Some advice needed on Ebay.

[reynardo]

I recently bought a book there, that I purchased particularly for the pictures it was supposed to have.

The description stated :

Over 100 vintage illustrations and images of hounds (including Pointers), including illustrations by famous sporting and natural history artists such as: Philip Reinagle (1749-1833); Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807); George Stubbs (1724-1806); James Barenger (1780-1831); Thomas Bewick (1753-1828); Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873); Sydenham Edwards (1768-1819); William Barraud (1810-1850); Edmund Caldwell (1852-1930); Frank Forester (Henry William Herbert) (1807-1858); Edmund Osthaus (1853-1928); Carl Reichert (1836-1918); Georges Louis Marie Leclerc, comte de Buffon (1707-1788); Francis Barlow (1626-1704); Richard Blome (1635-1705); and Mattäus Merian (1593-1650); including illustrations from classic 19th century sources such as: The Sporting Magazine (early 19th century), William Youatt’s work on The Dog (mid-19th century), and American magazine articles (late 19th century); and including vintage photographs of famous hounds (with an emphasis on Beagles) from early 20th century sources.

The artist I was interested in was Edmund Caldwell, an ancestor of mine.

The book is published by the seller, and as far as I can tell, it's been put together by a beagle breeding kennel to give a background of the hunting dogs, with special emphasis on the origins and bloodlines whence their particular line comes. What pictures are there are badly-scanned black-and-white pictures that are often almost impossible to make out. There's no index of the pictures. Some of them appear to have been greatly enlarged from their original scan, which makes them pixellated. They range from copies of engravings to scans of photos, seemingly from a number of sources such as books and pamphlets.

While I have no doubt that they obtained permission to use the photographs, the quality of the publication is pathetic. The information is clear but the layout isn't professional. They've given what's listed in the site, but it isn't very good.

What sort of feedback would you think reasonable?

Comments

[silverblue.livejournal.com]

I'd leave something like:

Pictures range from many of very poor quality (pixellated, smeared) to moderate, no index provided, amateurish production leading to difficulty in making out enough details on pictures for them to be of any use. Product arrived on time.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

If you have the opportunity to really razz someone for a substandard product, one that didn't meet advertised expectations... do it. Razz it like a bad Beatles cover from Mr. Figgy!

[dorukai.livejournal.com]

Hrm. My gut feeling is that you'd be hard pressed to prove misleading advertising on that . . .

Maybe ask them for a refund first rather than leave negative feedback (which tends to piss people off, resulting in them giving you negative feedback too)?

[faxon.livejournal.com]

It looks like someone else had the same experience. From the comments page:

Arrived fast, however quality is mediocre (badly scanned pictures, no index)
Nov-15-07 16:22
HUNTING HOUND DOG BOOK Beagle Pointer Fox & Coonhound

Looking at the rest of the comments and reading between the lines while they have 100% Positive feedback I would guess they have a lot of unhappy customers judging by the number of "item arrived" comments.

I probably leave a neutral feedback with a comment like the one above.

Bear.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

While I think faxon and others are probably on the right track, I actually don't think the item was sold as advertised: "Over 100 vintage illustrations and images of hounds... including vintage photographs of famous hounds." That implies direct reproductions of said images and photographs, not amateur scans. I personally would have no problem with leaving negative feedback in such circumstances.

If it had said "self-compiled from scanned images", well, caveat emptor. As it is, it sounds like it should have been a professional production, not what you got.

I suppose it's up to you how much you want to worry about potential negative feedback on your own profile. I wish that eBay would implement two things: 1) a delay where feedback cannot be seen by either party, but the feedback has to be submitted in that interval (say 30 days after the end of the sale?), followed by a similar interval for dispute resolution; 2) a breakdown of the rating: communication; goods as described; condition of goods; promptness in shipping.

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

Isn't that too long for the feedback box, though? Here in the UK, at least, we're only allowed 80 characters.