I wanted to sound out the Forum's opinion regarding something that's happened to me a couple of times now. Sadly, if you stay in the collecting game long enough, sooner or later you will probably be a victim of poor packing when buying an item and having it posted to you. I buy a fair bit from eBay (not just vintage, but all sorts of things), and the vast majority of the time the items arrive undamaged. With vintage items in particular, I always make a special point of asking how things will be packaged in advance of bidding / buying, and even ask sellers leading questions such as, 'will you send it in a very strong box with a couple of inches packing on all sides of the item?', etc.
On a few thankfully rare occasions, I have had to return vintage items due to sellers simply not doing what they said they would and cheaping out on the packing they've used, resulting in those items arriving needlessly damaged :-(. However, what I have experienced again today is something similar, but different.
Today I received a MOC, and it's in perfect condition. That's great news of course, and I am genuinely thankful. However, it's no thanks to the seller. Quite frankly, it's borderline miraculous that it is undamaged due to the inadequate, feeble packing they used. I won't go into specifics in case the seller is a member here, however believe me when I say that as the postman handed me a crushed box this morning, my heart sank into my toes as I feared the worst!
So my question is this; even though the MOC arrived undamaged, should I say anything to the seller about their packing? They could quite rightly reply to any comment / criticism of mine by pointing out that their packing worked (just). However, they have other MOCs for sale (and actually have sold a few already), and I wince at the thought of another buyer being less fortunate than me, if their purchase is packed in a similar way. I've got away with it, but what about them? Or should I be thankful that mine survived and not rock the boat?
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
On a few thankfully rare occasions, I have had to return vintage items due to sellers simply not doing what they said they would and cheaping out on the packing they've used, resulting in those items arriving needlessly damaged :-(. However, what I have experienced again today is something similar, but different.
Today I received a MOC, and it's in perfect condition. That's great news of course, and I am genuinely thankful. However, it's no thanks to the seller. Quite frankly, it's borderline miraculous that it is undamaged due to the inadequate, feeble packing they used. I won't go into specifics in case the seller is a member here, however believe me when I say that as the postman handed me a crushed box this morning, my heart sank into my toes as I feared the worst!
So my question is this; even though the MOC arrived undamaged, should I say anything to the seller about their packing? They could quite rightly reply to any comment / criticism of mine by pointing out that their packing worked (just). However, they have other MOCs for sale (and actually have sold a few already), and I wince at the thought of another buyer being less fortunate than me, if their purchase is packed in a similar way. I've got away with it, but what about them? Or should I be thankful that mine survived and not rock the boat?
Your thoughts would be appreciated.