Not an eBay rant, but it could be... instead, this one is about an Amazon.com seller who apparently doesn't understand what 'Used - LIKE NEW' means when they list an item.
In this case an item which is a Blu-ray disc. Talladega Nights specifically.
Having recently gotten a PS3 and wanting to have Talladega Nights available in all of it's possible hi-def glory, I hit Amazon.com and checked through the used disc prices for that title. Found several sellers all advertising 'Used - LIKE NEW' and choose one from at or near the top of the list. Total cost, including shipping, was approx. $15 (plenty of used copies of that title since it was a give away for people that got the 'release' PS3s).
Anyway, I finally got the disc in the mail yesterday. I could go off on a side rant here about hating that Amazon.com and most of their resellers are too stupid when it comes to shipping and the insistence of shipping things 'media mail' for their standard shipping (even when many times, especially for something lightweight like an HD-DVD, Blu-ray disc or standard DVD in keep case can be shipped first class for less than the cost of media mail. Much faster, cheaper, and more reliable -- what's not to like?!!?), but I'll try to stay on track for the most part....
The disc I got looked to be, as described, like new. No smudges, scratches, or imperfections. But.... that is not true at all for the case that the disc was in. The keep case had 3 stickers on, or almost on, it. The remnants of one nasty sticker that basically obliterated the front of the keep case were there. I think that sticker was about 5"x5" square. Maybe a little smaller, but not much. It covered about 3/4 of the front of the keep case. Over that was another sticker that was apparently some sort of inventory management sticker, and finally also on the keep case was a sticker that wrapped around the whole thing. Again, apparently some sort of inventory management sticker.
I carefully pulled those stickers off the case (called me an anal, obscessive compulsive dweeb, I don't care) and worked carefully to remove the sticky residue by taking some packing tape that I had, putting it down on top of the original sticky goo, and then pulling it back away (sort of like a wax hair removal job). Sadly there were still several 'bumps' on the cover of the keep case. Bumps where someone had tried to scratch away stickers or something similar and basically had raked the plastic of the case into a blemish/bump/bubble.
Anyway, I know I'm being anal here, but I would hardly have described this product as 'Used - LIKE NEW.' I wish that people would be more up front and honest with their descriptions for items (on both eBay and Amazon really).
I know I'm very careful about describing items when I list them because I don't want a buyer coming back later on crying that I was not giving them the truth when I described that item. I don't want to have refund anything, I don't want to have to argue, I just want the person that gets what I'm listing to be happy with the price they paid for what they got. Pictures never tell the complete story, and never do a great job of showing where there may be scratches, scuffs, or other imperfections on items, so I write up the info clearly and carefully and include it all in the description so that people don't come back later saying there was a discrepancy.
Oh well, enough ranting for now, but if you've had similar experiences with sellers in either place, feel free to pile on here.
