Wednesday 27 May 2009

Mind Your R*marks!

I received the three National Trust classic ties I'd won my bid for this morning. Although used, they are all in great condition except the blue one, which has a white letter R stamped right down the whole tie! I believe this indicates a reject.

I successfully managed to remove these marks by brushing them carefully with a nail-brush, using cellulose thinners.

The 90p stamp on the package wasn't franked, either; so I got a bargain.

I checked the item description and photograph again; and, although the illustration is technically correct, the seller did not alert buyers to the letter R marked on the blue tie. They were all described as being "in good condition". I did notice the mark on the tie, which was so obvious that I thought it wasn't literally on the tie; rather that it was a digital mark you occasionally get on digital pictures. Caveat Emptor!

Cognizant of this, my strategy has been to send a message to the seller, letting them know my views, but that I'd still give them positive feedback because the items were great value, delivery swift and their communication good.

The seller has apologized, saying that they thought the R mark indicated a National Trust property! I left positive feedback; however, I marked the seller down on the Description Accuracy column; and stated, in my comments, that I managed to tamp off the Reject marks with thinners. I wonder what others would have done? Given negative feedback? The bottom line is that I got the marks off and I'm delighted with these classic ties which are no longer sold.

All's well that ends well.

2 comments :

PetertC said...

The Royal Mail has obviously read your comment about the unused stamp,as they are now introducing stamps which disintegrate when you try to get them off to re-use! The new stamps leave behind two areas on the envelope, with the corresponding holes in the stamp,making it obvious that they are second-hand.

Timothy Belmont said...

Indeed I'm aware of their new stamps. It's taken them twenty years to catch on!

Tim