medusanyc

1) - medusanyc bought some raw Chew books from seller that were described as 9.8s - seller sends books two-to-a-bag inside a box with no protection apart from some newspaper - books arrive in less than 9.8 condition 2) - medusanyc contacts seller, explains problems with condition & lack of proper packaging - seller busts out the "I'm not a professional grader"-spiel with a side of "other people have sent me books packed this way" and, as a parting shot, the "even though the books are not as described, you still got a good deal compared to eBay prices"-non-apology. 3) - medusanyc asks for a partial refund of $9 - seller claims that he's had enough of medusanyc's abuse, counters with a $3 refund and tells him he'd prefer not to deal with him again Did I miss anything? Seems about right. Why not just get a full refund and send the books back? More confirmation for why I don't step in the 9.8 waters without a graded book in hand. So much hassle for so little reward. if a full refund for return was offered i would have been all over it...

thanks for the summary mschmidt. there was more than just newspaper but it was far from well packed. there was a little of everything but not enough of everything. the seller was more concerned with keeping the weight down that the books packed well. and i have picked up raw 9.8s on the boards here and had them delivered and packed so they arrived as such. either he didn't look them over well or the were knocked around in shipping can be the only explaination. tjanse has it right, that it wasnt so much the money as the way it was handled, the whole she-bang with shipping was only 20 bucks. i will probably spend that much on drinks when i go out tonight. the seller was dr chaos and jeff, i have posted in the WTB section about various chew issues i need in 9.8 to fill some gaps. i will PM you my short list again and then you can let me know if you can help me out.

i am not sure this is the place for this but i recently had my first sour deal on the boards here and it kinda bothered me the way the seller handled it. someone suggested i post about it in this forum so that i could air my grievance and get it off my mind. someone was selling some chew comics and they looked pretty good in the pictures so i wrote the seller to ask whether or not they would grade 9.8 (i explained i already had copies that were a shade under 9.8 and i was only looking to buy if i knew i could send them in and get a 9.8). this was the reply i got back: "I would expect Chew 18 and both copies of Chew 17 to make the grade at a 9.8 as they all have sharp corners, perfect colors, and no defects. CGC has been known to be somewhat unpredicatable with the grading but there is no reason for a 9.6 on these that I can see," so i made a deal and bought one of each issue. as far as the shipping was concerned this is what i said: "definately want the books shipped in a box. no need for insurance or the like. which ever is cheaper between priority or flat rate (medium2 box) works for me. let me know what the shipping will be and your paypal info and we are on our way. i know the flat rate is about $12." when the books arrived i found both books were in the same plastic bag and they were in a box but were poorly packed. so i wrote the seller the following: "got the books today and i have to say i am very disappointed. hate to see both comics shipped in the same bag. on top of that the 17 had 2 stress marks on he front cover one of which broke color slightly. the 18 front was fine but the back cover the upper left corner had a little bend and it had several stress marks on the spine. i have to say that these copies were both worse than the copies i have already by a long shot and are not the definate the defect free copies they were claimed to be" this was the reply i got back: "I am sorry to hear that you are not happy with the books you received. This is all quite a surprise to me. I looked very carefully at all three comics (including the copy of 17 you didn't take) and I don't remember seeing any of the problems you mentioned. I just looked at the pictures I have and still don't see it. When I told you the books looked great I meant every word. With that being said, no one is perfect and I never claimed to be a grading expert. I told you the colors were great and they are. I told you the corners are sharp and they are. When I told you there were no flaws it is because I could not see any flaws. You say the flaws are there and I would like you to show them to me so I can see them myself and we can get on the same page. Since you have the books in hand I would appreciate it if you could send me scans or pictures or the damaged areas. Telling me where to look for the damage would also be helpful. Also, when you received and opened the box did it look as though anything could have been damaged in transit? From what you have said, receiving both books in the same bag would seem to be the least of your troubles but I would like to hear why this is a problem, DSCB and other vendors have sent me books bagged together and it never bothered me. You wanted to keep the shipping costs under control so I did what I could to keep the weight at 15.5 ounces." i replied with the following: "i never said pack it to save money. i only said to ship it in whichever way was cheaper between priority and flat rate. in fact the only price i mentioned was $12 for flat rate shipping. the last thing i would want would be damage in shipping. needless to say the outside box was fine, but am still puzzled as to why would you ship 2 books in one bag. for $18 bucks the least would be a bag and board for each taped together with the boards on the outside. sandwich that between 2 pieces of hard cardboard then popcorn inside a box." we exchanged a couple of messages and i sent him scans of the defects of the books. one comment that really bothered me was this one from the seller: "My biggest regret at this point isn’t that I might have missed a minor flaw or two but that I even attempted to tell you whether or not these books were 9.8 and not 9.6. I supplied pictures instead of grades in this thread to avoid making this type of promise in the first place. This is only my second sales thread and this rookie made a rookie mistake. With that being said I still think you got a pretty good deal on these books. There are NM 9.4 copies of these books on ebay going for more than you paid for these books. With pressing you might still have a shot at 9.8 on one or both books. This has been a learning experience for me and I am sorry that things didn’t work out the way you had expected. While I am no longer promising 9.8s on raw books I would like to continue to do business with you in the future and am open to suggestions as to how I can make it up to you." now at this point i knew that the seller had no intention of taking the books back or he would have said so. i wrote him back: whether or not i got a good deal on there books or what these books go for on ebay is incidental, i was very specific of what i was looking for here. i was looking for books that would grade 9.8 for my registry set. i was very clear that i had copies of these books that would grade highly at cgc but just might not make the 9.8 grade i was looking for. you then told me that you had books that should grade 9.8 and had no defects that would take away from them making that grade, it seems as if you were more interested in making the sale than making the customer happy and even now are more concerned with the sale and future sales than doing that now (...i would like to continue to do business with you in the future,,,,,,). i am not going to tell you what to do and at this point i guess i am stuck after not getting any reply, i offered this to him as a suggestion on how he could make it up "i was trying to think about how you could make it up to me and the first thought was to take them back. but the headache and cost of shipping would net me about $12 by the time i was done paying for shipping. hardly worth the effort. so, here's what i was thinking of. a refund for part of the price. i would say a $9 (half the price) refund would really leave me thinking that you were a real man about handling the situation and you still make money on the books. let me know if that works for you." i then asked the following: "am surprised that i didnt get a reply from you. you asked if i had a suggestion on how you could make it up to me and i know you were on here as your sales thread was closed. if you don't like my suggestion than i am open to something you might propose. rookie or no rookie, that is not a way to deal with customers in any dealing, and definately no way to pack comics.... if it happened in shipping it was because the books were not properly packed. you will have many other disappointed customers if you pack your books like that." this was the final reply i received from the seller: The reason I did not reply sooner wasn't as much because I did not like your suggestion as much as it was the way you phrased your request. Your messages to me have been rude and insulting. I understand that you are unhappy but I have had more than enough of your abuse. You received the books pictured in my ad. The books were packed securely in a bag (with backing board) inside a plastic bag, wrapped in newspaper, packaged securely between two thick pieces of cardboard wrapped securely in bubble wrap surrounded by packing peanuts inside a thick cardboard box.You received them in a timely manner. The books you received are worth more than you paid for them. The ads included pictures of the comics with no grade (or promise thereof). When you inquired about the possibility of a 9.8 grade I took the books out of their bags and looked them over. In the lighting I had at that time I didn't see any of the flaws you mentioned after you had received the books. If I missed something it was an honest mistake on my part. When I said I was sorry that I told you the books could grade 9.8 without having taken more care to look them over I meant it. Although I do not believe that you suffered a loss, as a show of good faith I am going to give you a partial refund of $3.00. It is not as much as you asked for but it is the amount I am comfortable with. while I had hopes that this relationship could be repaired, I think it would be best if we did not do business together in the future. You are clearly not happy with me and I will do just fine without any more of your abuse my abuse?? is complaining about not recieving what you expected and then being asked for a way to make it right and offering a suggestion which is refused, abuse??

wouldnt everyone agree that death issues arent as big a money maker as first appearances of a big character....

HOLY !!!!!!! OMG !!! i am writing this after only 2 pages!! Some major mess is going down this issue. will not say anymore but i am sure everyone will be shocked by what happens on page 2.

if they correct it and reprint the issue than it might become a collectors item but otherwise it is just a mistake

love the ninja turtles cover. they werent gonna use it but the fans spoke up and they listened.

where did michonne appear in chew?

WOW!! $2600 final price

hey, does anyone know who bought all of issue 25? i wanted page 18 but none were available as april said one person bought the whole issue sight unseen

that is just the beginning of another nasty addiction. i am quite deep into it myself as are most on this thread

This new issue was fun and funny. And.... i wanted to buy so tried to reserve that page and was told by april that someone bought the whole issue sight unseen prior to it coming out. any one on here?? and the last page was (thumbs u

got a CGC 9.8 of #1 1st printing but settled for an image first version of number 1 for my reader pile which is near my night table...

dont have a picture but the stains are part of the art.

hey shouldnt that be in this forum http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=21&page=1

AWESOME!!! to see the cover of WD19 on the screen was one of those great moments!!

i gots one of those shirts too and the new chew 27 cover looks just like a page i know

the way it was setting up i kept hoping that carl would have been the one to take out shane. perhaps one of those scenes where you think shane is pulling the trigger, you hear the bang but shane is the one who ends up falling with a carl standing behind him. kinda wimped out on that. def. know that things wont happen as they do in issue 48 at this point

are those gonna be yellow or green labels great sketches either way. definately shouldnt negatively influence the price. even green

what a worthless show. seems like they know nothing about comics. "hmmm, i'll give you 300 for that detective 35. it's in a condition that makes it not worth much" !!

whole slew of pgx graded chews on ebay with some incredible prices WOW!

i like the cover to 24 although tony isnt on it . olive looks pretty bad*ss covered in butter and chocolate

personalized only though. layman offered it for the same price. so that is not a bad deal at all. too bad i want a non personalized copy. no green label for me

if i had the coin to pay for your flight i would go myself. jeff, that price sounds a bit high. i will have to get back to you guys on that...

anyone going to image expo? anyone willing to pick me up a 9.8 candidate of the butter cover so that i can cgc it?