Thread: Mint? Nitpicking?

Got a Alcoso Wiener Schaber from eBay last week. It was described with words as mint, shave-ready, 'einwandfrei' (see the original ad ).

When I got it, there were three little nicks in the blade, dark spots, some of which seem to have been polished out, leaving relief marks and tiny pits. It wasn't shave-ready either and needs some high grid passes for a comfortable shave.

So I mailed the vendor to thank him for the quick dispatch and for some extra company information (the razor's maker that is) and epressed my discontent about the discepanty between actual and described state. I explained I trust there must be some misunderstanding, since his customers are usually quite content (recommandations here on SRP as well) and his rating is 100%. I pointed him to some pictures of the razor as received and asked him to have a look and let me know what he thinks of it.

He did, very rapidly, and offered me a full refund without even mentioning the actual faults. The razor may be kept in recompense.

Two questions:

1) Am I nitpicking? Or do you agree there is significant difference between description and actual state?
2) If I'm not nitpicking, what should I do? Full refund doesn't seem fair; after all, it still is a good and useable razor. It bought it for personal/sentimental reasons, not for collection or display. On the other hand, I do feel there is a need for incentives for vendors to keep their discriptions honest and accurate.

An honest seller like that is hard to come by, and you are also being very straight forward in dealing with him...
I think you both should come to an agreement in price for the razor, and stay as friends....

I think gssixgun has a good point. What the seller has offered you cannot be faulted. Although not as described it must have some worth. Come to a mutually agreeable price & he'll appreciate the gesture you are returning. After all, he may be selling one some time in the future that is on your 'Must Have' list.

Well, a picture is worth a 1000 words, they say. In the picture of the original ad that you linked to, i think it's kind of obvious that the blade wasn't perfect. I think it's in very good condition, but who knows. I do find the wording of the advertisement somewhat shady, like where he says that it was stored in oiled paper for many years....

I don't think that you should accept the offer of a complete refund, however. Depending on what you paid, I might accept a partial refund.

Originally Posted by Oldengaerde

1) Am I nitpicking? Or do you agree there is significant difference between description and actual state?

The description is not 100% accurate IMO, as the blade is not mint. Although that may depend on how old the razor is and what sort of vocabulary people in the vintage razor business commonly use for descriptions.

That said, the razor you received is the exact same one as the one in the picture of the ad. Surely you were able to see in the ad, on the picture, that the blade had stains and a mini nick, so why bid on it if it is not what you want?

Thanks guys!

I did see issues on the picture of the blade in the ad, but judging from vendor's reputation and the description (mint, einwandfrei), I thought (yes, yes, in all naivety) they must be dust/grease spots or the like. And as I wrote: I wasn't bidding on some mint display or collector's item but on a blade of a make and type I wanted for sentimental reasons.

Therefore, the 'un-mintness' or the not quite shave-readiness wasn't a big deal for me. I did and do feel it was right to (friendly and calmly) mention the discrepancy to the vendor, because descriptions simply always ought to be right. Pictures contradicting text is no excuse for faulty descriptions. I was not, however, at all expecting the reaction I got.

This reaction made me feel like some cheap-skate complaining and nitpicking about tiny imperfections just to get an even better deal - even more so realising the guy might now fear for his 100% status, making me some kind of blackmailer. Hence my ply for confirmation.

I'm happy to read there seems to be agreement on the description not being accurate. I'm equally happy to read you all confirm my own feeling that full refund would be ridiculous. I'll write the vendor to thank him for his kind offer and to state I consider the case closed.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Now this is probably just me, but for me, if a person calls a razor a shaving knife, then to me, the description of being mint would be void.

Even this can't be held against the poor guy: it's just eBay's lousy auto-translation of the original and correct German Rasiermesser...

How do you mean? He put the ad on ebay.de for worldwide shipment, wrote a bilingual description, but couldn't do so in certain fixed fields, so left that to eBay - who state 'This translation is provided as a service. eBay cannot guarantee its accuracy' - so I suppose we can't hold it against them either...

But yes, he did write words tantamount to mint in German too. I still do feel I'm in the right on that one.

Anyway, I'm happy with the outcome. I'm satisfied the vendor takes my point, I'm happy you lot confirm I'm neither nitpicking nor a soft egg for feeling bad about being offered compensation - and simultaneously correcting me for judged ads foolishly, I think I paid a fair price, I feel lucky for finally finding my Wiener Schaber, and most of all: I like the razor (as all Alcoso 4/8s I've had on my chin).

There are few sellers on ebay who sell a lot of razors and their reputation is critical to them.
I think mistakes happen all the time and if the seller is willing to make it right you cannot hold it against them.
You are correct that the description did not match the razor. Visual chips automatically mean not shave ready in my book.
If you feel you paid a fair price for what the razor was I think it's the right thing to just let the seller know about the problem, but not take advantage of their offer to give it away.
If you think the razor is worth less than what you paid you should agree on a price point with the seller. (I know this is probably irrelevant at this point, but basically I'm echoing what Glen said, just because I like it so much.)

We will indeed remain friends. The vendor replied to my decline apologising lest I'd feel offended by his offer (!), insisting it's their policy and that I'm perfectly entitled to accept. And (translated): "In case you wish to renounce refund now, I would like to offer to discuss the price of any future buys. [...] If you happen to be near someday, know you're always very welcome to visit us!"

I say, this guy really does know how to quickly turn an unknown first-buy complainer into a more than satisfied and quite likely loyal customer!