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How Sweet the Sound for more pink eye candy!
I got them on eBay in January of '07. My brother and SIL had gotten me a gift certificate and naturally it was burning a hole in my pocket! I came across the following auction and my heart skipped a beat:
Antique China Set Delicate Pink Floral Pattern
The auction description:
"My grandmother had these pieces that match her Haviland tea sets and platter (see other auction). These pieces have no manufacturer marks on the bottom, so I do not know who made them. They actually belonged to her grandmother so are very old.
The pieces are very lovely, almost transparent. The design is a delicate pink floral with green vines and leaves. Along the rim there is a very light, raised additional design; white raised frieze. The pieces show very little wear, *one tea cup does have a very, very small chip*. However, these peices of china are in good shape and there are no other cracks or chips. The serving pieces have most of the gold gilt intact.
In the pictures, there are sponge liners between the plates, that is the darker beige you see between them.
Shipping will depend upon location but I will have this packed carefully by the local shipping service. I also suggest insurance."
Sounded great, right?? She did have a low feedback number, but hey... everyone has to start somewhere right?? And it was 100% positive.
I covered all my bases and emailed for a shipping estimate.
Q: Hi there! How much for shipping and insurance to zip -----? Also, how will the set be packaged? Thanks!
A: The shipping and insurance should be around $60 to your zip. I plan to take it to a pack and ship store and have them package it properly. I am assuming they will use bubble wrap and peanuts to be sure it will not break. I am not sure how much they will charge for this service, but I will add that cost on to the shipping fee. I esimated the insurance at $100, but can up that if you would like. Enjoy Bidding!
Hmmm. Sounded OK, RIGHT?!!!
The asking bid was $50. That is how much my gift certificate was for, woohoo! I could handle the shipping.
Oh, did I mention this was a set of china for TWELVE??
TWELVE!!!
I was the only bidder, how exciting! Before paying, I emailed the seller and told her I wanted a copy of the reciept for the packaging, etc.
I waited impatiently for my beautiful set to arrive. Finally I heard the drop at the door. When I picked up the first box, my heart sank.
You could hear clanking china.... and I just knew it was bad.
Now mind you, I expected to have a broken plate here, a teacup handle busted there.... or a crack or two. But nothing prepared me for what you are about to see.
Please~ grab a tissue and perhaps the hand of someone you love and watch the following slideshow. Be sure to enlarge it by clicking in the botton righthand corner.
Ahhh... remember those "sponge liners" the seller talked about in her description? She failed to mention that they were DRY ROTTED. Not that a perfectly spongey 1/8 inch liner would've protected anything fragile what-so-ever from the UPS man!
Ahhh... remember those "sponge liners" the seller talked about in her description? She failed to mention that they were DRY ROTTED. Not that a perfectly spongey 1/8 inch liner would've protected anything fragile what-so-ever from the UPS man!
Was this woman insane?!?!
No bubble wrap... Oh, I take that back. The large platter and small platter were spooned together and wrapped in one sheet of it. You saw how that turned out.
The bottom of each stack of plates was on the bottom of the boxes. There was china dust in the bottom of those zipped *ahem* china protectors. Each stack knocked against each other again and again within the mere handfull of peanuts inside. Oh, the agony.
So I email her and tell her I have broken china. I was trying to be as nice as I could, I was so afraid I would not get reimbursed.
To my surprise she reimbursed my money before I even sent her pictures of the damage. (She's something, huh?!)
She appoligized and wanted to call me to say whe was sorry. Oy, I did NOT want to talk to this woman. Seriously, how stupid could someone be?
I told her that each and every peice should have been bubble wrapped separately. Then she told me that the platter was bubble wrapped.
She was so totally clueless, what could I possibly say?!
Finally all I could muster was "I think we've both learned a lesson here."
It's been over two years and I'm still sick about it. I'm sick that she would even SELL precious family china in the first place. (If she was telling the truth). I didn't save the original photos from the auction, or if I did I cannot find them. But they were all there... perfect and in tact.
As I went though each dish I just prayed for a service for four. I barely got it.
Frankly I'm surprised any of it made it at all... especially the more delicate pieces such as the gravy boat and dishes with lids.
I left her positive feedback; how could I not? I wrote, "Gracious seller remedied issues with damaged goods received. Thank you!"
In the end I guess I made out like a bandit. I'm sure Penny of Lavender Hill Studio would've been rather happy to get a box like that, LOL!
I have saved the peices and do plan to do a mosaic of some sort.... just waiting for the right project to come along.
If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!
Thanks for "listening".....
OH! By the way... inside the box was a reciept from Walmart for bubble wrap and peanuts, totaling about $5.00.
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