I recently wrote a post saying that most people are honest. At least, I have come to that conclusion after having completed a lot of transactions with a lot of people everywhere.
I have had my share of disappointments when buying puzzles, but even in those cases I try not to presume bad intentions.
However, not long ago I had a negative experience on eBay UK and I am convinced that the seller was dishonest.
Judge by yourselves.
I bought the 5000, Falcon, Celebration on the Occasion of the Anniversary of the Military Order of Maria Theresa 1861. The puzzle was described as 100% complete.
The puzzle was sent to my friend in the UK and later shipped to me three months after I bought it. When I verified the puzzle there were 8 missing pieces. I contacted the seller through eBay.
After a week, no answer.
I opened a dispute through PayPal, my first PayPal dispute, asking how he knew that the puzzle was 100% complete, as he had stated in the description. He said that the puzzle was complete and his wife had verified the puzzle two times. He was familiar with Rare Puzzles an he assumed that I had resold the puzzle because it appeared...
Tag Archives: Incomplete
Missing Piece Replacement
26
Jun
I have been considering for some time the possibility of starting a service to replace missing pieces in old puzzles. Educa's Lost Piece Service is useful, but when the puzzle is 8 years old, replacements are not available anymore. The Jigsaw Doctor is a great alternative, and the people that have used the service are happy with the work, but...
What if it was possible to replace a missing piece in an old puzzle with a matching original piece?
I have my lot of assembled incomplete puzzles. Perhaps some people might need a piece from my puzzle to complete their incomplete copy. Surely other users have another incomplete puzzle that they might be willing to offer for replacements.
With time, it is possible to build a repository of puzzles available from many different users.
Can it be done?
I got input from visitors and customers, and I went back and forth without making up my mind until I recently completed 4 copies in a row of the 3000, Ravensburger, Oriental Folk Scene. It has helped me learn about puzzles and about the limitations of a lost piece replacement service.
First of all, the same puzzle may have been manufactured at different times of the same year using...
Buying Used Puzzles
06
Jun
We all know how it feels when we buy a used puzzle and it is incomplete.
Sometimes we know long before the puzzle is assembled, when we feel it's impossible we have missed that corner piece, or there is no way the white piece we are missing will be among all the dark ones that are left.
What if that happens with the same puzzle... 7 times?
The 3000, Ravensburger, Oriental Folk Scene has been jinxed for me. Almost every time I found a copy and got it, the copy was not right and it couldn't be listed for sale. After verifying the puzzle, there were missing pieces, foreign pieces, damaged pieces, poorly manufactured pieces to replace a missing one... There was always something.
That's why at Rare Puzzles all the used puzzles listed are complete and in good condition to the best of my knowledge. In order to list a good one, sometimes seven are discarded.
And if I make a mistake, I am always accountable.