Fall Vintage Zenith Safari - 2012 Edition

[ulackfocus]

Gotta love eBay sellers.

..... not.

Recently I had a minor issue with one, and kept messaging them for over a week with no reply. So I left negative feedback - and they replied within hours asking me to change my rating of them but weren't going to do one damn thing to help me!!! Yeah, I'll change my feedback - TO WORSE OF A RATING.

 

[LouS]

LouS

Well that didn't take long. The seller finally shook out a tracking number. I'd asked him four times previously, but he only sent one now that I opened the dispute. And it reveals that he only sent the watch on December 19, even though the sale closed on December 3. And now he asks me to close the dispute...not until I have the piece in my sweaty grip, I think.

...and it is not to be. Yesterday, my doorman refused the package because the tape was broken and it appeared to him that one end was damaged. The USPS tells me that there is no way I can catch up with the package for my personal inspection and that the package is automatically returned to the sender.

 

[Stewart H]

LouS

...and it is not to be. Yesterday, my doorman refused the package because the tape was broken and it appeared to him that one end was damaged. The USPS tells me that there is no way I can catch up with the package for my personal inspection and that the package is automatically returned to the sender.

Did you forget his Christmas tip Lou?

 

[cicindela]

LouS

...and it is not to be. Yesterday, my doorman refused the package because the tape was broken and it appeared to him that one end was damaged. The USPS tells me that there is no way I can catch up with the package for my personal inspection and that the package is automatically returned to the sender.

I suppose warning him of a parcels arrival in your case would have been redundant.

 

[LouS]

Stewart H

Did you forget his Christmas tip Lou?

cicindela

I suppose warning him of a parcels arrival in your case would have been redundant.

He was just doing his job in not signing for damaged packages - it's SOP. However, in this case, it prolongs the headache. It also reinforces my superstition not to talk about watches until they are in hand. The Watch Gods are certainly enjoying their sport in the case of this one...

 

[MSNWatch]

LouS

He was just doing his job in not signing for damaged packages - it's SOP. However, in this case, it prolongs the headache. It also reinforces my superstition not to talk about watches until they are in hand. The Watch Gods are certainly enjoying their sport in the case of this one...

Looking over this thread again - whatever happened to the damaged package watch?
And if the observation of Dennis is correct, the watch market should pick up soon - currently it is at a lull with the number of vintage omegas on ebay that I have on my watch list at a 12 month low (that's just as far as my memory goes nowadays).
And I too try not to talk about incoming watches - at least not with any specifics. Have had to hold my breath a few times including one that came from Europe that was mailed Express Mail that was scanned about 5 times in the same sorting facility in northern NJ over a period of 4 weeks before finally making its way to me - I involved enough people there that when it came my mailman wrote a note saying - "Look what I found!"

 

[LouS]

Unmitigated disaster, Mike. Watch is lost in the Italian mail (shocked! I'm simply shokced!) on its way back to the owner and Ebay says its my fault, even though the watch was never in my possession. They have ruled against me and there is no appeal. I'm out the purchase price.

 

[ulackfocus]

Are you bs'ing us? Tell me you put it on a credit card.

 

[MSNWatch]

LouS

Unmitigated disaster, Mike. Watch is lost in the Italian mail (shocked! I'm simply shokced!) on its way back to the owner and Ebay says its my fault, even though the watch was never in my possession. They have ruled against me and there is no appeal. I'm out the purchase price.

Wow, didn't mean to dredge up such an unpleasant memory. If you make enough purchases at some point something like this happens.

 

[LouS]

In trying to salvage some kind of value for others from this fiasco, readers should know that in the eyes of Ebay, you become responsible for an item if you refuse delivery, even if (by definition) you never had it in your possession. Therefore, better to accept and file an "Item not as Described case" for a lost item than to refuse the package.

 

[ulackfocus]

Lou, once the seller has it back can you get a refund? Not that I would trust a seller to admit to that, so it might be a good idea to keep an eye out for the identical watch (read: serial number) to pop up under a different eBay ID.

 

[LouS]

U ulackfocus

Lou, once the seller has it back can you get a refund? Not that I would trust a seller to admit to that, so it might be a good idea to keep an eye out for the identical watch (read: serial number) to pop up under a different eBay ID.

Ebay, watch site sales forum, dealer site....you know I've been looking. The seller was troublesome from day one - never should have gone through with it, but we've all been blinded by the watch-lust. He will definitely not admit he received the watch. I would heartily love to nail him in the lie.

A very big part of the problem is an inability to track this watch on its way back though the italian postal service. If anyone can offer any pointers, I'd appreciate it.

This is the watch in question - case number 385 D 168 - seller is in place called Vercelli in Piedmont, Italy. If anyone spots it, contact me immediately.

 

[ulackfocus]

385D168 - got it.

 

[MMMD]

Wow that bites. Let's hope documenting it here does some good.

 

[John Chris]

My deepest sympathies on your loss, Lou, and thank you for learning a lesson of value to us all. But is there not something incongruous about the phrase "Italian…Postal…Service"?