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Hi everyone,
you may remember my previous post about not receiving an item from Catawiki. Well, today, 17 days after I won the lot, the item has arrived. As the delivery man handed it to me, I could hear ominous rattling. This is what I saw when I opened the box:
just one layer of bubble and newspaper loosely placed around it, the jar could move around the box at will. I cannot believe anyone would think this is sufficient! I’m beginning to wonder if it was done deliberately, it is THAT ridiculous!
Anyway, I have informed the seller but I cannot find the link to contact Catawiki. It’s a bit urgent as I only have 3 days to inform Catawiki before the seller is paid, after which I will have no recourse.
Does anyone know where on the Catawiki site is the ‘contact us’ button?
Thank you
Nic
That is beyond upsetting, Nic. Unbelievable. Something like that should really be packed either in a wooden box, inside the cardboard one...or at the very least a cardboard box within a cardboard box. And heavy corrugated cardboard. It must be exasperating.
Todd
take it with a grain of salt
Hi Julia,
Thanks so much for that. Hugely helpful! I have also been able to find a contact telephone number by searching ‘Catawiki customer support’ on Google!
Imagine having to do a general internet search to find a link on a website! It’s like building a house with windows but no doors! It implies you don’t want people to find a way in!
No doubt, here starts WEEKS of wrangling and blame flying back and forth. It’s going to be exhausting.
Nic
Hi Mark and Todd,
I KNEW something was up. The seller was so uncommunicative throughout the whole thing.
The box is within a box, but there’s hardly any packing material in the box with the vase, so the outer box is utterly pointless!
Nic
Hi Nic,
Seems they lacked common sense. In another setting I would use more colorful words....
Hopefully the proof is pretty clear (it surely is), and you won’t have to do too much wrangling before a refund is delivered.
Best, Todd
take it with a grain of salt
I think I’m as upset about the fact that this vase has survived 140 years and now, because of the abject stupidity of one person it has been destroyed. I know it’s not a valuable object per se, but it’s still such a shame. It makes me so sad to even look at it.
Sentimental old fool that I am!
Nic
Dear Nic,
Good luck hope it is resolved in your favor very quickly.
Michael
Thanks Michael,
the seller seems to have admitted that he/she didn’t pack it with sufficient care. So I hope that will be enough!
Nic
That's really the worst case, Nic, what a pity. I can't understand how anyone can pack that bad, I thought the sellers on Catawiki had some experience. If they refund you and allow you to keep the shards, you could try to glue them together, it wouldn't be too difficult since it's a fresh break.
Birgit
Thanks Birgit,
It truly has been the most bizarre experience. The seller’s attitude is, genuinely, “you’re right, I didn’t pack it properly... oh, well”. I think there’s something wrong with him/her. You don’t know do you, there could be all sorts selling on the internet.
I just can’t believe it’s such a non-issue for the seller. If I had been the seller in this case, I’d have been mortified!
This has only happened to me once before. Years ago, I bought a lot of 5 pottery pots and the seller posted them loose, in a box, with no packing whatsoever. I mean, nothing at all! When they arrived in a 100 pieces, I contacted her and she said “Oh, what a shame” and immediately refunded the cost.
These people walk among us! Frightening stuff.
Nic
From your photos, there may be a silver lining to this situation. A number of years ago, when Chinese fakes started being offered on ebay by Chinese vendors, I bought a few to get a feel for how they felt and looked in person. Then I broke them, to see what they looked like in cross section. One interesting observation, was they broke quite easily (much more easily that the real thing). In cross-section, the porcelain was chalky (best word I can think of) in comparison to hard paste, which is more glassy. It reminded me of the difference between European soft paste and Chinese hard paste. I point this out, because your photos of the broken edges look like that chalky material I witnessed in the fakes I bought. Obviously I've not seen your piece in person, but given that it broke in the first place, from what looks like a side impact, inside a double box, and the cross section appears chalky - I suspect you may be looking at a very recent (ie 21st Century), example.
Hi there,
thank you very much for your comment. I haven’t got any soft paste porcelain but I do have a pottery jug that recently broke.
The pieces of the jar above are razor sharp, they also ‘ring’ like glass. The pottery has a dull sound and the exposed edges are rougher. You could cut youtself on the jar quite easily, less so on the pottery. Having said that, I would not be in the least bit surprised if it turned out to be a fake, considering the seller’s complete Indifference to what has happened and the fact that she may have to give a refund. It woukd explain a lot!
Thank you for taking the time to reply. As you say - it may turn out to be a blessing!
Nic
Soft paste and hard paste are both high fired, and very different from pottery.
The glaze on the exterior is the same as glass in terms of its ability to cut you. Its the body of the porcelain itself that I was referring too.
Since experimenting with the fakes mentioned above, I've seen many more. My anecdotal observations are that the real thing is very resistant to rough handling. They crack, and flake. That's why you see antique plates with hairlines and rim chips. The reproductions seem to break apart in chunks, rather than hairline. ie an oval hole in the side of a fake vase, or a chuck out of the rim. I have occasionally wondered why. I assume they fire these repros at a lower temperature so they get less damage in the kiln (but more damage after!) Just a guess as I don't know the why.
If you get to keep this broken vase - put it aside. It may become a useful teaching tool.
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