A Green Grocer purchase gone wrong

M4x18 · 2012-11-02T09:24:23.000Z

Around late June I bought a 10185 Green Grocer set from a seller on eBay (I don't know if I can or can't post their ID over here). The listing stated that it was a brand new/sealed set and I as always, wrote messages to the seller double checking on the condition of the set, wanting to know if it was really sealed, box condition, etc. Communication with the little bastard went back and forth and he assured me that the box was perfect and sealed. So once I made my mind up, I paid the $560 and had the item sent to my cousin's house in Miami. It sat there for almost 2 months while I thoroughly read the import policies of Spain as I didn't want to pay more for this item. So 2 weeks ago, I asked my cousin to drop the set at a DHL branch to have it sent to Venezuela. I also asked him to repack the box that contained the bag that contained the set so it wouldn't get damaged on the way home with bubble wrap and whatever was necessary to protect my investment. My family received it yesterday. (Insert your favorite expletive here) sent me a fairly damaged, open box set. I am a tad scared as IIRC the building instructions for these large modular sets come all contained in a sort of pack with a cardboard and wrapped in plastic. All the pieces are in their plastic bags, or at least I hope so. Is there a page where I can check how many bags are supposed to be in this set? As the purchase was made a long time ago I am unable to request eBay assistance on this. So there you have it, another purchase on eBay gone wrong. $560 was a high price for this set back then, I could have bought it from a trusted eBay Lego seller for a bit more, but in this case I went for the cheaper price, resulting in this headache. Bottom line, for all the eBay buyers, pay serious attention to the seller's feedback, nothing gives a more accurate description of their services than previous customers feedback.