auction question

[save2600]

No, you should be a reasonable human being and just accept it as a loss and learn from your own mistake. This guy is probably a regular non-professional seller just clearing his loft and doesn't need to be left a negative from the likes of people posting in this thread who don't seem to understand the risks involved with shipping harddrive technology.

Strange comments.

Common sense 101 clearly states that it is the sellers responsibility to understand just what it is he is selling. Too many non-professional dolts "clearing their lofts", not giving a hoot, not really knowing what works or not, horrible descriptions, poor pictures, trying to make a buck online when they aren't even qualified to be selling out of a yard sale. Why continue to protect these types? Orange should get his full money back and it is the seller that needs to learn the lesson.

If the buyer requests careful packing, then the seller (which he should have automatically done) needs to oblige - period. The schmuck should have never offered 2€ shipping in the first place if he knew straight away that it wasn't going to be packed properly.  

I had a similar experience on a different site. Paid a premium for 2 5-1/4" disk drives to be shipped. Before paying, I communicated to the seller that I need these to be packed in bubble wrap. Well, the dipstick sent them in bubble wrap all right. He put the two drives together (metal touching metal, plastic and circuits) and wrapped a single piece of bubble wrap around them! They were essentially loose, floating around in a box of sparse packing peanuts! Needless to say, there are now unnecessary scratches and who knows if they work or not. Common sense really is dead today. You might think it is my fault for not taking the dolt by the hand through the packing process, but I have a flawed tendency to think that if they are selling technical items, they should have a little more brain cells than the average village idiot. My bad   ;-)

[save2600]

but you are dealing with the general public, like it or not. most people on eBay are just regular Joes, they're not out to rip people off or purposefully package items in a bad way. they're just inexperienced and do not have the man-power, years of experience and technical know-how of professional retailers, such as Amazon or Dabs. Yet we somehow stupidly expect, just because their listings are surrounded by eBay's corporate logos and slick listing design theme - a 100% guaranteed "professional service". lol....please!

you have to be reasonable with people, and you have to be honest with yourself and ask "was it sensible to buy what is probably *THE MOST* delicate electrical item (ie: a harddrive) imaginable from a non-professional seller". Then I think you'll see that it was a silly move.

Companies such as Amazon have actually spent big bucks on scientific research on packaging techniques. When I recieved my borked HD from Amazon the packaging didn't even contain a single strip of "bubblewrap". It was actually package with strange angular cardboard supports, designed through their research to absorb shocks more effectively.

There are just some items which should never be purchased from amature sellers. and a Harddrive is _obviousely_ one of those items.

I'm not trying to be a prick, but disagree with most of the logic here. It does not take a rocket scientist or ANY "man years" of experience to properly pack something. An individual or a corporation should know better - it's as simple as that. And I don't buy the excuse that corporations are the only "entities" with the resources to develop safe shipping practices. That notion is a bunch of hullabaloo and you're really devaluing your fellow human if you really believe that. If anything, by way of politics, policies and horrendous communication - corporations are less likely to get something done right and consistently. Same goes for governments. Both points are being proved each and every day.

I still say though if you are selling/shipping something you have NO knowledge of, you are not qualified to be selling said items and as such YOU should be held liable for your actions or inactions. Like sending a HD in box with no packing: that's just plain stupid. And not sure where you are getting your data on Amazon specifically, but I've returned more DVD's and SACD's to them than any other company for sending in a bubble wrap envelope! You do not send those kinds of items that way and expect it to arrive safely. A 5 year old would even know better.

And "technical and professional" retailers? lol  Those types of companies, run by people that know and care about their customers have long since passed. Decades ago. Companies no longer even know who their clientele really is. That's why, when they find themselves in dire straits, they pay so called "marketing groups" to tell them what to do and who to market to. And even they get it wrong much of the time. We're now living in the most uncouth, least educated, do-it-yourself Wal-Mart mentality of times. It's a wonder anyone can transact business for long at all anymore. This level of customer service would have NEVER been allowed to occur years ago, when standards were higher. Somehow though, today's savvy (yeah right) consumer copes as they continually lower their standards. And thanks to the short sightedness of instant gratification, "we" did it to ourselves. Our country is only exporting something like 1/4 (probably less) of our GDP while we continue to rake in 3/4 of the Chinese garbage people are all too happy to clammer and trudge down to their generic Big Box shops to buy.

I've personally sent and received dozens of HD's throughout the years from companies and amateurs alike. Can't recall ever having a single problem. Not even with the boat anchor I just bought off Red! lol

I do agree though that many people on ePay or wherever are not purposely trying to scam others. They're just constitutionally retarded, lazy and plain don't care. You may be compassionate enough to rationalise their behaviour - but I refuse to accept their excuses and certainly would never consider them the "norm" - even though it sure seems that way today.

[save2600]

save2600 & tone2600: haha, I just realized. You two are from the States....the land of Blame Culture where a person can purchase a cup of _HOT_ Chocolate from McDonalds advertized as "SCALDING HOT" and yet sue McDonalds for serving it "too hot" when you get burnt.

sometimes you have to take responsibility for your own actions and their consequences

Hey, just because I live in the States, does not mean I subscribe to that level of worthlessness! I'm ashamed of a lot of what's been allowed to happen over here. And yeah, that was a frivolous lawsuit if ever there was one. There's a lot wrong with this country Re: laws and mandates. We're now out to save and protect the people that routinely achieve Darwin Awards. The book entitled 'The Death of Common Sense - How American Laws are Ruining the Country' sums it up real well.

But my bottom line here is that a potential buyer should not be afraid to purchase something like a HD simply because the seller doesn't possess the gee-whiz to pack it properly. Especially when told how and refused to comply!!

What should orange have said? "Because you are an online seller, I suspect you are dense and before packing and shipping this HD out to me, give me your phone number so I can talk you through the packing procedure"...  LOL!  Admittedly, I've worded e-mails close to this when buying on occasion  ;-)

[save2600]

I would NEVER have dreamed of giving the seller a negative or asking for a refund if the monitor arrived broken. Nevermind the "consumer legalities", it's a question of morals, and people being reasonable with eachother. One guy trying to sell his item and another wanting to buy but also appretiating that he is sharing the risk in some instances.

I took the risk to have that item shipped. It was my decision, I don't care about the power "consumer rights" grant me to _demand_ a refund.

Of course there's risk, but that's why insurance exists. Definition of insurance is that it relieves one of liability.

If a seller did a shoddy job of packing *anything*, of course it's more likely to get damaged. Agreed, the 2euro cost of shipping was a red flag - but often times, sellers realise they estimated too low and eat the cost. A seller is a total wanker for saying: "he only paid this much for s/h, so I may as well do a shite job of packing".

In the case of humans being honourable or reasonable to each other (rare, but not uncommon with groups such as this), the seller could have taken the time to properly pack and then write to the buyer asking for some more money to cover the cost. I've done that before and have always had good results. When you take the time to explain a situation, most people are willing to make it right with you.