Car screenwasher fluid

[Bob Eager]

Had that one.

And that.

Hard disk loose in big box. One fluorescent tube in layers of bubble wrap with a label on it - bent in the middle on delivery.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember ChipMonk saying something like:

[Rob]

It's probably scented water anyway - the bottle has a '70%' label, and not 99.5% as offered. On raising this with the seller he replied:

*** Awfully sorry but a batch of 99.4% was shipped with the wrong specification typed onto the label. You have 99.4% in the bottle, it is simply a typing error. ***

Incredible - and no offer of remedy.

Rob

[Alan]

In message , geoff wrote

I've had items that would have survived a nuclear blast and could have been sent in a Jiffy bag delivered in a large box with the world's total stock of bubble wrap.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I use a few drops of washing up liquid to clean greasy smears.

And of course substantial IPA as an antifreeze. It still freezes of course, and makes you feel sick and have a headache on long runs when there is a lot of shit on the roads..rather like the potable IPA (India Pale Ale) in fact. Hmm..

[PeterC]

An order from Toolstation didn't arrive, 'phoned the next morning: 'damaged in transit'. I had to laugh, as the only item that could be damaged was a

5li can of white emulsion! White van man - inside job!

Next day the box arrived. Can in heavy plastic sack sellotaped all over then in bubblewrap. Air bags on top but underneath just the metal friction hinges and the fairly flimsy box. The can was a bit dented, but it's v. thin metal. Packers are at the dim end of the illuminations.

[Dave Liquorice]

The cynic in me says the seller is relying on people not being able to analyise the contents and/or not being bothered to take it to Trading Standards to do the analysis.

[geoff]

Yeah - I could have gone on, and on, and on ...

That was to make it fit in the box

>

[Andrew Gabriel]

Indeed.

Had that one, if you substitute the reels of solder for a burst box of D-cell batteries. The powdered glass was running out of the box corners as you picked it up.

Had to do an order a couple of weeks back. 4 sealed lead acid batteries (12V, 7AH), and 2 coin cells. I was amazed, given that there was no longer a bottom attached to the box, that all the parts were still in it.

[Rob]

It's difficult to tell - he's just written back and said that he's fulfilled his legal requirements (the name was correct, the concentration was wrong) and as such had no duty to notify anyone of the error, and everyone else who's queried the error has been satisfied.

He's got over 5000 +ve feedback. I'm quite surprised he's being so aggressive.

Rob

[Pete Verdon]

That's bollocks. If he offered "Isopropyl alcohol 99.4%" and you bought it as such, then that's what it has to be. I would imagine suing for the cost of replacing his scented water for the right stuff would be an open-and-shut case.

Not that a lawsuit is necessarily the right approach for such a small issue, but it is an option and one worth mentioning if he remains arsey. A Moneyclaim Online case is what, about £30? Which he pays when you win.

Pete

[Bob Eager]

If they'd bothered with a box...!

[Dave Liquorice]

Quite. It could be a labling error or he could be trying it on. Before taking further proceedings it needs to be acertained what the concentration actually is.

I'm not sure how one could do that simply at home. I guess one could heat some gently in a pan with a thermomter and slowly drive off the alcohol until the temp starts to rise significantly above 82C (IPA boiling point) and see how much liquid is left at that point. If there is still 25% or so left you don't have 99.4%...

You'd then need to get a proper analysis done to have a case for trading standards/court.

[Mike Barnes]

Measure exactly a litre and weigh it using your digital kitchen scales. At 20 degrees C, 99.4% will weigh 792g, and 70% will weigh 867g.

See:

table deals in percentages by weight and for all I know yours could be by volume. But I think it's close enough for your purposes.)