Who to blame, Seller, USPS.......

rsv1cox Tue Feb 08, 2022 1:49 pm

both, everybody, nobody.

I hate to type, but I'm afraid this is going to be long.

Bought these two on ebay on January 19th and paid the same day. Posted about them here. Hamden Connecticut to Capon Bridge about 384 miles.

Notice Charlestown - West, lower left corner.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Ham_to10

Heard nothing from the seller (about 97% positive feedback) for four days. Emailed him a "Do you have a tracking number?" Set me a tracking number.

January 28th, he cancelled that tracking number and sent me another. January 29th, USPS in position. Ten days after I paid for them.

February first arrived in Baltimore Maryland just East of me. OK. I'll get them tomorrow. Usual routine.

February first, sent to Charleston West Virginia, 200 miles West of me where they sat until today February 8th. Sixteen days to go 350 miles.

Checked the sellers ebay listing. Said he sent them First Class. Idiot. FC takes forever. Blamed the seller until I saw that he actually sent them Priority mail 3 DAY!

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012491

Score one for the seller.

Then I opened the box which showed no external damage and found this.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012492

Neatly included in the bubble wrap.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012493

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012494

Sellers picture from his auction.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Broken13

No mention of the damage from him.

But..............He accepted my offer for the two planes for $175, down from his BIN price on ebay of $229.00 and only charged me about $5.50 shipping vs. the actual cost of $26.75.

So, I have to yell at him for the broken horizontal stab...........but how much...........

Anyway, the Gilbert is in better shape than my previous and the Wen Mac P-39/63/Dayfighter is the better pilot eject model but it's missing the front landing gear, I will have to scrounge around for a replacement. But it's a mess, some kid painted it yellow, then decorated that. Ugly with a capitol UGLY.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012495

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012497

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012499

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012498

cstatman Tue Feb 08, 2022 3:15 pm

i dont know, USPS or seller.

i DO know, I cannot wait to see what magic you work on it.

fredvon4 Tue Feb 08, 2022 4:09 pm

I too can't wait the addition to the FLEET

Every found cast off from a long ago beginning that ends up in Bob's resurrection grave yard has new life with a interesting story

I suspect some day you might contact Brodak's Museum curator and inquire if they wish to add to the massive undertaking of John Brodak's legacy and dream

rsv1cox Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:18 pm

Thanks Charles and Fred, I deeply appreciate your thoughts.

But, as I have said before, I'm just a hack at this compared with the real talent on this forum. I do it because it keeps me busy, and I enjoy it. Perhaps my worst prospect was this Veco Scout. I bought it because of the Enya sitting on its nose, 06 or 08, I have forgotten which. When I received it, I just dumped the contents of the box on the kitchen floor. Little more than sticks and sawdust but enough ribs etc. to reconstruct the whole. I labeled it because I kept asking Cribbs what it was. Pictures from my junk Nikon Cool-pix, better pictures from my vintage Olympus. You will tell the difference.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Dscn1817

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Dscn1816

But moving on. I dug out (again) my stash of Wen Mac P-somethings to rob a nose landing gear. I'm not sure why I keep these boxed away, they are quite nice but missing parts.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Dscn1818

Took the white Dayfighter down in the basement only to change my mind. Think I will clean up and transfer the missing parts from the yellow job to the Dayfighter which despite the repaired wing is in better condition and it's the pilot eject model also.

Olympus camera

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012501

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012502

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012500

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012503

getback Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:42 am

Darn , Did he have FRAGEL wrote on the box? either way that s a shame .. That yellow is Ugly ! lol!

rsv1cox Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:35 am

getback wrote:Darn , Did he have FRAGEL wrote on the box? either way that s a shame .. That yellow is Ugly !

No, but the box wasn't damaged, amazing considering all the time it spent on the road. It was loosely packed with little protection around the bubble wrapped airplanes. I think he broke it while packing.

I'm going to join the three broken pieces with Testors red tube but wait until I finish cleaning it up to reattach to the main horizontal stab. This one has not been disassembled like the other and still has the original screws.

Gonna need some help (again) finding windshields. Smile

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012504

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012506

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012505

getback Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:58 am

what plane is they for,,, this https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ac-gilbert-american-flyer-c-airplane-102244906

rsv1cox Wed Feb 09, 2022 10:00 am

getback wrote:what plane is they for,,, this https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ac-gilbert-american-flyer-c-airplane-102244906

Third set down Eric, I believe. Going to be hard to find, I'm sure.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012508

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012509

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012507

This one will be fun. I have to find a plastic friendly paint remover, but I have used the stuff that Walmart sells with no negative results. You just have to remove it quickly and dump into a bath of warm soapy water.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012510

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... P1012511

Under that is a beautiful airplane. Huh...

Bob

firstwordisee Thu Feb 10, 2022 4:50 pm

I sold a longbow once, perfectly fine when it left here, packaged well (not my first packaged bow), got to buyer with broken tip, no damage to package, took a while to sort that one out but I finally decided to give him his money back, he was convinced I sold him a useless bow, no idea what happened.

rsv1cox Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:59 pm

firstwordisee wrote:I sold a longbow once, perfectly fine when it left here, packaged well (not my first packaged bow), got to buyer with broken tip, no damage to package, took a while to sort that one out but I finally decided to give him his money back, he was convinced I sold him a useless bow, no idea what happened.

That's interesting, as there was no exterior damage to this box either at all, and the planes were well protected. I think I'm just going to suck it up and blame no one and repair it myself.

Not the first time, I received this rather rare Aurora engine powered SE-5 crushed, but the box showed it as it was almost ripped to shreds.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Dscn1819

I was lucky to find one of Auroras "Screwdriver series" SE-5's - same airplane minus the engine and control line apparatus - and repaired it using parts from the kit. When I saw the box I knew there would be a problem, so I carefully photographed the unboxing and sent it to the seller. They returned all my investment including shipping and with the photos lodged a claim with USPS and recovered their money.

getback Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:23 am

Yea those windshields are going to bee hard to find , I will keep my eye out but i don't look to much for Gilbert stuff .

firstwordisee Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:00 am

That Aurora is beautiful, nice restoration!

rsv1cox Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:13 am

getback wrote:Yea those windshields are going to bee hard to find , I will keep my eye out but i don't look to much for Gilbert stuff .

No problem, Eric. I will come up with something. I just got two more windshields from the Classic Tin Toy Company for the Wen Mac P-26's that you put me on to, I'm their best customer. Smile

Bob

rsv1cox Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:25 am

firstwordisee wrote:That Aurora is beautiful, nice restoration!

Thanks, I have another one just like it that I built from their non-powered screwdriver kit. I had to modify the firewall and the fuselage to accept the engine and control lines.

Who to blame, Seller, USPS....... Dscn1821

NEW222 Fri Feb 11, 2022 6:59 pm

Hey there Bob. I just wanted to chime in and offer something for cleaning up the paint that I have used on 2 Testors models in the past. I had read about it online and I had nothing to lose. That wonderful miracle product I put my plane in was standard automotive brake fluid! I put it in a big zip style bag, put parts in, let it sit, shake it up here and there, and a light brushing with a toothbrush worked well for me. With that said though, I do not know what kind of paint was on my plane, nor what is on yours. I do recall suspecting mine was Testors model paint, but that was just a guess. Also, it did not work in 10 minutes, but I do remember letting it sit for about a day before scrubbing.

rsv1cox Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:19 am

Yes, the old brake fluid trick Chancey. I have tried it, works but it takes time and I'm an impatient man.

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