EBAY-HOW I HATE YOU SO.

So, apart from flogging off the music biscuits in my apartment, I thought I would use some of the proceeds to catch up on a pasttime I've not been too familar with, namely the dvd box set of a T.V series. I managed season 1, 2 and 3 of Lost, but, ahem, got lost with season 4, and was all at sea, losing the momentum to complete 24 episodes in the space of a weekend.

So, in the U.K, they finally started screening The Wire, which has the reputation of going above and beyond the usual police procedural, and then some. After catching a couple of episdoes of Season 1, I decided to lay down some bread, daddy O' and purchase me some of that here slicky written police drama.

So, I trawled through the usual places: Play.com, Amazon.co.uk, com, even Fr. Of course, if you want a bargain that's too good to be true, try Ebay. And there, amongst all the dross, was the 24 disc region 1 (U.S) box set of series' 1-5 for £60. The seller assured me it was new/sealed, I should have had the alarm bells ringing and thinking: lying bastard/economical with truth.

Anyway, I paid, via Paypal and waited for it to arrive. All seemed well, until the cracks started to appear and this was even without close inspection. The shrinkwrap seemed to be quite baggy; shrinkboy let himself go and breathed out, for once. The box was a bit battered and brusied. The discs seemed to be genuine, until you check the back for stunningly clumsy scratches and a disc that's obviously been frisbeed or used as a drinks coaster. Oh, Ambassador, using The Wire dvds for coasters? You're spoling us! Not only that, but the etchings on the disc are in Chinese... very suspect.

Anyway, my heart sank. Sank even more when none of the discs would work. I've emailed the twerp and I await his slicky worded response, or a possible one finger salute. Just shows you can't be too careful. It's experiences like this that leave you feeling stupid and duped. I'm not hopeful about getting a refund; the little scrote of a chancer will wriggle his way of it. If that's the case, I'll vow not to use Ebay again, even though, as a seller with a rep for honesty, good comms. and fantastically fast delivery, I've done my bit to ensure that people buying from me get what they've paid for, with no misunderstandings or disatisfaction.