Ebay Lessons Learned - Purchasing G.E. Product Man Service Books

I wanted to bring to your attention a lesson that I have just recently learned as a result of buying four G.E. Product Man books on eBay.

In the past, I have successfully purchased, without incident, both Bound copies of the G.E. Product Man books, and complete year sets of the monthly G.E. Product Man publications. Then I recently came across four G.E. Product Man books for years 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952, but they looked a bit odd. They were apparently re-issues of the bound books, printed in loose leaf form and bound only with large brass round-head fasteners (see photo). These were buy-it-now, plus on sale, so I decided to buy all four of them.

When they arrived, the 1949 book was dramatically thinner than the bound copy that I already had for 1949. The 1950, 1951 and 1952 books outwardly appeared correct. But when I laid the books out, and compared them page by page, I discovered that there were sections missing from the loose leaf books for both 1950 and 1952. Only the 1951 book was complete.
So I emailed the seller (Jemi Books) and explained the situation to them. I told them that I have the bound copies of these same books, and I could prove that there were sections missing in 3 of the 4. In an email reply, I received a sincere apology, brief explanation of the source of the books, plus they immediately authorized return and full refund. I applaud Jemi Books for their good customer service. The reply also alluded that there were more books to be sold. So I wrote back and offered to help them check the other books for completeness. I was given a phone number to call, and the time of day that I could phone. So, I did phone, and I had the guy leaf through one of the books which I had a corresponding bound copy. Indexes in the front can be used to identify number of pages for each of the sections: General Information, Refrigerators, Home Laundry, Ranges, Dishwashers, etc. Then each of those sections should begin with page 1, and continuing for as many pages that are implied by the index pages. I had him choose the 1953 book, and it immediately was missing a few pages here, and a few pages there. He now had enough information to continue checking all of the other books. But they initially had no idea what they had, and how to check them.

BOTTOM LINE � in a follow-up email, they told me that none of the remaining books were complete. SO, they are likely going to lump all of the remaining incomplete books together, and sell them in a lot as being incomplete.

SO WARNING! If you come across an eBay auction or sale for Loose Leaf G.E. Product Man books (see photo), offered by Jemi Books, PLEASE understand what you may be buying. And feel free to write or speak to me about this as well.

Regards,

Mike


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Post# 586758 4/2/2012 at 20:37 (4,399 days old) by dishwashercrazy (West Peoria, IL)
Checkrate/Likes I wanted to bring to your attention a lesson that I have just recently learned as a result of buying four G.E. Product Man books on eBay. In the past, I have successfully purchased, without incident, both Bound copies of the G.E. Product Man books, and complete year sets of the monthly G.E. Product Man publications. Then I recently came across four G.E. Product Man books for years 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952, but they looked a bit odd. They were apparently re-issues of the bound books, printed in loose leaf form and bound only with large brass round-head fasteners (see photo). These were buy-it-now, plus on sale, so I decided to buy all four of them. When they arrived, the 1949 book was dramatically thinner than the bound copy that I already had for 1949. The 1950, 1951 and 1952 books outwardly appeared correct. But when I laid the books out, and compared them page by page, I discovered that there were sections missing from the loose leaf books for both 1950 and 1952. Only the 1951 book was complete. So I emailed the seller (Jemi Books) and explained the situation to them. I told them that I have the bound copies of these same books, and I could prove that there were sections missing in 3 of the 4. In an email reply, I received a sincere apology, brief explanation of the source of the books, plus they immediately authorized return and full refund. I applaud Jemi Books for their good customer service. The reply also alluded that there were more books to be sold. So I wrote back and offered to help them check the other books for completeness. I was given a phone number to call, and the time of day that I could phone. So, I did phone, and I had the guy leaf through one of the books which I had a corresponding bound copy. Indexes in the front can be used to identify number of pages for each of the sections: General Information, Refrigerators, Home Laundry, Ranges, Dishwashers, etc. Then each of those sections should begin with page 1, and continuing for as many pages that are implied by the index pages. I had him choose the 1953 book, and it immediately was missing a few pages here, and a few pages there. He now had enough information to continue checking all of the other books. But they initially had no idea what they had, and how to check them. BOTTOM LINE � in a follow-up email, they told me that none of the remaining books were complete. SO, they are likely going to lump all of the remaining incomplete books together, and sell them in a lot as being incomplete. SO WARNING! If you come across an eBay auction or sale for Loose Leaf G.E. Product Man books (see photo), offered by Jemi Books, PLEASE understand what you may be buying. And feel free to write or speak to me about this as well. Regards, Mike