melmlantz
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2007
- Messages
- 230
Hi everyone 
I apologize in advance for my ranting.
I buy and sell on, you know, that catchy little auction site
, an awful lot. I sell other things but I buy Disney collectibles---mostly castmember only pins, and old Disney Annual Reports/Cast member new hire stuff, etc.
As a huge POTC fan, I was trying to secure some (cheaper) POTC3 Premiere @ DLR items. I ran into this menu from the DL Blue Bayou restaurant, all changed for the Pirates 3 premiere. The seller had some bad feedback regarding being a complete jerk and gouging for shipping, but they also had a lot of positive and I wanted the item. I also bought 8 DLR YOMD pins from them, and hoped for the best. I messaged them to ask about cheaper shipping---I explained that as a seller, I know what things cost---and they were very mean about it. They said they would combine shipping but that if I chose that option, that my items would surely be damaged.
After purchasing, I received a smallish box in the mail. Before I opened it, I said to myself, "I really hope this person didn't ruin my menu by stuffing it into the box." Sure enough, when I opened it, they had simply all but folded/half crumpled the laminated menu in there with the pins. The pins were haphazardly in there as well, so the pin-backs had made some indents/lines in the menu. I was furious. Especially given what I paid... and no, you don't want to know.
I e-mailed over, and over, and over again to no avail. So I opened an official dispute. The person was exactly the jerk everyone warned about, and basically said how dare you do this without e-mailing me. I verified that I had, in fact, sent upwards of half a dozen e-mails in the week preceeding the dispute. At first they got angry, then offered to send me another. I thanked them and said please just send it in a padded envelope or something this time. If it's for some odd reason a shipping money issue, I'll pay it, whatever. Just don't damage my menu.
So I received a poster tube in the mail today, and I thought, oh no. You can't be serious. And sure enough, inside was the new menu....... warped/curled. It's thicker than a poster. It's not going to simply uncurl. It's a menu. And I was just absolutely livid at this point.
You see, to me.... As a Disney collector, I only purchase the things that I believe to be up to the "disney standard." Disney, as a company, is and always has been a perfectionist. I expect the same of everything Disney I ever experience and own. So to purchase something like that, and not have it be mint...... that offends me. If I knew ahead of time, and still wanted it (like some really, really old items) then that's fine, that's different. But to have something sold with the Disney name, that's brand new, and was simply damaged due to ignorance... that just really gets me.
As other collectors, do you think my feelings over this are unfounded? Am I being overly dramatic about this? I had said I simply give up, that I would send the warped 2nd menu back and just take what I have, but of course, the person is being even meaner now. I suppose that I could be blowing this out of proportion, but it just angers me to see whom I imagine is a Disney "fan" be so disrespectful.... when respect/respectfulness is something I assumed most avid Disney fans shared :-\
I apologize in advance for my ranting.I buy and sell on, you know, that catchy little auction site
, an awful lot. I sell other things but I buy Disney collectibles---mostly castmember only pins, and old Disney Annual Reports/Cast member new hire stuff, etc.As a huge POTC fan, I was trying to secure some (cheaper) POTC3 Premiere @ DLR items. I ran into this menu from the DL Blue Bayou restaurant, all changed for the Pirates 3 premiere. The seller had some bad feedback regarding being a complete jerk and gouging for shipping, but they also had a lot of positive and I wanted the item. I also bought 8 DLR YOMD pins from them, and hoped for the best. I messaged them to ask about cheaper shipping---I explained that as a seller, I know what things cost---and they were very mean about it. They said they would combine shipping but that if I chose that option, that my items would surely be damaged.
After purchasing, I received a smallish box in the mail. Before I opened it, I said to myself, "I really hope this person didn't ruin my menu by stuffing it into the box." Sure enough, when I opened it, they had simply all but folded/half crumpled the laminated menu in there with the pins. The pins were haphazardly in there as well, so the pin-backs had made some indents/lines in the menu. I was furious. Especially given what I paid... and no, you don't want to know.
I e-mailed over, and over, and over again to no avail. So I opened an official dispute. The person was exactly the jerk everyone warned about, and basically said how dare you do this without e-mailing me. I verified that I had, in fact, sent upwards of half a dozen e-mails in the week preceeding the dispute. At first they got angry, then offered to send me another. I thanked them and said please just send it in a padded envelope or something this time. If it's for some odd reason a shipping money issue, I'll pay it, whatever. Just don't damage my menu.
So I received a poster tube in the mail today, and I thought, oh no. You can't be serious. And sure enough, inside was the new menu....... warped/curled. It's thicker than a poster. It's not going to simply uncurl. It's a menu. And I was just absolutely livid at this point.
You see, to me.... As a Disney collector, I only purchase the things that I believe to be up to the "disney standard." Disney, as a company, is and always has been a perfectionist. I expect the same of everything Disney I ever experience and own. So to purchase something like that, and not have it be mint...... that offends me. If I knew ahead of time, and still wanted it (like some really, really old items) then that's fine, that's different. But to have something sold with the Disney name, that's brand new, and was simply damaged due to ignorance... that just really gets me.
As other collectors, do you think my feelings over this are unfounded? Am I being overly dramatic about this? I had said I simply give up, that I would send the warped 2nd menu back and just take what I have, but of course, the person is being even meaner now. I suppose that I could be blowing this out of proportion, but it just angers me to see whom I imagine is a Disney "fan" be so disrespectful.... when respect/respectfulness is something I assumed most avid Disney fans shared :-\
) and can easily fulfill my addiction. However, I know what it is like to live far from the parks and try to fullfill your Disney fix with strangers. 
