I was trying to call out his determination to hold on to the $850 once he had obtained it. Perhaps "avarice" isn't the best word. It's more like jealousy or possessiveness.
Not really ... he wasn't aware that there was anything wrong with it, thought it was a mandolin, and said the tone was wonderful. It was priced according to ignorance.it was priced according to condition.
I thought it was a fair price for a mandola whose top had settled somewhat. It wasn't a fair price for a mandola with a settled top, an extra soundpost, a loose transverse brace, a neck hump, a side crack, other cosmetic damage, and too-high action.
Let me stop you right there. I exchanged email with the seller in which I agreed to buy the mandola as is with no returns, on the condition that he follow my explicit shipping instructions, which included putting the instrument in a box. Our email exchange amounted to a written contract, and he signaled his acceptance of my conditions when he accepted my payment and transferred it to his bank account. When he didn't pack the instrument properly, he committed breach of contract, and the contract was therefore null and void. He was not entitled to try to enforce his conditions after he violated my conditions.The fact that he didn't pack it properly is unfortunate, but does not void your agreement with him, IMHO.
I'm sure he does. What I did get out of him before he clammed up was that he thought if I wasn't satisfied with the packing, I should have rejected the shipment and had the Postal Service return it to him. But:I'm guessing the seller has a different take on this story.
[a] I suspected there might be shipping damage to the instrument, and I wanted to inspect it and document any such damage. If I sent it back unopened and it turned out to have shipping damage, there would be no way to prove when the damage happened, and it would be harder to establish liability.
[b] Sending it back while he still had my money would have put all the cards into his hand, and considering the type of guy he turned out to be, that would have been a foolish decision. It was nearly three weeks before I was able to get my PayPal account up to date and remove the block that prevented me from filing a claim. That would have been an awfully long time for him to hold both the mandola and my money. Having the instrument in my possession until my claim was filed gave me a little peace of mind.
Bookmarks