dougv.com | The Web home of Doug Vanderweide

User Name: lancemisner
Product Purchased: Vintage Avalon assault on crete simulation board game (110251584477)

Product As Advertised: Almost
Shipped Quickly: Sort Of
Customer Service: Good

I won this auction late on Friday, May 16 and paid (as I always do) immediately after winning. That meant the weekend went by without shipping; the item actually went out on May 20, the Tuesday following the auction.

The game also arrived with a sizable gash in the USPS mailing box — a gash that went through the box and into the game, damaging the game box bottom fairly significantly.

I suspect the damage was done by the USPS, but generally speaking, they owe up to damaging your mail by leaving a note. They don’t compensate you for damaging the mail, but they do tell you they did the mangling.

That wasn’t the case here.

Also, the game is “complete” in the sense that it has the rules, charts and all but one counter; a replacement counter was hand-written on a spare chit, of which there are plenty in this game.

However, the overall game condition, not counting the giant gash on the bottom of the box, was “played extensively.” Which, translated, means “disappointing.”

Mind you, I’ve been around eBay game auctions long enough to know that Spartan game descriptions such as the one given by this seller are sure-fire flags that the game is incomplete or in rough shape.

And this isn’t even close to being the rattiest game I’ve ever bought on eBay, nor is it the worst described.

I can’t hold this seller responsible for the gash in the box, and I knew I was taking a bit of a gamble by virtue of buying an under-described game. But I probably will not buy from this seller again.