Sale postings to classiccmp (RE: my objection to recent postings)

From: J. Maynard Gelinas <maynard_at_jmg.com>
Date: Thu Apr 9 11:33:19 1998

       [followup throughout text]

> Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 20:01:13 -0500
> From: Russ Blakeman <rhblake_at_bbtel.com>
> To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" <classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Sale postings to classiccmp (RE: my objection to recent postings)
>
> J. Maynard Gelinas wrote:
>
> > I've never sold, but I have bought. I must admit, even after
> > _asking the seller very nicely_ to package the goods carefully, he
> > still just threw the item (an Atari 800) in a big box with newspaper;
> > It arrived a mess of broken plastic. He currently claims to be
> > working with UPS to refund my money instead of taking responsibility
> > of it himself.
>
> Hope this ISN'T me!! Nope, I've never had an Atari 800

  NO! _YOU_ are the reason I pointed out that buying from members of
  the list is _safer_ because we are a 'close knit community'... No,
  both purchases through ebay were unrelated to the classiccmp list.
  One guy shipped me goods that were carefully packed, the other
  didn't... So, I guess the best advice to gleen from this is YMMV
  because two transactions don't make for a good sample base.
  Still... I warn folks, there are numnuts out there.

>
> > I'm less than enthusiastic about ebay because of this. OTOH, I
> > bought from someone else and he shipped the items wrapped in bubble
> > wrap, boxed in peanut packing material... they arrived in beautiful
> > condidtion and I sent off a thank you letter immeiately. I would say
> > that you're taking a much worse risk buying through the auction houses
> > because you have no idea what kind of person you're buying from. Here
> > you may not meet the person, but we're a fairly close knit community.
> > I feel much safer buying from the folks here.
>
> I sure hope this IS me. I think it was anyway.
>

  Yes, let me state for the record... I purchased an item from Russ,
  and not only did he ship out what we agreed upon, but even threw in
  an extra ('cause I guess he didn't want it). I am _completely_
  satisfied by my transaction with Russ. Also, folks, I don't know
  about you but $30 - $50 bucks is chump change to me. Like a night
  out at a bar with friends... If something goes wrong with the
  transaction it's a PITA, but _not_ a disaster!

  With regard to the UPS Vs. USPS debate, I have to agree that USPS
  takes better care of my ground shippments than UPS. Unfortunately
  my local letter carrier steals my mail, often drops mail for the
  wrong address in my mail box, and regularly just throws all the mail
  for my building on the floor in the main entrance (where our
  mailboxes are). I've never had such poor service from the postal
  service... I do live in a 'slum' community in Cambridge - there are
  some dangerous parts of Cambridge, MA, believe it or not. A kid was
  shot right across the street from my apartment last summer... I
  heard the gunshot and watched the ambulances and crazyness ensue
  afterward. Wow, only blocks away from MIT and Harvard yet kids sell
  crack on my streetcorner. Welcome to the US.

  Anyway, the upshot of this is that while I'd rather use USPS because
  they seem to take better care of my packages, unfortunately my local
  letter carrier is an idiot. Yes, I've complained. No, no one at
  the Cambridge Post Office seems to care. Isn't there a federal law
  about this?!?!?

--jmg

> To others that are reading this I want to say that USPS has never broken or lost an
> item I've sent but twice now UPS in various metro areas has dropped them and
> irregardless of the packing involved has managed to ruin them and took FOREVER to
> settle. You might even read the contract/shipping reciept as many UPS items go
> through a handling service that routes items to UPS and charges a hefty fee on top
> of that. If you read their fine print you'll see that certain ones do not insure
> items such as monitors, computers, etc even though they show a certain amount of
> insurance whether the automatic $100 or you pay for additional.
>
> Also be aware that I've sent items to close relatives and they've sent me items,
> properly wrapped and able to withstand all sorts of shock but yet some older items
> still manage to arrive in a different working order than when they left. The
> reciever (in very few cases) may also mess things up and then blame the seller for
> selling junk. Anyone in retail sales has seen this many times, whether it's meant
> as a con-job or just sheer stupidity of the reciever.
>
> Anyone that sells should be as honest as possible and anyone that buys should also
> be wary that these items are used and in an AS-IS state and legally carry no
> warranty unless the seller sends the buyer a printed copy of such a warranty. I'm
> glad to help people in the collector and hobby sector of computers get items that
> would otherwise fill the dumps and that they trust me enough to send prepayment for
> shipping and the items (when applicable). I also thank anyone that has sent me
> items for being honest and sending me what I expected. It's this 'commradary' of
> all involved in this type of computer hobby that makes things go so smoothly. As
> Maynard has noted, Ebay has some sellers with other objectives than helping each
> other, just helping themselves - to your money. Don't get me wrong, most sales are
> legitimate and good. The few that slam items loosely into boxes and send them just
> to complete a transaction are surely the few that make the others look bad. I
> personally stay away from Ebay and other auctions due to the fact that many items
> are so wanted by people that they get stupid sometimes and offer way over what an
> item should cost in any condition because they think they're going to get a "last
> of a dying machine" for their collection.
>
> Well that was my opinion...they say that "opinions are like assholes, everyone has
> one and they usually stink" (excuse the profanity but it makes the whole thing work
> better - in my opinion)
Received on Thu Apr 09 1998 - 11:33:19 BST