A very sad day...........

[kovacs01]

So a new acquisition arrived today.  It was a poster I had been hunting for several years.  The kind that just never, ever turns up.  I found a nice minty condition example from a dealer I trusted at a price I could afford.  I get it home and as I am opening it, I notice a little sticker that says "package arrived damage".  It was a PVC tube and looking at it, I did not notice any damage.  So I get it open, and find out that it is an empty tube.  Nothing but air.  Upon inspection, there was a different tape on one end.  Someone had retaped it.  Also, there were some blurry red stamps that said "arrived without contents" that I took for customs stamps before.  Now, I have opened tubes to find damaged posters, but to have one Houdini'd completely (especially this one) is heartbreaking.

If that wasn't bad enough, I also received one today in one of those shitty flimsy "twist and pull" tubes that was crushed in the middle.  Of course, the 3 posters rolled up in the middle were damaged.  This one is a lot less significant, and for the price, I will probably let it go with just a neutral on the ole ebay feedback.  I do not have time to resolve it before I go out of town anyway......

Man, what a terrible afternoon.

[brude]

I feel your pain, man.  Two bad experiences and piggybacked to boot.
I got an empty tube from Thailand once, complete with the same stickers you describe.  I wrote the seller and he sent me a replacement.  Take a pic of the tube w/stickers and maybe...just maybe...

[kovacs01]

Based on where I got it, I have no doubts that it will be resolved.  It was not some ebay random.  A replacement is a different story.  It isn't really the kind of poster that you can just go find a replacement for, but if he can, I would be more than happy.

[supraman079]

That sucks man. As I've said before, the thing I hate most in this hobby is piss poor packaging. There really is no excuse for it whatsoever, especially when you drop a nice amount of coin down or it's a rare poster.

I guess that poster is just a little bit more rare now. Best of luck on finding a replacement.

[CSM]

How could all traces of the poster completely disappear?  Was it a one sheet - that is a large poster to "fall out" of the tube! 

[kovacs01]

yup, a one sheet.  If it was open on one end, a poster could slide out while in a jostling cargo compartment.  You would think someone would notice that it was open and gone but who knows.  I guess the other possibility is that someone stole it, but I would say more likely it slid out and fell between some other boxes or something like that.

[Zorba]

I feel your pain, man. 

Yeah. Me two...That is the worst feeling in posters.

[Dr Hackenbush]

Wow, what a terrible thing to discover.  Hopefully you'll be able to get a replacement

[eatbrie]

How do you know that the seller even mailed it?  Maybe he got a better offer and decided to send you an empty tube, using the "It's not me, it's the post office" excuse.

Man, it's a shitty situation but it happens all the freakin' time.  Especially from the UK, for some reasons.  50% of what I get from the UK is crushed.  Bad tubes, poor job from Royal Mail, you name it.  However, with Paypal, I must say that I have always come out a winner.  Which means that I always got my money back.  Hopefully you can find the poster somewhere else.

T

[kovacs01]

How do you know that the seller even mailed it?  Maybe he got a better offer and decided to send you an empty tube, using the "It's not me, it's the post office" excuse.

Man, it's a shitty situation but it happens all the freakin' time.  Especially from the UK, for some reasons.  50% of what I get from the UK is crushed.  Bad tubes, poor job from Royal Mail, you name it.  However, with Paypal, I must say that I have always come out a winner.  Which means that I always got my money back.  Hopefully you can find the poster somewhere else.

T

Because I know the seller, and I trust him.

[CSM]

How do you know that the seller even mailed it?  Maybe he got a better offer and decided to send you an empty tube, using the "It's not me, it's the post office" excuse.

Man, it's a shitty situation but it happens all the freakin' time.  Especially from the UK, for some reasons.  50% of what I get from the UK is crushed.  Bad tubes, poor job from Royal Mail, you name it.  However, with Paypal, I must say that I have always come out a winner.  Which means that I always got my money back.  Hopefully you can find the poster somewhere else.

T

Thierry, are you suggesting there is such a thing as an unscrupulous poster seller?

[Dr Hackenbush]

Pray tell, no!   

[quadbod]

Especially from the UK, for some reasons.  50% of what I get from the UK is crushed.  Bad tubes, poor job from Royal Mail, you name it.  T

There's no excuse for poor packaging - and no reason the UK should be any worse than anyone else.  Professional dealers should always pack and ship securely.  My guess is that most problems - domestic and/or international - stem from casual sellers who don't realise it's not as easy as it looks!

[brude]

Wow, I can safely say that of the many Quads I have bought from across the pond, I have never received a damaged one.  The tubes have always been crush-proof...maybe I am just dumb-ass lucky...

[CSM]

Wow, I can safely say that of the many Quads I have bought from across the pond, I have never received a damaged one.  The tubes have always been crush-proof...maybe I am just dumb-ass lucky...

I hope your were knocking both fists firmly on a giant oak tree whilst making that statement

[ddilts399]

I agree with the UK POS tube situation, if rolled and a recent title might as well flip a coin if it makes it intact or... you can pay 3 times market and get it in good shape. Just depends on if you feel like gambling on that day. There a few id's you know it will make it intact and they charge as they know it.

[kovacs01]

Ok, now that things are settled with the seller, this is the poster that went missing.  I know some of you probably know where it came from and were wondering where it went.  Well, the answer to that second question is most likely the trash bin or possibly some postal worker's wall.  It might explain some of why I was so upset at its loss..........

[CSM]

That's a beauty poster! 

But chin up, another one will come around at some point...

[kovacs01]

Well, another one came around, and I won the item and paid for it.  But fuck me if it is not lost in the postal system right now.

Label/Receipt Number: 2305 0270 0001 0037 1157
Class: First-Class Mail®
Service(s): Signature Confirmation™
Status: Notice Left

We attempted to deliver your item at 3:38 pm on July 21, 2010 in RICHARDSON, TX 75080 and a notice was left. No further information is available for this item.

Notice Left, July 21, 2010, 3:38 pm, RICHARDSON, TX 75080
Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, July 21, 2010, 9:08 am, RICHARDSON, TX 75080
Sorting Complete, July 21, 2010, 8:38 am, RICHARDSON, TX 75080
Arrival at Post Office, July 21, 2010, 7:04 am, RICHARDSON, TX 75080
Acceptance, July 19, 2010, 11:41 am, LOS ANGELES, CA 90046

There was no delivery attempted.  I was there on that date during that time, and i was looking for some kind of notification.  Different seller, different piece of paper, this is absolutely un-fucking-believable.

[guest8]

Ive had some near misses liek that .. Back when I lived in an apartment .. theyd just drop it by the office and never leave a notice .. or hold it at the post office with no notice .. thankfully I was on top of watching all my tracking back then so I knew something was up and immediately wen tot eh PO and had them start looking and magically there it was .. they typically hold something for like 3-4 weeks .. hopefully you can work out redelivery if it was returned to sender .. good luck !

[CSM]

Kovacs, maybe it is just not meant to be!?  Feel for you man...

[brude]

Awww, Schan.  That really sucks.  I hope it turns up.