Your most disappointing shaving acquisition...

I've had many disappointing shave acquisitions, mainly along the line of scents that didn't appeal, but my strongest disappointment was just recently when I acquired a Red Ring Eclipse on Ebay. 

My excitement quickly turned to major disappointment when I unboxed it...





Now, I'm sure the baseplate could probably be straightened and the handle soldered back on, but it's the missing pins that make this razor useless and too much of a challenge to restore...

A sad sight indeed.

That's a real shame.  Sure makes a fancy paper weight.

(02-06-2016, 03:19 AM)ben74 Wrote: I've had many disappointing shave acquisitions, mainly along the line of scents that didn't appeal, but my strongest disappointment was just recently when I acquired a Red Ring Eclipse on Ebay. 

My excitement quickly turned to major disappointment when I unboxed it...





Now, I'm sure the baseplate could probably be straightened and the handle soldered back on, but it's the missing pins that make this razor useless and too much of a challenge to restore...

That's a shame Ben, and the shame is on whoever would offer an item like that without full disclosure. Open a case.

I' ve been very lucky, my only disappointments on this transcendental journey called " wet-shaving" in this particular dimension have been my first soap ( although I didn't know it until I got a good one to compare it to) Lightfoot Pine. Smells devine, disappears from your face while you are bringing your razor up for first stroke.
And Feathers.

Definitely open a case. I would be interested to see the original listing to see if the seller went to any lengths to obfuscate the damage, especially the missing pins. I'm also curious how they described its condition.

I've had quite a few soaps that didn't work out either due to scent or skin reaction, but nothing truly useless like Ben's example. Thankfully, the B/S/T has always been great for me for products I don't love, and of course, I disclose everything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not counting soaps or "shave ready" straights that I end up having to hone, brushes with scritch are my biggest disappointments.

I would open a case on that razor.

Anything that I could complain about in this thread pales in comparison Ben. I hope you are able to reach some sort of compensation for this travesty.

Sorry to see that Ben.

My disappointments have been more along the lines of misidentified variants. A paperclip Rocket I thought was an HD, a British New Improved I was hoping would be a No.81 Richwood.
Usually I have no problem with the seller per se. I didn't ask any questions or I hastily clicked buy it now.

My let downs have been tempered by rewards though. A mystery item that turns out to be a score. All in all I take the good with the bad. 

Not knowing what the details were on the Eclipse pick up I won't cast judgement. 

My most recent let down has been a brush. A custom piece that was made with a well regarded knot. I had never tried said knot before. Upon test driving it I'm ho-hum with the whole thing. The knot is sparse, floppy, and holds little lather. The handle has a little bit of chatter marks from the lathe in places and also a teeny bit of epoxy showing around the base of the knot. I'm not mad and certainly will use the brush. The little imperfections are by no means severe or impact the usability of it at all. I had high hopes for flawless form and finish. I suppose I'm guilty at times of building up anticipation in my head. My expectations were unrealistic and have since been tempered by research and reading reviews that I should have done prior to buying.

I think this is a good case illustrating why PayPal has protection for buyers.

Im very sorry to hear about the disappointing purchase.

For me it's always been things like Feather ASD1 not even being remotely close to efficient enough. Also issues with software scents.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The brush that comes with the gold dollar shave kit from straightrazors. 100% crap.

I have actually never been let down by anything that I have brought, a few soap scents maybe. I was slightly gutted that the FatBoy wasn't really that great, but luckily I didn't buy that one.

Sorry for your loss, Ben.

This is just one reason why I avoid eBay like the plague.........

I have only bought items off Ebay, that was 110% impossible to get elsewhere - like a special Arabian perfume.

This just confirms my standpoint regarding eBay.

My most disappointing purchase has to be my first Merkur DE razors, both bought at a big online shaving store.

I bought the 34C HD and the 38C.

Both had really crappy looking finishes, and I never quite lost my feeling, that Merkur razors are really not worth more, than what we pay for them.

I have since then read that Dovo, the owner of Merkur, had a period, when they used a factory for the chrome finish job, that did a horrible job.

They still put all the razors out for sale, even though the finish on the razors looked really crappy, and shoudl never have been out for sale in stores.

I now only own the Merkur Futur in chrome finish, and this razor has a really nice great looking finish and is also a very nice performer.

But I have owned a new 34C HD, a 37C, a Progress and several other Merkur razors, and only the Merkur 34G in gold finish had a finish job, that I would call decent to good (other than my Futur, which has a very nice chrome finish).

When Mühle and Edwin Jagger can put out razor after razor with GREAT looking chrome finish, there is no excuse for Merkur to not do the same. They cost pretty much the same.
I don't intend to own other razors from Merkur, than my Futur, because I have had this bad experience with my first two Merkur razors.

Speaking only from my experience,  I've bought quite a few things on Ebay over the years with only two incidents and both were settled to my satisfaction. If you have discipline  and patience  you can find a lot of bargains, to make an understatement.

Buying a new brush and Ursa shave cream at the same time - then reading the fine print and Ursa is hand lather only.  Actually, if used correctly, Ursa is a nice cream.

Simpson Best Badger brush. Even with good care suddenly began to loose a lot of hairs. Ironically my Simpson Pure Badger Special never lost a hair and still strong.

Captains Choice Bay Rum AS.. Gave it away for free next day

Bay rums are a tough one; I was given some Ogallala Bay Rum and Sandalwood; I PIFd it immediately. Krampert's is far, far nicer.