oldsewnsew

This ad I won. Was shipped USPS, but I'm guessing uninsured...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121237075823...84.m1497.l2649

This is how it arrived
[ATTACH=CONFIG]454353[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]454354[/ATTACH]
I think finding a handcrank setup ( has 2 horiz bolt holes, not centered on pillar) or another motor, is highly unlikely. I toyed with machining another endcap out of brass, but there's damage to the main housing also. Luckily the shuttle and bobbin didn't excape out the hole in the box with a few other little bits that are missing.
Any opinions on whether I should try return for refund, or just keep it and write it off to experience?
Thanks!

Macybaby

If nothing else, push for a partial refund.

I've gotten them many times off ebay if something was damaged in transit, but not destroyed. A lot depends on if it was easy to tell that the damage was due to incompetent packing, or the shipper. If it was the shipper, you usually can't get a partial refund - it's either turn it in and get full refund, or nothing. And then you don't have the machine and the shipper will probably trash it after giving the refund.

Contact the seller no matter what - if you and the seller can't come to an agreement - "escalate" the case and Ebay will decide. Ebay has the Buyer Protection so you will at least get the cost of the item back, though in some cases if it's not the seller's fault, you may have to pay shipping to return it. Though you may only need to return it to the shipper if the seller is going to file a claim for damage.

Tartan

Can you fix it? If not, I would try for a refund.

SteveH

I have the exact same machine not damaged if you need a comparative shot.

Candace

Good advice. Looks like the sellers poor packing caused much of the damage. You can't pack a machine in loose bubble wrap and think it's going to survive shipping. It must not be able to move around in the box and be tight in there. It can take me an hour to properly pack a machine. That's why I try not to do it!

J Miller

Candace is SOOOOO VERY Right about the packing. We've sent two machines out via USPS and two from UPS and all of them arrived in great shape. But we packed 'em tight, and secure.

We've also had machines come to us like yours, just tossed into a box of peanuts or bubble wrap and invariably they are damaged. Some of the people that pack these machines are just plain incompetent.

Joe

Rodney

That's a beautiful machine. Too bad about the damage. I would be about half sick if I opened a package and saw that. Your best bet would be arbitration thru Ebay. It doesn't look like the packaging was even close to being good enough for something heavy like a sewing machine so the shipping company probably won't be helpful. The only other problem is the repair is likely to cost more than you paid for the machine. That makes it difficult to negotiate a partial settlement where you can keep the machine.
I'm sorry to see that happened,
Rodney

DonnaMiller

We have also received machine which were damaged by USPS. They must roll them around. Bbbl wrp is never correct material. They have to be completely immobilized. Nothing can move of they will destroy themselves by their sheer weight. You are protected by Ebay. File a clam a once. Take lots of pictures. This is clearly improper shipping by the seller.

oldsewnsew

Well, the seller was upset because i didn't notify them first, although I'm doing what ebay said to do. Contact the seller through the resolution process. That way there's record of the communication. Also included pics. I'm not going to pay $37 (or whatever) to ship it back, I'd have spent over $110 and might get back $35 with nothing to show for it, except a bad taste in my mouth. I'll fix it, if I have to adapt a different motor, wait for a handcrank, or...fabricate a motor end plate. That would be really time consuming but an interesting challenge. Thanks for all of your feedback. A work to the wise, make sure to communicate about shipping and insurance ahead of time. I was in too big of a hurry.

Steve H- I have pretty good pics from ebay, but thank you. Is your motor labeled "National"?

Macybaby

If you contact ebay - you may find that the seller has to pay for ALL of the shipping. This is not very clear in most of the literature - but I've found that it is the case many times. Of course the seller isn't going to volunteer the information. And the seller may not even know - eBay rules aren't the easiest thing to figure out. Does not help that eBay periodically changes things too . . .

It's different if you simply decide you don't want an item - then you pay for ALL of the shipping.

eBay no longer "lets" you contact the seller without going through the resolution center. I've had several sellers get upset with me - but most of them now realize it's eBay that requires it. I'm sure it saves a lot of hassle later if everything is documented from the start.

I know it may sound like I'm a difficult buyer, but it's just that I'm a very frequent buyer - usually several items a week. I've only had a few "misrepresentations" but have had several "damaged in transit" and only one "lost in shipping". I'm still at 100% positive.

My last item that got broke in shipping - the shipping cost more than the item so there was no way I was going to ship it back. The seller was a bit reluctant -then out of the blue agreed to refund the cost of the item (I paid shipping). I'm sure they did some research and realized they could end up refunding the original cost plus shipping, and the cost to ship it back to them - only to have something broken they could not resell. It was a button holer with a plastic case and the case is what got broken- so I can still use the item. There was no doubt it was broke do to poor packing - they shipped it in a padded envelop with no stability. I've since bought a second one with a really nice box and a crappy buttonholer - and put the nice buttonholer in the nice box.