Another treasure(s) destroyed GE Locomotive

[Sparky]

Hello folks, In the last week I have had 3 Zenith Owl's of various forms destroyed even after warning the seller to package them carefully and the result of the 3 previous destroyed radios that were not shipped properly. What do I get? 3 radios that just about fit in the box shipped in with everything from shopping bags, dead air pillows and other trash used as packing material.
Now to the worst of all. I just received my first GE Loco and the shipper promised that it would be shipped in a custom crate made by him and his mate. What I got was a wooden crate A+. However it had that 1/2" Styrofoam board 1 layer per side, fully touching the 1/8" plywood of unknown Asian origin. The result is a broken GE Locomotive. That's it I give up on humanity.
If you read this forum Seller, it is what it is. I am extremely angry right now another one of a kind rendered to scrap.

On another note does anyone have a case they don't need.

Yes pictures to follow, I'm just too worked up right now to even look at it.
Thanks.

[Electronic M]

This is exactly why I tend not to buy anything large or fragile that is not local. I rather go on a long trip to a big meet to look for something to drag home in my own transoprtation than ask someone far away to attempt to pack it such that the neanderthals of the parcel systems can't damage it.

Bakelite can be epoxied together solidly when done right, so there is hope.
Even if it looks cracked after gluing you can always sand the edges and paint it(you can probably even find a shade to match the color of bakelite).

[radiotvnut]

Sorry to hear of your loss and it sounds like you're having the same kind of week as I in regards to stuff getting damaged in shipment. My case was a rare '49 Emerson bakelite radio/45 rpm record player that was smashed in shipment due to poor packing.

When you tell the seller how to pack something and they still don't do it correctly, it just shows how lazy and uncaring they are. Even if you get your money back, it still doesn't alter the fact that a piece of history is destroyed and it's not like you can run to china-mart and buy another one.

[Tony V]

Thats why i buy local or within driving distance. If it's not, i wasnt meant to have it. Having item's shipped just isnt safe anymore and people just dont care. My money is too tight to spend it on broken bakelite.

[decojoe67]

Sorry to hear about that.
The postal service is sure making nice old radio/TV's rarer and rarer!
I rarely have a set sent to me by mail these days. When I do, if it isn't completely ruined, there is a loose panel, shifted chassis, screws popped out, etc. In other words signs that the set took a lot of serious jolts.
Most of time, as said before, I buy a "local pick-up" set that catches my eye. I drive over, see the set, put down the cash, and then put it safely in my car. It makes the hobby much more enjoyable!

[cwmoser]

To me those old GE Locomotive TVs are not much to look at
when dirty, dusty, and cracked. BUT, when you put them all
together with a good cleaning, and good polishing, they are
a lot of eye candy and the display a very very nice video and
the audio is very good from such a small set.

All is not lost ... just more work.
If you cannot find a replacement cabinet, glue it back together,
sand the cracks and hey, paint it black. Mine is almost black and
cleaned and shiny it looks great. If you could find a Black spray paint
with a touch of Brown to off color the Black slightly, I think it would look great.

Carl

[decojoe67]

My '48 GE "Lococmotive" also had a crack at that common spot on the top near the rivet. The rest of the set was/is perfect. Dont just simply glue the crack/s. Grind a grove in the underside, fill with JB Weld, place mesh over that and put on more Weld. Clamp it and it will be a very strong fix. Mine is practically invisible now from the top.
I agree that these sets look stunning when they are buffed-out and polished. They also work fantastic when properly elec. restored. One of my fav. vintage TV's
Here's mine:

[DaveWM]

wow, that stinks. After giving some thought to the problem I came up with this.

Assuming that telling someone how to pack and hearing back from them that is how it will be done is not good enough these days.

So on to plan b, financial compensation. We used to call it pay for performance, so what you do is offer to pay a 'bonus" if the part is packed as described and survives the trip. Do a video of the opening and post as needed to document.

I know the above seem like something that should not be needed but seems like these days you need to adapt to the situation or just not buy bakelite (which is a perfectly good option).

I recently went thru this and the seller did an excellent job of true double boxing. fearing the worst I did an unboxing video just in case it was not done per our discussion.

He did not over charge for shipping as some seller do, and he emailed me a request for additional funds to cover his extra cost. I had no problem paying as it was the right thing to do.

Now in a less civil enviroment the above would not work but if you simply made arrangements BEFORE bidding that this is how it will be done (pay for performance) then maybe it can be done.

I know this is a long post and I am sure some will think, gee just do it right and this would not be needed, but clearly some things like the subject of this thread may benefit from the extra attention.

too bad really that people have to be paid extra to do what they have been already paid to do, but that is the world we live in.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by DaveWM

too bad really that people have to be paid to do what they should do anyway but that is the world we live in.

That's true of a lot of "people" out there, but I do occasionally encounter a seller who will give me a price break on something I really want, or go the extra mile to help out. For example, I recently purchased something that would have had to have been shipped Priority from the U.S. due to its weight, but the seller lives near the border and offered to ship it from his alternate address in Canada, cutting my shipping cost by about half.

With all the bakelite smashing I have been hearing of lately, it's a wonder that the stuff survived long enough to be put up for sale online.

[compucat]

How did these sets get shipped all over the country when the were new? Weren't they just in cardboard boxes with packing? Were these sets treated like fine china and shipped carefully by conciensous handlers and drivers? I love Bakelite sets but just can't trust anyone to ship them correctly.

[DaveWM]

Originally Posted by compucat

How did these sets get shipped all over the country when the were new? Weren't they just in cardboard boxes with packing? Were these sets treated like fine china and shipped carefully by conciensous handlers and drivers? I love Bakelite sets but just can't trust anyone to ship them correctly.

Just a guess but prob two things, correct packing, and s distribution system that was less consumer to consumer and more factory to warehouse to sales center, and I would bet a lot less machine moving. there was a video posted on VK I think while ago that was a training film for proper handling of freight by rail employees.

correct packing requires an understanding of basic physics. I am pretty confident I could pack pretty much anything and have it survive, but it would not be cheap, and I would want to be paid for both materials and at lest a somewhat reasonable amount for the time to do it right, otherwise I would just leave it up to the seller to come and get it. Needless to say I rarely ship anything. The last time I did it was when a CRT was shipped to me by an Ebay seller. it was just set loose inside a box with NO packing at all.

some how it managed to survive undamaged but the seller sent me the wrong CRT.... he had mixed up my address with someone else (Tx) and they got my CRT. I did not want it anymore (it was a time sensitive thing, I was fixing the set for someone else, and the time had already lapsed). So he asked me to box it back and stick on a shipping label to Tx (he provided).

Needless to say I did NOT want to just put it loose back in the box and wash my hands of it, so I ended up spending quite a bit of time fabricating a proper box to support the CRT, neck and keep it so no matter the orintation the thing would survive. So I am out no cash but prob at leas 1 hour of fabrication, take it to UPS, and have nothing to show for it. I HOPE it got there alright, I never heard back from either the seller or the buyer, no good deed...

Maybe it got trashed even with my efforts, but it would have been nice to know. I do know the seller stopped selling the CRTs, he had a bunch of BW tubes and was selling for 99$ IIRC (I think I told him how he was not shipping correctly).

think it was a 21LP4 or something like that (think that is what I wanted, I got something different that was too tall).

[Chip Chester]

Sorry for your troubles, Sparky.

Awhile ago, I was 'cornering the market' in a certain pro SVHS machine I used in multiple locations of my business. I wanted them all alike, for performance, operation, and repair considerations. I ended up sending some of my empty factory shipping boxes to the sellers, for them to ship the deck back to me. Shipping big empty boxes is not cheap, but they all arrived fine, and it's the only way that UPS would stand behind their insurance.

If you've got the stomach to pursue more of the GE sets, and you have a set already to guide you, maybe you should build the ultimate "crate" that correctly supports the components and assemblies inside, as well as the outside case. Send it to the shipper, with instructions on how and why to ship back using your shipping crate. Now granted, this won't prevent and attack of the "UPSies", but at least you'll have a fighting chance. You can buy un-tamperable shock indicators from places like u-line that will inform you of your shipper's performance with respect to handling.

Good luck if you decide to attack the problem.

On the other hand, for the amount of work the above plan entails, you can take a nice cross-country drive for personal pickup.

Chip

[Kamakiri]

I bet between all of us, we have the parts to repair your set. I have a parts locomotive right here.

[Sparky]

Well thanks all for your support in my disaster. I will comment individually in just a bit but first without commercial interruption:
Exhibit: A the demon box.

[Sparky]

Exhibit B: The face hole, Bottom cracks.