AAAGH I nearly cried! Numatic Charles disaster

[dysondestijl]

Well I payed rather over the odds for this rare cream and brown Numatic Charles off eBay last week. It arrived today...
Poorly packaged, the box had huge holes in it- hence the missing wands when it arrived!!
Well I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Here is the eBay pic, as I expected it to arrive:

 

[dysondestijl]

Here is how it actually arrived:

 

[dysondestijl]

Another:

 

[dysondestijl]

Here's the other clip

 

[dysondestijl]

And the bucket:

 

[dysondestijl]

Another...

 

[dysondestijl]

This is what It came with:

 

[ultimatevacman]

Such a shame. I'm so sorry George.

 

[anthony]

those machines are quite tough

so that poor thing must have had one hell of a knock to do that much damage i hope ypur sending it back with a fiew choice words to the seller

 

[dysondestijl]

Thanks guys
Btw Antony the seller has refunded us and said that we can keep the vacuum anyway

 

[beko1987]

That is heartbreaking. As I said, get some glue on the go!

 

[jade_angel]

That, well, um, sucks. Or doesn't, and that's exactly the problem.

At least they gave you a refund, though. Maybe you can patch it to the point of functionality with some two-part epoxy?

 

[dysondestijl]

Thanks guys, will try and get it glued the best I can

 

[madabouthoovers]

Sorry to see this - its a sign of the times, and delivery companies just don't give a toss about looking after parcels in their care. Many use poorly paid agency workers who don't want to be there. I worked briefly for a parcel delivery firm and they just threw the parcels about in the sorting centre and then threw them about in the vans.


Who delivered the vac?


I would take the photos of what you expected and what they did to your vac IN PERSON, to the collections desk at the local delivery company depot and demand compensation - well get your parents to do it. They were negligent and smashed your vac. They should pay damages for this. This "just couldn't give a stuff" attitude stinks - how would the big fat cat bosses of these delivery companies who pay workers peanuts while they take massive salaries and bonuses like it if all their Christmas present deliveries for their little spoilt children Jemima or Tarquin  were delivered to them in bits, smashed up by their disgruntled workers.


 

 

[beko1987]

I'd certainly kick off at the delivery company out of principle, even though the sellers been top and refunded you (even though it sounds like he packed the box like an idiot.

It's images like this that ensure I pack boxes properly. Bubblewrap around wheels or other sticky out bits, well packed in with scrunched up newspaper or air packs if I have any etc. Images like that are in my mind when waiting for a vac too, was half expecting the Aquatronic to turn up in the same state, thank goodness it didnt

 

[madabouthoovers]

Yes Beko, there are some terrible sellers on Ebay too, who don't pack items well, I have experienced this myself in the past when items have arrived damaged, but it was usually Royal Mail who did the delivering, and who were just not interested in damages unless some kind of delivery insurance was taken out by the seller who posted the item - which would then put the cost of postage up. Why should we have to take out insurance against careless delivery companies who might just decide to smash an item in their care? Isn't delivery expensive enough as it is?


I wont buy any vac on Ebay unless I can collect it myself, as I don't want to risk the item getting damaged in the post, or to have to pay a fortune for the privilege of having it damaged.

 

[beko1987]

I normally send a few emails to see what the seller is like, and then offer advice on how to pack accordingly. Never gone wrong recently, although I;ve had turbopowers arrive with smashed wheels etc in the past.

 

[ultraperformer]

Oh no George, that's a shame it looks very retro hopefully you can repair it and get it working plus you got your money back so fingers crossed you'll be quids in

 

[tolivac]

Sadly have doubts that a plastic part vacuum that severely damaged can be repaired-glad the seller let you keep it and refunded you-use the machine for parts and try again.On YouTube you regularly see shipping companies throwing packages on and off their trucks-and if they encounter a locked door ar gate--they throw the package over the fence and onto the front porch of the home to be delivored tone disgruntled "customer" who was receiving a computer monitor-it was broke in this sort of "delivory" fashion.The packaage was clearly marked that it contained a fragile monitor-but the delivoryman didn't care.

 

[tolivac]

There was even one incident where a delevoryman was offloading packages from his truck to a business-as he was unloading packages-he tripped and fell onto one of them crushing it-just left it with the others!!

 

[dysondestijl]

Thanks for all the words of advice guys, as for the delivery service part of me thinks I can't be bothered as me complaining wont change anything, I suppose the user of the service will just have to package their items up better.
But thanks again!
Will post pics of when (if) it's all glued back together...

 

[madabouthoovers]

I think you should glue it, but carefully with epoxy resin like Araldite, and try to do as good a a job as you can to cover the cracks. As long as you have the missing pieces of plastic it should work, but any that are gone for good, you can use some body filler maybe? Its worth trying to save if the motor still works as these are hard to come by nowadays, and you shouldn't be defeatist - you are a vacuum cleaner collector and you have to take the rough with the smooth - many a vac is gonna come to you in a bad way, look upon it as a challenge to put them right again.


 


Now chop chop lad, and get gluing lol