Packaging issues?

[Xfing]

I've recently acquired a 31006 Highway Speedster off Bricklink. The guy said it was mint, but the box had gotten wet so he had to throw it away. The bags weren't supposed to even be opened.

Weird thing is, all the bags from the set had been indeed opened, with a section torn off of each corner. It definitely couldn't have been made unintentionally or without human agency. Many pieces fell out and were flying freely around the box when I opened it (luckily the box itself was sealed well).

I tried to build the car right away and got stuck at one point in the instruction - I found out I only had 2 rather than 8 white 3665 pieces! I was greatly disappointed, since this has completely prevented me from finishing the model. So I decided to check what else I might be missing - I've just finished checking the parts. It seems that with the exception of 2 dark bley 61252s all other pieces were present, along with a spare for each kind of the 1x1 tiles and cheese slope pieces present (basically all 1x1 blocks that are less than 1 stud in height).

I have no idea who is to blame. Could the vendor have purposefully removed the bricks to spite me? Could the box have been checked at a border control or something? That shouldn't be an issue, since both Austria and Poland are in Schengen. This definitely isn't chance's doing, as the pieces missing are not random enough, there's an even number of each type missing and that's only 2 types for 8 missing bricks - the odds of that happening by chance are highly unlikely.

What are your opinions on the cause of this?

Edited January 31, 2014 by Xfing

[naf]

I'm confused, the seller was selling the item as "mint/new" but did not include the box since it was destroyed, or did the package itself get wet and destroy the box?

If the seller was selling this as new, mint, and complete but without box, those bags definitely should have been sealed. Perhaps you could contact customs with your customs number and see if your package was inspected? You might be able to make a claim since they caused parts to be lost. I'd also contact the original seller to inquire about the opened bags, and to ask them to assist you with getting the missing parts, or providing a partial refund. It's not fun as a seller to give a refund because something got damaged through the mail, but I always give a full refund in these cases because if this happened to me as a buyer I would want a refund myself.

Did you look in the shipping box? The missing pieces could have become lodged between the flaps in the box. Those parts aren't expensive or rare, so I doubt someone took them out to scam you or sell.

[Xfing]

Thanks for the heads up.

I've already contacted the seller, but he's not been very responsive. Which is weird, since he's got plenty of good reps saying how friendly in contact he is.

And what are those "customs", again? If you mean a post office, I'd have to track it down the place from which it was sent in Austria. And I've already disposed of the box. A minor inconvenience, because as you said, those parts are nothing special. I'll probably make this an opportunity to stock up on more missing parts that I've lost throughout the years.

Too bad no one shop has them all, and I'd like to minimize the shipping costs :P

Edited January 31, 2014 by Xfing

[Dayton]

He may have taken parts from the bags?

[Deathleech]

It sounds like the seller took the parts. He didn't have the box, the bags were cut, and there were only 2 types of parts missing (but multiples of each)..? One of those by themselves may of been a coincidence but all together? It sounds like he just threw the box because he had to open it, then cut the bags and took the parts he needed/wanted out. Why he would do this if the pieces are so cheap is the only real question? I mean why would customs cut the bags open in the first place, and how would only 8 of the same piece get lost but nothing else?

[naf]

Unfortunately it sounds like the seller is being less than honest, especially given the fact that they won't respond to your email. What's strange is that the parts missing are cheap, it's not like he took out the minifigs or some other rare part. If the seller doesn't respond soon, I wouldn't hesitate to leave negative feedback. The feedback system is the only tool on bricklink to determine how trustworthy a seller is. It may not even be the sellers fault, but they should at least get back with you to work out a solution.

[Xfing]

Issue resolved. The guy said he had to deplete the bags to remove the air, or else they wouldn't have fit into the box he sent the sets in. He couldn't explain the absence of those bricks, but he paid me back for them, so it's all cool I guess. Now I've requested a custom order for most of my missing bricks on Bricklink, hope they manage to procure the parts I need :)