[geeks] Bah, humbug

[Kevin]

Ask for some detailed pics of the damaged printer or parts (all of them).

/KRM



On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 15:51:19 -0400
Phil Stracchino <phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net> wrote:

> Remember that printer replacement question about three weeks back, and
> the Color LaserJet 8550DN we found for $200 opening with no bids?  The
> outfit that said they just wanted it out of their overstocked showroom?
>  (Make a note of that point, there'll be a quiz later.)  Well, we bid on
> it at the time and won it for $200.  Thirty minutes after the auction
> closed, we had email from the seller in London, Ontario saying "Wait,
> don't pay for it yet, our technician just discovered a minor problem
> with the fuser."  (Bloody fast response, finding a problem in time to
> get a reply message to me within 30 minutes of close of auction.)  They
> said they were going to replace the fuser.
> 
> Two and a half weeks later, after two and a half weeks of non-response
> and vague handwaving, finally we got an answer back yesterday saying
> that the problem was much worse than they thought, that their forklift
> driver bumped the printer when moving it from the warehouse, that the
> inside of the printer was trashed, and the only thing they could do with
> it was strip it for parts.
> 
> ....Wait a minute here.  This printer was so buried in your warehouse it
> took two and a half weeks to get it forklifted out, yet your tech told
> you there was a minor problem with it in time for you to send a "Hold
> everything" message within 30 minutes of close of auction?  Or wait, are
> you saying that your forklift driver smashed the printer when moving it
> from your warehouse to your showroom BEFORE the auction, and he "bumped"
> it hard enough to damage it beyond repair, but nothing showed from the
> outside on a printer that you said was "in excellent working condition"
> and "fully tested, cleaned and working"?
> 
> It may be just me, but I smell a major rat.
> 
> Here's how I think things REALLY went:
> 
> "Let's try selling it on eBay.  Put the starting bid around $200, it
> ought to easily go up to $800 or $1000 by the time it sells."
> "WTF?  We only got one bid?!?"
> "We can't sell this printer for $200.  It's worth far more than that."
> "How can we get out of the sale though?"
> "Tell the buyer there's a problem and we need to order a part.  Then
> stall until he gives up."
> "....He's not giving up.  What do we do?"
> "Tell him the printer got smashed."
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway, at this point I don't believe their story.  There's too many
> internal inconsistencies in it.  But I have no way to prove it.  Even if
> I went there in person and looked at it, since we don't know the serial
> number and know only an approximate page count, they could easily say
> "Oh, that's a different printer.  But we can't sell that one for the
> same price as the other, we have a lot more money into this one.  We
> could let you have it for $700..."
> 
> 
> There's another 8550 in Minnesota (an 8550TN, I think) that *right now*
> is about the same price overall (higher starting bid, but lower
> shipping), but it already has one bid on it for $350.  So I'm guessing
> it'll go quite a bit higher if we bid on it too, and end up in at least
> the $750-$800 range shipped.  It has the bulk feeder, and is eligible
> for warranty protection, but it's unclear whether or not it has the
> duplexer (though there is an 8550 duplexer on eBay for $50 shipped, but
> that adds another $50.)  And they say it doesn't include toner.
> 
> Meanwhile it's looking like we can put a 4500DN together for $350-$400
> shipped.  If we went with the 8550, we'd essentially be paying an extra
> $400 for an extra 8ppm plus large-format capability that we'd use only
> rarely.  That doesn't sound like a good deal.
> 
> So, one way and another, it looks like we'll most likely be putting
> together a 4500DN after all....
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
>  It's not the years, it's the mileage.
>  Phil Stracchino              phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net
>  Renaissance Man, Unix generalist, Perl hacker, Free Stater
>  Landline: 603-429-0220                Mobile: 603-320-5438
> _______________________________________________
> GEEKS:  http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/geeks


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