When things go wrong.

Discussion in 'WW2 Militaria' started by James S, Apr 8, 2012.

  1. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    I bought a large Ross 10x70 a few weeks ago , spur of the moment buy but one in very good condition, just needed a clean to bring it up otherwise fine.
    Paid the postage on it nd had it send directly to an optical firm in Glasgow (Dougie Biggard's excellent "Glasgow Binocular Repairs"

    Next day after posting the set arrived in Glasgow packaging damaged and the front filter plate destroyed.

    After much correspondence between the seller anad Royal Mail they declined to pay any compensation , they did so on two counts;
    1. They could not find at what stage of the delivery process the package had become damaged.
    2. The packaging was deemed to have been inadequate, and RM guidelines for packaging had not been met.

    Good news was Dougie after a little searching managed to source a replacement filter - really lucky at another time this might have been next to impossible, price for this £50.
    The lady I bought it from went 50/50 on the replacement price, so from a toal disaster something was retrieved, good news was the binocular itself was undamaged.......

    How was it damaged something hit it very hard.
    Was the packaging an issue, yes no doubt of that ...was Royal mails handling partly at fault, I am inclined to think so.....but as they could not find at what point it was damaged they don't want to know and as the packaging was not what it should have been they would not entertain an insurance claim.

    Lesson learnt , have anyone posting an item of value not only to insure it but to get an copy of the couriers guidelines and package to meet them.

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    Having dismantled the filter it is beyond any repair process and I was lucky to be able to get it replaced, really very lucky -all in all something of a learning process for all concerned.

    I will probably have the binocular on Tuesday after the Bank Holiday Period is over and I will post some photos of it them.
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    was Royal mails handling partly at fault,

    A rule of thumb on packing, would it survive you throwing in around your house & bouncing on the floor?
    If answer is No then it's not packed well enough.
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  3. TTH

    TTH Senior Member

    I bought some paperback books in Australia once, and mailed them home because I didn't have luggage room for them. It was a mistake, of course. The stuff finally arrived months later in a huge, loose canvas bag. One book had been so badly busted it was a total loss, and my copy of Liddell-Hart's History of WWII had become a hospital case (broken spine) requiring major surgery with book tape. Next time I'll use an express company, not the mails, and take MUCH more care with packaging.
     
  4. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    That is indeed the lesson !

    When DB rang me to say "We have a problem" he knew from the off that the packaging was an issue , I have not seen the photos he took of the package as it arrived with him but he told me that when he posts an item of this kind and weight the packaging is " extreme", little short of nuclear proof !

    What does amaze me was whatever sort of a "bang" or "thump" it got , it must have been considerable to fracture and buckle the filter plate so completely.
    ( Having talked to the lady on the phone she was distressed and annoyed at what had happened and as disappointed that RM would hardly acknowledge that the damage had taken place whilst the parcel was in their system, IMO fault on both parts, but such is life.)
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I regularly seen fairly fragile stuff posted in nothing but one sheet of brown paper.
    or even just birthday/christmas wrapping paper.
    All completely useless.
     
    James S likes this.
  6. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    When Dougie emailed me to say it was being posted he jokingly mentioned that he had found a big "Jiffy Bag" to post them in. :)
     
  7. Red Goblin

    Red Goblin Senior Member

    A rule of thumb on packing, would it survive you throwing in around your house & bouncing on the floor?
    If answer is No then it's not packed well enough.

    Exactamundo! One of my GPO Xmas stints as a student temp took me into their parcel-sorting room for a bit - sorter sat ringed by open-topped trollies at which they variously lobbed parcels from an unsorted trolley and, esp. if missing a target out toward the edge, some could end up on the concrete floor (somewhat harder than you may have at home). And, judging by the evidence of crushing, maybe I should add to Owen's list being sat upon by a cow!

    :twocents: Having owned a Ross Ensign Ful-Vue and still owning one of their spot-meters for dark-room enlargement, I can vouch for both being cast from weak 'monkey metal' requiring due care.

    Rgds, Steve

    PS: Following Za Rodinu's reminder below, make that an incontinent cow above! ;)
     
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  8. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Having bought all sorts of things by mail order from the UK and elsewhere for the last 40 years I have been fortunate never to have been the victim of any disaster such as this. I suppose I have been lucky for I have heard more horror stories just like these from several quarters. The worst thing that happened to me was with my subscription of The Economist, which at a time was special delivery, hot off the oven straight at my doorstep. The Economist certainly had the best intentions, the problem was with the final delivery. Those idiots did lay the magazine at my doorstep, ignoring my mail box in the process. So what happened was that in wet weather despite the flimsy plastic wrap I got to read a soggy Economist, which is awful for a happy world outlook. Incredible how TE absorbs water! This went on for months with several protests to the deliverer until a letter to TE (no email back then) solved the matter: they took me off the special same-day delivery and started sending the mag by RM instead, one day more making no difference, and at least I got the mag dry inside my mailbox :)
     
  9. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    James,

    Here in Germany the system is the same I believe.

    I remember asking for Fragile labels to be told that these are no longer available and the packer is responsible for ensuring it is correctly packed to survive the postal system.

    Regards
    Tom
     
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  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I remember asking for Fragile labels to be told that these are no longer available
    Never ever ever write 'fragile' or 'do not bend' on an envelope or packet.
    It makes it more noticable & it will get bashed & bent on purpose.
    Make the wrapping as strong & sturdy as possible & dont do anything make it stand out.
     
  11. Lofty1

    Lofty1 Senior Member

    Ever tried putting a "THROW THIS ONE GENTLY" label, that does not work either, in fact almost fatal :lol:
     
  12. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Owen

    can vouch for that as a friend once inscribed on a parcel " do not bend" it arrived with a scrawl saying - "Oh yes it does" ! at least it was good to see real honesty for once
    Cheers
     
  13. wowtank

    wowtank Very Senior Member

    Never ever ever write 'fragile' or 'do not bend' on an envelope or packet.
    It makes it more noticable & it will get bashed & bent on purpose.
    Make the wrapping as strong & sturdy as possible & dont do anything make it stand out.

    QFT.
     
  14. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    The said item did arrive today , undamaged and packaged very well, the box was about three times the size and depth of the binocular, solidly packaged with polystyrene shapes the binocular on a cardboard platform, no way was it going to move in transit or come to harm a good professional job.

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  15. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Pardon my ignorance James, but what exactly are those? Congratulations on getting them in one piece!

    (What is the plinth, Kershaw's Hitler? :D )
     
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  16. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Aside from the packaging (I bet it was Owen that did it, what with him being a hooligan etc.) - What is it?
    Looks a most pleasing set, but would it be Naval, or mounted on a tripod, or what, James?

    (Edit - sorry, snap with the above - catching up on 9 pages of posts and only just got to this.)
     
  17. Nicola_G

    Nicola_G Senior Member

    Owen

    can vouch for that as a friend once inscribed on a parcel " do not bend" it arrived with a scrawl saying - "Oh yes it does" ! at least it was good to see real honesty for once
    Cheers

    Thought that was an urban myth, have heard it before :)
     
  18. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    Both these are Gunnery Binoculars , Royal Navy "AA" as far as I am aware.
    As far as what they were mounted in , so far an on line search has produced "zero".
    Post war the 10x70's were sold off with a triopd but in their service life mounted in gunnery direction towers but exactly where and in what I wish I knew.

    Za, well spotted, "Nemesis".:) M's favourite "book at bedtime". (not!).
     
  19. Vitesse

    Vitesse Senior Member

    Thought that was an urban myth, have heard it before :)
    "Diary of a Somebody" by Christopher Matthew circa 1980 :D
     
  20. Red Goblin

    Red Goblin Senior Member

    Re packaging, I suspect being too big for chuck-sorting stood it in good stead. ;)

    As far as what they were mounted in , so far an on line search has produced "zero".

    I'll quote this WorthPoint listing, apparently for the smaller one you show, lest it disappear (my blue highlight):
    Ross gun sight binocular, WWII British Navy
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    4 Sold For: [​IMG] or Sign In to see what it's worth.
    Sold Date: 10/21/2007
    Channel: Online Auction
    Source: eBay Category: Tools
    Originally mounted on an anti aircraft gun on a British warship in WWII. This binocular has a very wide field of view and very sharp image. It was made by Ross of London and the power is 3.5x. It is in excellent condition as is the original wood case. It is large and heavy. More useful as a WWII collectible unless you can find a way to mount it on a tripod. The circular disc has a neutral density filter that will slide in place if you need to look near the sun. It is also removeable with two wing nuts holding it in place. T is a cross hair reticle in one eyepiece. The oculars are huge and provide for quick focusing with the levers. Construction is cast metal and brass.
    Bigger one for bigger gun?

    Cheers, Steve
     

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