CA and the box arrived EMPTY!!! Yeah, I got my money back, but lost the sale. Some FedEx drone probably thought it was a free cell phone. I also learned that the self-seal packages just make it easier to get into. It gets the tape gun now.

Now, every deal I ship goes out at retail rate. Now if they lose it, it's still my profit.

Carl

Joe, if the phone was insured, USPS will want to see the entire mess. When they see the inadequate packing job, they'll probably refuse to cover it. E-bay is your only recourse, although if it was insured, you'll probably have to get a statement from USPS.

Anyone close enough to this jerk to give him an education with a 2x4?