Ruined SES from postal dodgy service

[Aquila D'oro]

I recently bought a SES (#6286) of eBay from germany (box + instructions, 100% complete near mint conditioned.. set me back a fair bit) only to have Australia post go on strike - delay delivery of my set for over ten days whereby it got drenched and then heated by the Australian summer resulting in soggy/damaged box and instructions and to top it off................. sails with mould on them!!!!!!

Question 1)

It was posted uninsured via DHL (insurance was another 40 euro ontop of 39 thats why I didn't insure it.... regretfully), can I hold Australia post responsible for the damages to the set? (any advice/experience here would be great)

Question 2)

Is there any way of getting mould out of these sails??? I've tried a light warm hand wash using "Preen" (which is fabric stain remover) and a standard laundry detergent ..... no luck so far

[Mister Phes]

It was posted uninsured via DHL (insurance was another 40 euro ontop of 39 thats why I didn't insure it.... regretfully), can I hold Australia post responsible for the damages to the set? (any advice/experience here would be great)

They'll give you upto A$50 in compensation (if they're feeling generous) because they won't repair or replace a Skulls Eye Schooner.

Read the Limitation of Australia Posts' Limited Liability document for more information.

[SlyOwl]

They'll give you upto A$50 in compensation (if they're feeling generous) because they won't repair or replace a Skulls Eye Schooner.

You mean they don't have a Lego Restoration Expert on the staff? Should the global economic downturn hit you hard, Phes, I'm sure you could always ask for the job!

There's some threads on cleaning sails here and here. Lego12 had a pretty messed up SES here, if you need any empathy

The above threads should help if the mould hasn't damaged the sails, but if they need replacing, the Sail Library and these tutorials on making sails may help (here and here).

Good luck

[Mister Phes]

You mean they don't have a Lego Restoration Expert on the staff?

I'm not 100% sure so I better double check.

Should the global economic downturn hit you hard, Phes, I'm sure you could always ask for the job!

There's a global economic downturn? And here I was overjoyed at all the great investment opportunities.

[Captain Zuloo]

Ouch, that's really unfortunate. I try to never buy anything over Christmas because of this type of thing happening. My best suggestion would be to spend a while on the phone harrassing people until you get somewhere. That's where you are most likely to have luck. If anything over $50 comes about, it will be on a case by case basis.

[Aquila D'oro]

Ouch, that's really unfortunate. I try to never buy anything over Christmas because of this type of thing happening. My best suggestion would be to spend a while on the phone harrassing people until you get somewhere. That's where you are most likely to have luck. If anything over $50 comes about, it will be on a case by case basis.

thing is a lot of vintage lego sets go up for auction around xmas (especially in the UK), i've found that if you ignore the first few auctions (where all the high bidders get involved) the ones after tend to be quite cheap i managed to get several SES's and BSB's for half the price of what you can get in Australia - especially when you factor in the strong AU$/weaker GBP

as for my damaged SES sails im tried/trying various methods:

Soaking in strong clothing detergent (nothing so far although the bits not mould affected are very white)

rubbing with tea tree oil (given up on this one all together.... smells a bit as well)

next step will be to lightly bleach using a cotton bud/que-tip directly on the affected areas so as not to fade any of the black patterns away. And if its still doomed after that... acrylic paint

still quite annoyed about the box and instructions, probably the biggest loss in terms of re-sell value as there is no way to fix them other than to buy it all again

[Captain Zuloo]

I'd still try and get as much money out of Australia Post as possible, save up for a new box.

[Aquila D'oro]

Okay ive pretty much grinded to a holt on this one, with one question remaining so i'll fill you all in.

Australia post will run an investigation into when and where my parcel was damaged if i give them everything - packaging and all contents this of course includes the ship (note: no plastic parts were not damaged only the sails, box and instructions were mouldy/battered)

once they have run this investigation they make a decision, whereby if they do pay out for the damages .....

the remains (the ship) will be incinerated.....

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????

this is the kind of crap that is clearly in place to stop people complaining about their absolute incompetence and so they can get away with trampling other peoples belongings without any resistance or comeuppance

so here is the question:

do i just take it on the chin? or do i attempt to get compensation from these manure outlets and condemn an SES to the furnace?

[Joe H]

If it was me, I'd probably just keep the ship, unless I spent an exorbitant amount of money on it. If that's the case, I'd file the problem and use the compensation for another one... even though that means a destroyed ship . Tough decision - it sounds like the Australian postal service is in the wrong by incinerating it, even if they have a legal reason. It's certainly morally wrong though, in my opinion!

Edited January 5, 2010 by Joe H

[Jack Bricker]

I would say sue the Post Office's little heinie off but I am in the USA. I would keep the ship. Shoot, I will pay you $50 for that ship and most of the other members I am sure would pay $50. If you really want to get your money back put it on bricklink.com for $100. There, you get more money and the ship doesn't get destroyed and you don't even have to pay for the lawyers.

[Aquila D'oro]

If it was me, I'd probably just keep the ship, unless I spent an exorbitant amount of money on it. If that's the case, I'd file the problem and use the compensation for another one... even though that means a destroyed ship . Tough decision - it sounds like the Australian postal service is in the wrong by incinerating it, even if they have a legal reason. It's certainly morally wrong though, in my opinion!

yeah all up i paid AU$240 for it so it is a bit of kick in the face. i still cant beleive it costs around US$70 for either a box or instructions (cant even find the sails ) from bricklink stores, it makes trying to replace the damaged parts rediculously expensive - more than the ship's worth IMO

I would say sue the Post Office's little heinie off but I am in the USA. I would keep the ship. Shoot, I will pay you $50 for that ship and most of the other members I am sure would pay $50. If you really want to get your money back put it on bricklink.com for $100. There, you get more money and the ship doesn't get destroyed and you don't even have to pay for the lawyers.

i imagine they would reimberse the whole amount if they found that they were at fault....... but at the cost of a perfectly good ship its a crap decision, its times like these where i do approve of law suits (i.e. whenever i've been screwed by some plonker )

ah well, atleast the other 2 SES's got here okay,

i have to say one of the ships i won off ebay was so intensely wrapped its worth an honorable mention:

two layers of cardboard boxing all covered in brown packing tape (making it waterproof!!!!!!) and then everything was enclosed in resealable plastic bags, admitantly it didnt come in an original box which makes it much easier to pack but still - what a champion!

in future i will insist (for big sets at least) on this standard of packaging it saves on much stress and drama

[Jack Bricker]

I love the SES and it makes me just sick to think about it getting burned. I would just keep it. I would also try to referbish the sails. There are a lot of different cleaners and solutions out there for that kind of thing. My Mom used to be a seamstress for an antique doll museum and she delt with all kinds of damaged antique silks and other kinds of fabrique. Or you could just try to sell it on Ebay. I think you would get a lot more for it than you think.

[Admiral Ron]

A moment of silence for a fallen comrade!..... Anyway, it makes me think, by incinerate, do they mean giving to the post master's son? Just Kidding, I hope the best of luck to ya!