In writing about rolls on eBay, I just remembered my only bad experience
in this line.  Several months back, there was a discussion in MMD on
"President Harding March".  Within a week or two, that title pops up in
a collection of 5 rolls being sold on eBay.  I am the high bidder for
about $60.00.

I email the seller a note stating I am willing to pay the sixty dollars,
but I really only want one roll in the group, "President Harding March",
and I am willing to offer $40 for just that one roll, and she can
re-sell the remaining rolls.  She accepts the offer, and I receive the
roll a week later.

As soon as I pull off the left flange, my stomach turns as I realize
that this roll is as torn as any I have ever seen.  Naturally, it is
unplayable but I put it in a spool box and take a picture that shows
the destroyed left side of the paper.  As I email her the picture,
I write that she admitted they didn't know anything about rolls, and so
I know that they innocently sent me a bad roll since they did not pull
off the left flange -- only an expert would know to do that.

She writes back offering me credit for the roll.  I tell her that all
their rolls might be torn like this, and I don't want a credit since
this whole adventure was caused by President Harding March, the only
title I wanted even when I thought all the rolls were good.  She then
accuses me of destroying the roll and trying to cheat her.  I explain
that the roll had been delivered to my house that very day, so I would
not have had time to damage it so bad.  She then writes back that her
"experts" didn't see the damage when the roll was mailed.  I ask her
who her experts were to examine the rolls, especially when their ad
specifically mentioned that the sellers had no experience selling
rolls.

I never got an answer, of course.  She was too busy contacting eBay to
report me for cheating when I offered to buy only one roll out of the
five I won.  Mind you, this was the deal she was happy to accept and
when the question of a refund is raised, she suddenly runs to eBay for
my "cheating".  This is like lovers having a quarrel, and suddenly the
woman is claiming to have been raped.

Well, I realized that I am dealing with somebody who's a couple of
sandwiches short of a picnic, and I will never see my $40.00 again so
I proceed to send her an email that was, let's just say, "impolite".
She sends back an answer that is worth quoting: "You obviously hate
all women and our intelekt"

That ended the correspondence.  After all, how could I hope to top
that one?

Randolph Herr