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Ian's...
The shipping box is reinforced with extra-strength brown tape on
all edges with the two main top and bottom lid seams triple-sealed.
Larger boxes are then extra-reinforced on all edges with fabric
gaffer tape, giving excellent damage resistance. The two main seams
(top and bottom) are also given an extra gaffer seal.
Every item inside a box is, if applicable, contained in an antistatic
bag, and then carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. All wrapped items are
then enclosed within a cushion of foam
chips and foam blocks. I position everything very carefully so
that damage is pretty much impossible, using foam blocks to prevent
unwanted movement of the packaging. Lastly, larger boxes have extra
strength 'gaffer' tape applied to all edges, and then red lettering
"Fragile!" tape is applied in key placesto the outside surface of the
box - this prevents the edges of the other layers of tape from coming
loose during transit.
My packing may be considered a bit over the top by some, but it means the chances of an item I send being damaged in transit are very low indeed, plus of course I receive good feedback. My ethos is to try and utterly prevent any chance of damage, producing high buyer satisfaction/confidence.
Click on the images above for larger versions. They show how a typical large box looks after all the tape has been applied, in this case containing an Indigo2 which was sent to Holland. Other example images are accessible below within peoples' comments. For a detailed example with many pictures, read how I sent an Indigo2 and two 17" monitors to the University of Uruguay in South America.
NB: by definition I can't include feedback comments from people who collected in person, or those cases where I delivered in person, and most commercial companies don't tend to reply in any personal way when buying something. Suffice to say there are many other happy buyers out there besides those mentioned on these feedback pages. :)
Blue top cover, PSU cover and AV board for O2 sent to France:
From: "Job, Mathieu" <mathieu.job@voit-france.de> Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 07:58:51 +0200 Hello Ian ! I just received the material. The package was just incredible! All is in excellent condition and work great. See you soon for probably another order ... Many thanks, JOB Mathieu
Octane2 send to Sweden:
From: "Ingemar Berg" <shinobinaku@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 13:06:34 +0200 Hi! Just wanted to let you know that the Octane2 has arrived and is in excellent condition. Frankly, I haven't seen such a beauty in a very long time! :) Many thanks, Ingemar
Fan blower unit and quad-R10K CPU board sent to France:
From: "Eurinco - Achats" <achats@eurinco.fr> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:21:04 +0200 Hello Ian, We received our order this morning; I would like to thank you again because it's always a real pleasure to make deal with you! You have good prices, good material, you're a very nice boy, sincere and honest! Everything was perfect! Best Regards, Audrey
Octane2 skins and black SGI keyboard sent to France:
From: "Michaël Charlier" <contact@aquakitten.com> Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:46:45 +0200 Hi Ian ! I've just received the package, thank you very much ! The skins and the keyboard are perfect! I'm really happy to have a good looking Octane 2 now. :-) Here are the pictures: Before: http://www.aquakitten.com/photo-268-32-1.html http://www.aquakitten.com/photo-269-32-1.html After: http://www.aquakitten.com/photo-273-32-1.html http://www.aquakitten.com/photo-274-32-1.html > ... Packaging ok? I made an effort to make absolutely sure no damage > could occur, used raaaather a lot of bubblewrap. :D The packaging was amazing. It took me forever to remove all the bubblewrap! ;-) Once again many thanks! Michael
CDRW unit and O2Cam sent to Slovakia:
From: "Hornacek Tomas" <hornacek_tomas@centrum.sk> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:44:28 +0200 Hello Ian, Package arrives today - perfectly sealed, both - camera and cdrom totaly pulished and ofcourse working. You are maybe 4-5 seller form witch I take offer but you are the best of them, ... Again thanks for perfect package/HW. TOmo
1600SW adapter for O2 sent to France:
From: "J JANMAAT" <jeroenj@casema.nl> Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:40:53 +0200 Hi Ian, Just picked up the package from the post office. I installed it & it works fine (typing this email on my O2 now) Thanks for the great service! Jeroen
Motherboard for Fuel sent to France:
From: "Jean-Pascal CODINE" <jpcodine@carnacki.com> Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:13:38 +0200 Ian, Mobo received yesterday and installed today. Works like a swiss clock. Thank you so much, I may be back for more spares in the near future. You're welcome to quote me on my most excellent experience :D Packaging was still perfect, not a spot of dirt or dampness, not an impression in the cardbaord, it looks as if the carriers have taken real care of it. Cheers, JPascal
Octane2 sent to Sweden:
From: "Christer Sandvik" <christer.sandvik@gmail.com> Date: Wed, June 11, 2008 7:32 pm Hi Ian! There is much on your feedback page about what kind of reputation you have gotten yourself and sure thing you live up to it by every word, the conversations, hardware and software installation, packaging and on. The list can be made long and made short, you are the One third part dealer! Thanks, Christer.
Several 9GB disks collected by someone locally in an emergency:
From: "Tom Rattray" <tom@tierra.co.uk> Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 16:01:42 +0100 Ian, I felt the need to express my feelings following your outstanding help over the last couple of days. As you know, I was tasked with rescuing data from a critical hard drive for a local hospital. The extreme sensitivity of the data and emergency timescale meant that I was asked to work overnight on the recovery. I identified the need for a highly specific hard drive as a potential donor for spare parts. That's how I found your site - you had the part, clearly listed and sensibly priced. When I read (11pm) that you were in the same city as me, I sensed karma in the air. What may astonish your visitors is that in reponse to my desperate appeal, you opened your doors for me and we dealt hard drives at 2am! I have never experienced anything like this. Even better, when I discovered that I had specified the wrong drive (albeit by a seemingly trivial level of detail), you were willing to repeat the exercise the same night! The happy ending is that after a second all-nighter I successfully used your parts to help rescue the data for the hospital. Unlike the majority of your customers, I was not an SGI hobbyist, but after experiencing some of your infectious enthusiasm and hospitality, that may change. I was hugely impressed by the level of organisation, speed of response and downright bloody-mindedness on behalf of myself and my client. Please never change Ian, best regards and here's to the next time, Tom ================== Tierra Data Rescue 0845 094 0027 www.tierra.co.uk
Disk sled sent to Ireland:
From: "david maguire" <maguire_david@hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 09:55:55 +0000 Ian, I received the package yesterday. It certainly lives up to your reputation. Thanks, David.
[Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17]
From: "Jacques Toerien" <jacques.toerien@btinternet.com> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 10:51:44 +0000 (GMT) Hiya Ian! Well, I'm absolutely blown away mate! You have done an absolutely fantastic job on my Octane2. I'm gonna start at the beginning and work my way down...! I'd like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU for all your hard work and putting up with my nagging, changing system mid flow and constant phone calls! :D You've always answered my e-mails within 24hrs and you're very helpful on the phone and always willing to talk SGI. Your passion for these fantastic machines shows! I received my Octane2 (400MHz, 1 gig RAM, V8 + Blue skins) yesterday! The box was HUGE! I think you should go and offer your services to the RAF and teach them how to package drop-cargos! You could drive a tank over the box and it wouldn't dent! The system was easy to set up...Everything was clean and dust free, you even cleaned the keyboard and mouse! Plug and Play! Attached the monitor, mouse and keyboard (no network cable long enough yet...!) and powered the machine on. Bam! Login Screen..! My account had been set up and all I had to do was log in. This is where it goes a bit fluffy (..:D..) as I have no experience with IRIX / UNIX / LINUX, but everything was set up on the desktop and within 5 mins, I was changing my desktop background and watching demos! Many thanks for the comprehensive package install! I can't wait for Saturday when I can sit up till 3am and play! Anyway, I've attached some unboxing photos...I hope these give you a sense of the excitement I felt last night carfully unwrapping layer upon layer of bubble wrap! 10/10...Once again many thanks and I'll speak you again when I need something SGI related!!! Cheers! :D Jacques.
CDs and V8 sent to England:
From: "Aaron Carr" <a.caar@btinternet.com> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:43:40 +0000 Hey Ian Everything arrived early yesterday morning and wow, you'd taken real care over everything, nice packaging, CD's in order of installation etc. GREAT!. I thought I'd get everything installed and then give you an email but after an epic session yesterday I'm yet to install everything! The V8 really made a difference and I'm getting 1600x1200@75hz which gives me a hell of a lot more space, the fresh installation has really cleaned up the system, the installation that was on previously had binaries, dev files and loads of random net mounts in the root directory (which I suspected weren't meant to be there but wasn't gunna take the risk). Its just made the Octane into the kind of machine I was hoping for!! Thank you for supplying a CDROM (it was faster than I thought) and making things so easy (nice instructions) ... Cheers Ian - Im a very very happy customer - Spot on!!! Aaron Carr
SGI 17" monitor send to Greece:
From: "Panagiotis Diamantopoulos" <panagiodiam@hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:19:44 +0200 Hi, mr. Ian Mapleson, :) Silicon Graphics Monitor and the cables arrived to me, last Friday! Well, Monitor is very very good and in good condition! Bravo! I always like me Silicon Graphics trademark. Certainly, this Monitor that I choosed is a little old model, but when it was in year of 1994, was an avant-garde Monitor in many great American 3D Animation Companies (as Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Warner Bros. e.t.c.) Now, I must say that you're a very bona fide person/seller and I'll advertise you in my familiars in Greece if they want buy SGI supplies from you! I prefer you in future...!!! THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!!!
