Dreams Are Dashed - Literally!

DalmatProd

Member
Dec 26, 2011
285
USA - FL
I've had a rough month with my back problem, but a couple of weeks ago, I saw a member's post just as it appeared. There were no pictures, but one item caught my eye, a Federal CJ-184. I sent him a PM and he told me to text him and he'd send the picture back. So I texted him and received a picture. It was a 4-bulb unit with a red dome. Additionally, the speaker was installed and the chrome was in good shape. I made an offer and we agreed on a price.


CJ184-lost_zps10d79a5e.jpg


The following Monday I sent a bank money order for the agreed-upon price. Then, things got a little "hinky." I was unable to contact him regarding the shipping information. Finally, after two weeks, he replied, apologized for being so busy that he couldn't get back to me and promised he's send the light out on the coming weekend. On Saturday, I get a text from the seller. He had gone to a UPS Store to send the light. He tells me the kid at the counter told him that he could pack it real well for him, so he let him. When it's all packed, the kid lifts the box off the counter and the damn light drops out of the bottom as the kid never taped the bottom of the carton. The dome breaks into eight pieces and the lower unit is all dented up and bent in. The owner comes over and starts screaming at the kid. The seller says since he let the store pack it and insured it with them for nearly twice the price I paid, they owed him both his packing/material fees, plus the insurance. Then, he said, he wanted to take pictures of the damaged item and she refused to allow him as she needed it to submit with her paperwork to UPS.


Now, I owned a pack and ship store for five years. And yes, I have to keep items that were damaged either in the shop or in transit, regulations allow either the sender or received to take pictures of the item(s). The seller then said he'd send my money back to me on Monday.


So at the moment, I lost a really great deal for the 184.


"And that's the way the rotors turn..."


Steve


DalmatProd
 

tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
What a bummer! Hopefully the seller is able to get full compensation and UPS doesn't jerk him around like they have to me in the past.
 

ERIC6913

Member
May 29, 2010
3,621
California
I lost a rare light bar with UPS damage claim services. The dome was broken so i thought i would file a claim for the dome damage. Ups came to pick up the bar for inspection and i never saw it again. They refunded me my money, but at that point i didnt want the money, just the bar. NO DEAL. So i lost the whole bar because of a broken dome. I am now careful with filing a claim because the potential of losing the whole item.
 

Marvin

Member
Sep 8, 2012
234
California
Thats why i would rather pack my own stuff. I go to walmart and buy a big 150ft roll of bubble wrap and wrap it good so i can be sure it will arrive safe unless they run it over with the truck. Sucks that this happen to you.
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
I happened to find a nice set of M-M Full-vue lights years ago from an ambulance dealer in KS for well worth the money. They came in broken to pieces, and even though they were insured, the P.O. only paid me $50 for them. That was close to 40 yrs ago and I was young and didn't know about insuring stuff to be mailed. Gotta learn sometime!
 

DalmatProd

Member
Dec 26, 2011
285
USA - FL
Well folks, I thank you commiserating with me. I have other thought about this occurrence, but I'll keep them to myself, for now. I'm just so disappointed, as it was supposed to be that one little piece of "sunshine" to brighten these last few weeks dealing with this back pain.


BTW, if any of you come across a 184 or 284, please drop me PM and and let me know.


Thanks and be well!


Steve


DalmatProd
 

Liberty703

Member
Dec 11, 2012
268
Maine
Here's the two together ones I have, will pm you with details.

SANY0796.jpg

SANY0793.jpg

SANY0792.jpg
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
I almost forgot to mention: I bought what looked like a decent CJ84 with the speaker and a nice looking Interceptor siren off ebay several years ago. The light came in with a broken dome, but it worked o.k. and the speaker seemed to be o.k., although I never tried it out. But the Interceptor had a step-up (or was it step-down) transformer attached to it, so it appears that it was hooked to 120-volts, like at a bar or someplace (the beacon, too, I suspect). When I tried to hook up the siren it was dead and you could smell the "burn" inside the amplifer. What is it about decent power supplies these guys don't know about? :hopeless:
 

DalmatProd

Member
Dec 26, 2011
285
USA - FL
Liberty703 said:
Here's the two together ones I have, will pm you with details.

That's how I felt about the two PSV300 I bought and had to return. There's no doubt they has a design error with the internal fuse. One unit might have a problem, but two in a row? Please.
 

DalmatProd

Member
Dec 26, 2011
285
USA - FL
It's hard to believe that it was nearly three months ago that I started this thread with tears dripping on my wire stripper, my crimper, and other assorted tools, due to the fact that a deal I had for a CJ184, fell through, literally! If you want to know the sad facts, please go to the beginning of the thread.


However, last week, on the third night of Hanukkah, Sant.....oops, I mean "Hanukkah Harry" dropped into my screened-in pool patio (hey---I DO live in Florida), with a big, big box. I opened the box and there was this beautiful CJ-184. The only marks on it, were the fingerprints that I put on it as I carefully removed it from its travel box. One of our fellow members here on ELB had read my initial post, felt sorry for the circumstances of my loss, and advised that he would have a couple coming in and offered me the right of first refusal on either one.


I selected the one with the red dome as, when I was in my first FD, we had two of these on our Pierce Snorkl, and it immediately brought back those memories. As a matter of fact, when my best friend, whom I had met in that FD back in 1977, stopped by this past weekend on his way to a cruise, I showed him the light and the first thing he said was, "Hey, that's just like we had on Snorkl 17!"


I hooked up my Code 3 V-Con siren to the speaker leads and it worked like a charm.


My sincere thanks to one of our colleagues here on ELB for understanding my disappointment back in September and reaching out! Now that's a stand-up guy!


Enjoy,


Steve


DalmatProd


http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/DalmatProd/media/CJ184PrimaryTest_zpscd6ddd7c.mp4.html
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Yay....happy ending! Nice CJ184, man. I just recently scored one for free (sans the dome, bulbs, and retaining band) from a local FD because, and I quote "The light stopped rotating, so we're guessing the motor's fried." Lo and behold, all it was is that the two screws that hold the motor and its bracket onto the inside chassis were missing, so the motor worked perfectly, it just fell off the gear. Got screws for the bracket and presto, works great now! I had decided to swap my red, blue, amber and clear 4416s out of my first Dietz 211 beacon and put them and the clear Dietz dome on the CJ184 (I don't care if it's not an F3 dome, it works fine for me;)). I put a spare red Dietz dome and clear 4416s back on the Dietz beacon then. So now I've got a red/blue pair of Dietz 211s and a clear-Dietz-domed CJ184 with multi-color bulbs. Now, all I need is a retaining band and it's set. For the heck of it, I also got a rubber hole gasket that fits over the belt gear post so I can make it a CJ184 on crack if I want to :D . Another bonus was that the 58w speaker still worked! I hooked up my 1E Director to it and these suckers are LOUD once you let loose on the tones. Once I get it snugged up, I'll post pics in a collection update post later this month :thumbsup: .


Once again, great score on a CJ, Steve!
 

ex416

Member
Apr 28, 2011
1,021
West Central Wisconsin
hey Steve i'm glad you were able to find one. it seems like the number of nice vintage lights for sale are not as plentiful like they used to be a couple years ago making them harder to find.
 

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