I curious what other RC'er would do.

In the Fall bought a Rookie II on RC Universe. My Son and I wanted to give thrust vectoring a try and we didn’t have time for another build this winter so buying a used one seemed the most expedient way to go. I paid close to the asking price sans turbine for what looked to be a plane in good shape.

Upon arrival problems were immediately evident. The seller packed the Rookie between large, rigid sheets of Styrofoam in a flimsy cardboard shell (not a crate). The box arrived undamaged but the force of the rigid styrofoam compressing the plane fractured the nose, nearly tearing it off and damaging the canopy. Whatsmore, the plane was not as billed, there were holes in the wings, the tail was badly burned, and oversized gear had been hacked into place. The photos provided on the web showed something much nicer suggesting that the photos were either old or of another Rookie. When I asked about damage before completing the transaction the seller replied only “ some hanger rash”.

So I email the guy. He offers to submit an insurance claim with FedEx, great, but I insist he promptly replace the fuse and related parts (canopy, formers, etc). I saw no point in my having to wait because of his poor packing job.

After a period of time without any measureable action and no response to my emails I have my lawyer call the seller. Turns out he’s a kid who’s 17 or 18, his Dad picks up the phone and says his Son isn’t home (my lawyer can hear junior talking to Dad in the background). Dad agrees to replace the fuse but for unexplained reasons it takes them weeks to get a quote from, and check to, Composite-ARF. There are of course some additional interchanges and complexities but you get the gist…… they have my money and they are dragging their heels about resolving the problem.

In the mean time things get more complex. FedEx picks up the package from my home for inspection but rather than returning it to me sends it back to the seller who says he didn’t receive it. FedEx is in a state of confusion and has only a difficult to read signature which the driver says was obtained at the seller’s address. Now that the box is lost I am out not only the fuse but all the stuff in it (servos, valves, fuel tank, etc) plus the wings and booms. It turns out FedEx insurance doesn’t cover models anyway which means the plane effectively wasn’t insured despite insurance being a condition of the sale. Parenthetically, had the seller shipped the plane within 7 days of purchase PayPal would have insured it but he sent it 10 days after purchase. As time drags on my lawyer recommends not going forward with replacement of only the fuse.

Had the plane been packed appropriately this wouldn’t have happened - I would have gotten a crummy plane with a nose attached and the plane wouldn't have been lost but I would have a plane. So here’s the question, since this happened as a consequence of frank negligence by the seller would you let your lawyers loose on them knowing that the costs would be substantial and these guys probably have shallow pockets or would you swallow a $2800 loss and chalk it up to experience?

Phil