So, it's my birthday tomorrow and I decided to treat myself to something I have been sighing over for years - no, not Seanie, well, as well as him!, a beautiful vintage alligator bag.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extra-large-1950-039-s-perfect-condition-glossy-black-Alligator-skin-handbag-purse-/281635621051?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=2JfYfuTNriyxllNXrlb3zb8bwbQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=ncA new one in Harrods would be upwards of £8,000 so this was beyond a bargain. Usually the black ones are very small and too modern but this looked fine and you can see how perfect the inside looks - some of them are absolute wrecks - and no damage outside so I got it. It is still very small in comparison to my 'all you can carry and the kitchen sink' bags that I normally have but I would have adapted to it for those few times in a year that I would get to use it and the rest of the time it would have been out on display in my room for me to "ooh" and "ah" over.
It came yesterday and was stunning, just as lovely as the photos with the gold of the catch picked up in little bars on the bottom instead of the studs you often get but they showed wear which was my first clue that it wasn't quite the 'new, perfect condition, never been used' that the seller said, and it's a huge but (not unlike mine!), the catch was really worn and nine times out of ten of shutting it, it just came straight open again so, obviously, with that kind of bag, it was un-useable. It would be fine for a collector who might not use it and just had it in their collection, on display, as 'art' but as I wanted to actually use it, it was hopeless so I sent it back. And before you say it, no, I'm not expecting a vintage bag to be flawless, the wear on the bottom didn't bother me, I would accept that in a fifty year old bag but I expect to be told the truth about the wear so that I can make an informed decision. If she had said that the clasp didn't work I wouldn't have bought it but if it had been fine, and useable, I would have loved it.
I didn't want to start a case against her and get her a defect if she really hadn't known about the condition of the clasp - I am so dumb/naïve/decent - but I thought it was odd that she had 'conveniently' just so happened to not show photos of the bottom which show the wear - so I sent it back straight away, forgetting that there are now new rules that dodgy sellers have to pay the return postage - I'm honest in my listings, so, fingers crossed, I don't have these problems, that's why I forgot as I've never had to do this for a buyer - so she has to refund me for the bag and the original postage I paid to get it to me but not what I paid to get it back to her including insurance as the bag was so expensive, because I didn't return in the way eBay need you to.
She got it back this morning and is STILL claiming it is brand new and has nothing wrong with the clasp and how "very naughty" I am to be sending it back saying it is faulty. Astonishing, and so stupid as I have the final say with feedback and you know what that is going to say if she won't give me the postage I paid to get it back to her. She doesn't have to because I was stupid being decent about her not getting a defect if it was an honest mistake - I *really* need to toughen up! - but she will get the truth if I don't get my full refund and I get two says and whatever crap she says about me, in response to "*BEWARE* Seller lies about condition. Bag un-useable due to wear." if it is negative or neutral will be removed by eBay and then I get to make another statement, and she *will* get a defect if she doesn't give me a refund of the postage I originally paid which she is also not planning to. It would be the sensible thing for her to give me the full refund and I won't leave any feedback at all but I don't get the feeling she is smart enough to do that - she must think any idiot who will spend that amount on a bag they haven't seen deserves to be taken for all she can get out of them, which I'm starting to think is fair enough - I am *that* stupid!
Not a good start to the day.
I'll make sure I actually buy a bag I can see in the future.
What a bitch. I had even seen an article about a new swanky 'Handbag Spa' for the repair and pampering of very expensive bags that has just opened in London and which I scanned in for her in case she needed it. Sometimes I hate being me - must *BE* harder in the future and take a more Lannister approach to people:- "Everyone who isn't us is the enemy". I don't want to be like that but I don't like being cheated either.
Vent over!