So- I purchased a Spyderco Centofante C25 from brancon here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Vintage-Spyderco-Kizer-and-more-to-your-door
Being UK based, we agreed postage costs and I made payment via Paypal.
brancon posted it tracked- good as gold.....and there the wheels came off, thanks the ineptitude of Royal Mail:
The knife skipped merrily from the US all the way to darkness of London Heathrow, where it disappeared and tracking mysteriously stopped.
I PM'd brancon and he started working it from his end....he suggested I wait another 2 days before refunding and I suggested 7 instead- as things take time.
7 days passed and I PM'd brancon with a status update- he instantly demanded to refund me.
I agreed and we commiserated about the fact some sticky-fingered Postman was probably wrecking a long-discontinued Spyderco
Roll the clock forward another 1.5 months and I suddenly get a 'grey card' through the door for a demand for Customs charges....I order all kinds of stuff online, so this isn't unusual....
2 days later, what appears but a very neatly wrapped Spyderco Centofante C25 with a bunch of redirection labels on it from being lost by Royal Mail.
I immediately PM'd brancon and offered to refund him the refund he'd made to me.
brancon insisted that he would absorb the customs charge and realized that his original refund via Paypal was missing the fees- so he made it clear he would only accept the original price less these costs which he would absorb. He didn't have to do that, but I was very grateful all the same.
What more can you say apart from:
1. brancon is a stand-up guy and 100% reliable, as well as being an all round gentleman.
2. A little give and take goes a long way. Both of us behaved sensibly when things went sideways and treated each other as adults- the results were mutually acceptable.
3. All bets are off when you deal with Royal Mail
4. (on my behalf, like Sal Glesser says) Integrity is being good when no-one is looking or no-one will find out....
I could've played dumb and kept both knife and refund- even if I'd been found out, it's a 6000mile round trip for brancon to knock on my door.
But I don't deal with the world that way, nor this community either.
Being UK based, we agreed postage costs and I made payment via Paypal.
brancon posted it tracked- good as gold.....and there the wheels came off, thanks the ineptitude of Royal Mail:
The knife skipped merrily from the US all the way to darkness of London Heathrow, where it disappeared and tracking mysteriously stopped.
I PM'd brancon and he started working it from his end....he suggested I wait another 2 days before refunding and I suggested 7 instead- as things take time.
7 days passed and I PM'd brancon with a status update- he instantly demanded to refund me.
I agreed and we commiserated about the fact some sticky-fingered Postman was probably wrecking a long-discontinued Spyderco
Roll the clock forward another 1.5 months and I suddenly get a 'grey card' through the door for a demand for Customs charges....I order all kinds of stuff online, so this isn't unusual....
2 days later, what appears but a very neatly wrapped Spyderco Centofante C25 with a bunch of redirection labels on it from being lost by Royal Mail.
I immediately PM'd brancon and offered to refund him the refund he'd made to me.
brancon insisted that he would absorb the customs charge and realized that his original refund via Paypal was missing the fees- so he made it clear he would only accept the original price less these costs which he would absorb. He didn't have to do that, but I was very grateful all the same.
What more can you say apart from:
1. brancon is a stand-up guy and 100% reliable, as well as being an all round gentleman.
2. A little give and take goes a long way. Both of us behaved sensibly when things went sideways and treated each other as adults- the results were mutually acceptable.
3. All bets are off when you deal with Royal Mail
4. (on my behalf, like Sal Glesser says) Integrity is being good when no-one is looking or no-one will find out....
I could've played dumb and kept both knife and refund- even if I'd been found out, it's a 6000mile round trip for brancon to knock on my door.
But I don't deal with the world that way, nor this community either.
