I thought about that, too. It looks to be an old rental lens from his store, so it had seen some use, for sure. Still, I lean towards not since it was packaged poorly and my experience with UPS Ground service is that they're pretty rough with ground packages. Plus, with any slower service, the package is handled more over a longer period of time raising the risk of damage. Also, a lens with IF is slightly more delicate than one without where the element turns externally for focus in that you can physically restrain the length of the lens so it won't move. That's not possible on a lens with IF so a really sharp jar along the longitudinal axis can screw things up in the focusing helicoid.
Being a retailer I figure he's not likely interested in trying to screw anyone. I would think it's quite a risk considering that UPS could just as easily refuse the claim (especially since there was no "obvious" external damage to the box), in which case he's got to cough up a refund or face a fraud charge and/or negative feedback. In this instance it cost UPS $200 for the repair. Still, you never know. I'm sure people get away with all the time. -Brendan --- mike wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > A very interesting story, as it highlights an idea I > had about some sellers. As a seller, you have a > lens that is defective in some mechanical way. You > advertise it for sale as a perfect item, insisting > on insurance for transit. It arrives "broken", the > insurance company pays for it to be fixed and you > are the recipient of funds for a perfect lens rather > than a broken one. All it costs you is the > insurance premium. Not moral or legal but some > people won't worry about that. > > I wonder how many times you could pull it before the > insurance company cottoned on? > > > > > > From: Brendan MacRae <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > I thought I'd relay this story to you all. > > > > Back in July I was looking for a long lens for the > 67 > > since the longest lens in my bag was the 165mm f4 > LS. > > I was thinking about buying a new 300mm and a > > teleconverter (from the results posted on Luminous > > Landscape this seemed like a good option) but I > saw a > > used 400mm ED on Ebay at a good price and jumped > at it > > with the Buy It Now option. The description said > the > > lens was well used but "optically perfect." > > > > So, the lens arrived about a week later and boy > was I > > not happy. The lens was shipped in its dedicated > trunk > > case but in a box with packing peanuts and > > miscellaneous scraps of styrofoam. The trunk was > not > > packed snuggly and it shifted around inside the > box. > > When I took the lens out of the truck case to > inspect > > it I had it tilted slightly on end and my heart > sank > > when I heard a loud "thud" from inside the lens. > Yep, > > the IF helicoid was stripped and was just sliding > back > > and forth. And that wasn't the worst of it. Upon > > looking into the lens from the front element I > could > > see that one of the internal elements was > scratched at > > the edge, a fairly large scratch, maybe 4-6mm > long. I > > was wondering if there was a screw loose inside > that > > caused it but I never saw or heard one. > > > > So, I contacted the seller and explained my dismay > and > > told him that he needed to claim it (yes, I > insisted > > on insurance) and that even though the box had no > > obvious damage it should've been more carefully > packed > > (the box wasn't even marked 'fragile'). I told him > > that even if the focus was operable I would insist > on > > a refund since there was no way I was buying a > lens > > with a scratched element, especially one described > as > > "optically perfect." After a few terse emails the > > seller told me that the claim was going through > and > > that UPS would be by to pick up the lens for > > inspection. > > > > In the end, UPS decided to pay to have the lens > > repaired at Pentax in Colorado. I told the seller > to > > have them fix everything, including replacing the > bad > > element, and I'd be happy to have it. Suprisingly, > I > > got the lens today, over two months later from the > > close of the auction, packaged nearly the same way > as > > before, but this time in good shape, no focusing > > issues, no scratched element and freshly aligned > and > > CLA'd from our friends in Golden, Colorado. Even > so, > > when I went to fit the lens on the camera, well to > be > > honest, with this lens you fit the camera to the > lens, > > it wouldn't present flush. I tried it again and > still > > no luck. When I examined the lens mount In noticed > > that one of the six screws holding the mount to > the > > lens hadn't been fully tightened and was proud of > the > > surface. I tightened it down and then mounted the > > camera with no trouble. Finally, being a cautious > guy, > > I checked the focus scale against a tape and it > > matched almost exactly. > > > > In eight years as a seller and buyer on eBay this > was > > first time I had a major issue with a seller. I > > suppose I should count myself very lucky in that I > was > > dealing with a seller who was committed to making > the > > transaction work one way or the other. But, then, > > before I bid I did what I always do which is check > his > > feedback rating, read a few comments (especially > the > > negative ones, if there are any) and look at the > > seller's eBay store if they have one. In this > case, > > the guy was camera retailer from Florida with a > good > > rating so the purchase seemed very safe. In the > end, > > I'm happy with result but wondering if I'll be > buying > > gear like this off eBay in the future. > > > > ----------------------------------------- > Email sent from www.ntlworld.com > Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software > Visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
