Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 — Sometimes I guess you get what you deserve when you deal with buying collectible keys on eBay.
I had the chance to buy another rare early Go-Devil bug a week or so back, and apparently no one was watching this auction very closely; I snapped it up at a bargain price. Who can resist a bargain?? It’s a bargain assuming it arrives safely and intact. It didn’t.
At one time I began assuming that few people could properly pack a bug for shipment; I routinely sent a very nice e-mail to my sellers, providing some helpful suggestions on packing a bug for shipment (i.e., never use crumpled newspaper for packing, remove the paddle, tie down the pendulum securely, etc.). After getting a couple of testy replies from sellers who also collected keys, I dropped the practice recently. My mistake.
The seller packed the key in crumpled newspaper and used a box that the key barely fit in wedged at an angle. Using too small a box is a sure recipe for shipping damage. The paddle — the ORIGINAL, 80-year-old paddle — was snapped off during shipment. Two screws held it in place, and made the paddle simple to remove.
The side of the box had actually torn open from the key banging through the cardboard (!). I’m lucky the key stayed inside the damn box. It was packed with loose wads of newspaper, and wrapped with a little bit of paper (no bubble wrap or peanuts to be seen). I carefully unwrapped the key, figuring pieces would fall in my lap if I didn’t do this carefully.
The only casualty was the paddle, but it aggravates me that I paid good money for the key in intact condition and received it with preventable damage. I was VERY aggravated; while I know I could return the key — Paypal protects me well — the truth is I don’t want to return it. I couldn’t find another Go-Devil at that price, paddle or not.
It was a clean break, and the bakelite didn’t shatter into shards; I decided to try to repair it. Krazy Glue is usually very helpful in fixing these broken paddles; I’ve repaired many of them, and they’re solid once the glue is cured. But this bakelite was very porus along the break; the glue simply was absorbed by the material. The two pieces wouldn’t stick.
It took more glue than I thought, but once the surfaces of the break were saturated I could push the two parts together. They stuck halfway; I worried the adhesive was going to melt the bakelite. I let the glue cure 30 minutes, and when I checked it the paddle was solid. I’ll let it cure overnight before reinstalling it.
I decided earlier tonight to leave this guy a blistering e-mail; his half-assed packing seriously impacted the value of this rare code key. The seller needs to know what he/she did wrong. Unfortunately, eBay won’t let you leave negative feedback immediately; they ask that you contact the seller to try to work out the problem.
I didn’t want to get a refund; I didn’t want to send the key back. But I do want to let the seller know his packing was crap, and express my disappointment over it. I may not leave negative feedback, but I will warn buyers the guy has some “packing issues,” lol!