Amiga 4000 damaged in shipment, fair compensation?

[TjLaZer]

Ok I recently bid on an Amiga 4000 on ebay that came with a Picasso IV card.  

The package was packed ok but could of been packed much better, especially the keyboard. It was just throw in loose in the peanuts along with the 4000.  The keyboard was damaged pretty bad with 3 broken keys and real bad scratches and gouges. I asked that the PIV card be removed and packed separately as I had a 2000 shipped in the past that the cards got damaged as they popped out of the slots.  Luckily the card was fine and it seems to work great in my other 4000! (phew!)  The 4000 arrived damaged (ie the left side of the case looked like someone kicked it with a steel toe boot, LOL)  It also does not work. Black screen.  I did get it to boot 1 time but since then it does not boot.  Yes it had a leaking battery that was remove 3 minutes after I opened it up.  Used Isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the area up.  After checking everything over and it not working I decided to try a different CPU card.  I had another A3630 030 card so I tried that and presto it works!  
Keyboard seems to have problems.  I get weird characters when I type.  If I give it the old Atari twist or a smach it seems to work ok!  Then a few minutes later, the same garbage.

edit - seems there is no battery damage, as I get a CLOCK FOUND in SysInfo!  But there is no battery installed to know for certain...


So in letting the seller know all this, he is nice enough to offer compensation.  He wants to know what I would like for the following damaged items:

-A3630 CPU card
-A4000 keyboard
-A4000 top case

Whats a fair price for the above 3 items?

[dannyp1]

How much did you pay for the computer to begin with?  We need to know that in order to calculate amounts for the damaged items.

[dannyp1]

Dumbo me!  I just went to the EBay link and saw the price.  I will say that I saw a Picasso card sell but-it-now within the last week for $600.  If the PIV is fine from this purchase I would say take it easy on the guy.  You could sell the PIV right now and come out ahead money wise and still have the rest of the computer.  The guy goofed up listing the computer and should have had the PIV in the title.  You did real well on this purchase.

[RMK305]

Agreed. You got an absolute bargain. However, the guy should have packaged it properly to avoid damage. Sorry not much help with regards to values in the USA, but I couldn't help but comment seeing your deal.

[alexh]

dannyp1 wrote:
I will say that I saw a Picasso card sell but-it-now within the last week for $600.

That Picasso card was a quirk. It was museum quality. The box was original and in mint condition, all the original packaging inside, manual, disks, cables, even the original antistatic bags.

Normally a PIV will fetch $300, I know I bought one this year.

[alexh]

Dont forget to invest in an AUI to 10BaseT adapter. They are about $10 on ebay and will enable your ethernet card for the modern world.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300234302186
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380022203057
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310059903889

Did this get shipped via UPS by any chance? I have had problems with them before - apparently a popular pastime among their workers is to find computers and kick the boxes. I've avoided them like the plague ever since they destroyed a 286 of mine back in the 90s...

[amesie2]

@TjLaZer

I would say that if the guy is willing to compensate you at all it is a good gesture on his part. I see from the auction he offered to insure the item at the buyers discresion.
I would in all fairness figure what it would cost to replace the items and cut it in half.

A3630 CPU card = $30.00 (maybe)
Keyboard = $20.00-$30.00
Top case = ? ($20.00)

Total = $70.00-$80.00 /2 = $35.00-$40.00 from him

If it were me that is how I would break it down, just my thoughts.

[rkauer]

 A keyboard costs some like 60 bucks around the world, the scratches are "paint-able" (5 bucks a spray can?), A4030... 30 bucks TOPS?!?

 Bill UPS for that! Those schmucks deserves it! :evil:

 BTW: any A2000/3000/4000T with a cheap DIN converter can do the job for the A4000D. Even an A500 keyboard hacked inside the 4000 kb case do it.

[dannyp1]

I wasn't saying that all PIV's sell for $600.  I said I saw one sell for that amount within the last week.  If having the original box, paperwork, and bag makes one museum quality then I have about 3 musuem quality PIV's.  Like it or not they are a hot item right now.  Yes, I have seen a couple slip through in the $300 range, but I see many more in the past year go for $400 to $450.  2 years ago they were selling in the $200 to $250 range.  They don't anymore.  Last summer I needed one to complete a project and bid over $400 dollars on two seperate PIV's within about a weeks time and got neither one.  I wasn't even runner up on either of them.  Both went if I remember correctly for almost $500.

The point I was trying to make was that the card very well might be worth the purchase price he paid for the entire computer.  I still believe that.  I repeat, he did very well on that purchase.

[TjLaZer]

Well I was after the PIV and don't really want the computer.  I was planning on reselling it to recoup some if the costs.  I have been after a PIV since 1998 when my ex sold it on ebay with my whole A4000!  The price of them has been in the $200-$400 range so i did do good I guess.  My issue is I want a working 4000 so I can try and sell it.  The keyboard is toast, don't think I can fix it as it needs a lot of parts, cosmetic damage as well.  The A3630 card is from my A3000T computer that I have a MKII 060 in, but I wanted to keep it if I ever need to remove the 060 and use it in another Amiga later on.  So I would need a new CPU card and keyboard to atleast get this 4000 running.  A dented top case can be dealt with a hammer I think...

[weirdami]

I have been after a PIV since 1998 when my ex sold it on ebay with my whole A4000!

That is an "ex"able offense!

[Nlandas]

Was it shipped through UPS? They have a default of $100 insurance coverage in each shipment. I'd go after then if that is the case.

You might still be able to sell the parts remaining of that A4000 for about what you paid.

Motherboard
PS
HD Floppy(I got like $79 for my spare.)
motherboard(working.) w/RAM
Daughtercard
etc.

Or look around for a dead A4000 and pull the case top, keyboard and pick up a 3640 for cheap. Then you'll save one more of the old girls from becoming parts.

-Nyle

[don27dog]

Suck it up and quit crying.  If you wanted it insured you should have paid for it...

don27dog wrote:
Suck it up and quit crying.  If you wanted it insured you should have paid for it...

I insured my 286 to the tune of $600 when I shipped it cross country (when I was headed off to university my first year) and UPS refused to pay even though they had clearly kicked the box _dozens_ of times from the bootprints on it. I don't waste my money shipping anything via UPS anymore, and I sure as heck wouldn't bother getting ripped off for 'insurance' that you can't collect on unless you're in the state the parcel was shipped from! Get real; they probably broke it on purpose and should really be held to account for it. And don't tell me mine was an isolated incident: I worked for a computer repair shop for a while and we stopped using UPS altogether because of many, many damaged shipments of expensive parts and systems. Use FedEx or Airborne/DHL instead - or even the good ole USPS. I've never had any problems with shipments from any of those three carriers.