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Tandy 6000 destroyed in shipping - keep it or refund?

I swear careless packing and shipping is going to be the death of all of these vintage machines. I've had things shipped to me that got broken in shipping the seller refunded the money but didn't want the item back. You might get lucky if you asked for a refund and they might not want it back, or they might give you a partial refund at least.
 
Unfortunately, I've had machines that were packed quite well take damage. It's a perfect storm nowadays with older, brittle machines meeting increasingly careless package handling. UPS, USPS and FedEx are focussed on moving quickly, now, now, now and seem to accept increased damage claims as a cost of business.
 
The pictures show the machine is wrecked! @greyski ask for a refund in full. THe odds are he will refund you in total and you will be left to "dispose" of it. You should get it free, you shouldnt be willing to pay for scrap. I highly doubt he will want it shipped back at his expense. If he skimped on packing material its not insured so he has no reason to ship it back.
 
It seems that UPS is a little odd about how they handle shipping insurance. The only time they actually wanted to take the machine was when my Model II got mashed up. I've had items of equal value equally mashed up that they just refunded with no questions. I ended up working out a deal with the seller instead of giving it to UPS because I didn't want it to end up in a landfill, and I'm glad I did.

Definitely worth trying the shipping insurance route first imo, but if UPS wants to take it or the seller wants it sent back I'd turn around and work out something different.
 
Chuck(G) said:
However, I do see a lot of eBay auctions with the line "Accepts returns: NO". If this is one of those, you may be in for a bit of a struggle.
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It is the seller's responsibility to get the item to you in the condition it was advertised, regardless if they normally accept returns or not. This is even true if the item is listed as "for parts or not working". It gets to you in the condition it was advertised, or else the seller and/or eBay has to make you whole. Either you return it for a full refund (including shipping cost both ways), you negotiate a partial refund with the seller, or if the seller is uncooperative, eBay Support may step in and give you a full refund, without requiring you to return the item. (Or if they're very nice, the seller may do that voluntarily.)
 
welp, wanted to update everyone over here. Was about to email the seller and say "hey what about $200" when he issued me a full refund. Now time to attempt the superglue/plastic weld the front panel, or find a new one!
 
greyski said:
welp, wanted to update everyone over here. Was about to email the seller and say "hey what about $200" when he issued me a full refund. Now time to attempt the superglue/plastic weld the front panel, or find a new one!
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Dont use superglue off the bat. Use tiny tiny tiny bits of it to just get the pieces to connect. Then from the inside where you cant see use a soldering iron to melt the weld the pieces back together. Bits of metal wire can be melted in from the inside as well to strenghten the plastic. Once done you can use superglue as a sort of seam-sealer anduse it tofill the cracks, then sand. Then reapply and sand again if need be. If done correctly it shouldbe hard to tell when painted. You can probably find lots of videos of plastic repair. Again superglue by itself WILL NOT HOLD!
 
greyski said:
welp, wanted to update everyone over here. Was about to email the seller and say "hey what about $200" when he issued me a full refund. Now time to attempt the superglue/plastic weld the front panel, or find a new one!
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If you can't get a replacement case from Pete or Joel, you may be able to kinda weld the plastic back together with acetone and qtips. Or the hot wires like Verault suggests. I've also had pretty good results with taping it together from the outside, applying JB Weld from the inside, carefully removing the tape after the JB Weld cures, applying a little more JB Weld to the outside, and then sanding.

The 6000 has a rough texture to the plastic, not smooth like the model 2, right? I reckon that makes sanding an issue. :/

I bet Joel can get his spare 6000 case to you without it getting mangled.
 
agentb said:
Agreed! ugh, we need a trigger warning on posts like this, damn. What a shame. I would go for a full refund, you definitely didn't get what you ordered.
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Maybe. But that feeling you get when you bring a machine back to life after that kind of extreme damage is pretty amazing too. :p
 
bladamson said:
Maybe. But that feeling you get when you bring a machine back to life after that kind of extreme damage is pretty amazing too. :p
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Its so true. You can buya machine and get it up and running and say.. Ok there it is . it works.. But when you do a build/restoration to that machine, its a part of you. Your going to love that machine now and not get rid ofit.. Its going to be special once its done.
 
I've been doing some research on different plastic and case repairs. I'm definitely down with the wire and melting as much as I can. I really worry though because the top of the CRT on the 6000 screws in to a plastic reinforced area and I don't think that's going to hold all that well. so I'm going to hopefully get another case from the great guys in the discord server while I attempt to fix it otherwise. The front bezel really took a beating.
 
greyski said:
I've been doing some research on different plastic and case repairs. I'm definitely down with the wire and melting as much as I can. I really worry though because the top of the CRT on the 6000 screws in to a plastic reinforced area and I don't think that's going to hold all that well. so I'm going to hopefully get another case from the great guys in the discord server while I attempt to fix it otherwise. The front bezel really took a beating.
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I have a model 12 that I received several years ago in the same condition and I was thinking the same thing you are now about the plastic supports for the CRT. Unless you are a real expert, it would be almost impossible to glue\cement the posts back and them bei sturdy enough to support the weight of the CRT.
I would definitely get my money back.
 
This is not a big deal at all. I have repaired a ton of monitors with the screw posts torn off or shattered..

Once you have the plastics repaired, you can buy epoxy solution to pour over the inside areas layer by layer strenthening them. This is the method I have used for CRTS which arrived in the mail damaged..



Tip:. Epoxy the area with the crt screws, already screwed in so the holes dont fill with epoxy. Tryto avoid getting epoxy on the screws.


I have done a bunch of destroyed cases/monitors. ITs very doable. Only facebook users give up.... grow a pair, roll up your sleeves, and do what a man would do...
 
Many people wiser than I am have already weighed in, but if If it's functional I would negotiate with the seller or hope that they are willing to refund the $$$ and then not want it back. Last time this happened to me the seller refunded the cost without question and didn't want it back. Amazing how people don't seem to understand how to pack things for shipping these days, especially after seeing how FedEx and UPS just launch things off the back of the truck at your driveway. =(

Also the plastic welding thing that people have mentioned is the best way to go. Test out some model airplaine glue on a part you don't care about, if it's effective then use that. I put a shattered 15" CRT back together that FedEx tossed off the back of the truck (I have video of it) entirely with model airplane glue and it's hard to tell unless you're right up to it and know where to look.
 
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