2000AD Original Art Thread

[Spikes]

There is plenty out there

You cant have my last kidney. Im saving it for something special 

[james newell]

Kevin Walker's Penciling for Prog 1248 (2001)

[Skullmo]

That's lovely

[Greg M.]

This one belongs in 'Life Spugs...' but I thought this was the best place for it.

Basically, the Zenith page I bought recently has been destroyed in transit – by the courier company, myhermes.co.uk. It never reached me.

It had taken a while to turn up, and the seller and I were a bit concerned. He investigated, only to be told that the frame of the piece had been broken by the courier, and that myhermes's policy is to destroy any damaged packages. They didn't contact either him or me about this – just went ahead and did it. I can't get my head around that, and I struggle to believe they're telling him the whole truth. Frankly, I think there's something dodgy going on here (not on the seller's part, he's been great throughout), but either way – a piece of 2000AD history has apparently been pointlessly destroyed.

Obviously, I'm getting a refund, but that's not really the point. I've since read a number of customer reviews for myhermes, and they're almost uniformly damning, suggesting they are incompetent, liars, or both. I'm sure there are plenty of decent folks working for 'em too, of course (and in fairness, the seller says he has used them a lot and had no previous problems) but on the basis of what I've experienced and what I've read, I can only recommend you avoid this company.

Bollocks.

[Colin YNWA]

That's bloomin' terrible. Fair enough if they have a policy, however curious it is, to destroy damaged goods, but to do so without contacting both parties is really out of order. They are charged and paid to deliver an item by destroying it they know they aren't going to complete their job and so it boggles that they don't inform people that this is the case.

That's before you discuss the fact that it should be up to the person receiving the good what to do. Particularly when it comes down to picture in a frame which doesn't take a genius to realise its the picture, which by the statement made was okay, that is the primary concern?

Anyway all that wittering is blindingly obvious and does nothing to compensate Greg (or the seller for that matter).

Bad look and hopefully others will take note.

[matty_ae]

Hi
I'm really sorry to hear that. It was a fantastic piece.

You're right, that it seems really odd the whole 'they just destroy any damaged packages'.

It doesn't ring true as their insurance would surely only pay out with proof the item was damaged, not the packaging. As its a unique item I would write to their CEO directly (with a signed for letter) for a written response to check its not a dodgy delivery guy who has realised the worth of this package and attempted to liberate it for his own gain. I would stress the uniqueness of the item, your request for evidence of its disposal and a mild threat that this item/story is being followed on social media.

You have my full condolences.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Absolutely horrible.

Myhermes is like some kind of strange joke - I had a really weird experience with them where they delivered a package to the COMPLETE wrong address and I had to bus it over to the other side of town to find it and I think there was a heated phone exchange as it was horrifically packaged and had been hurled over the wrong addresses' fence.

Went online and their reviews are almost universally shit. https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.myhermes.co.uk

How does a company like this keep running, it's mad!

Sorry about your artwork, absolutely shocking. Take the fuckers to court!

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Accidental doublepost.

Seriously though - utterly baffled by the companies continued existence. TRADING STANDARDS WHERE ARE YOU.

[Sideshow Bob]

Got to agree with previous posts..
That is terrible news Greg and really sorry to hear, and another piece of 2000AD history is lost for ever...

As for the Delivery company this seems a very 'strange' way to conduct business....If the packaging is damaged they destroy the parcel....That just doesn't make any sense at all....Both sender and recipient should have been contacted to discuss 'a way forward' before any ( supposed ) destroying of the item took place....  Absolutely shocking and I would be seriously considering checking out some legal options here as regards this 'destroy' policy...It all sounds a bit 'suspect'....At the very least I'd be following matty_ae's suggestion and contacting their CEO.

Anyway, really sorry to hear about it.
Cheers

[hippynumber1]

A thoroughly horrible story that definitely has a suspicious whiff about it. Surely delivering a damaged package and a form for insurance claim, if the recipient chose to claim, would be more sensible? Condolences Greg... 

[Call-Me-Kenneth]

Really sad to hear this news. This is a constant fear of mine and the primary reason why I flew from Ireland to the UK last weekend to collect a piece of comic art in person.

I know this may seem a little extreme but it was a very valuable grail for me and a spectacular piece of 2000AD history.

I often wonder how many other treasures have been 'lost' in transit....

[Simon Beigh]

That is bloody awful, Greg... The senseless waste of it... It's such a weird policy, but I wonder if it's there to 'protect' their employees or some other health and safety nonsense.

Got to think the advice here is don't get any original artwork sent in a frame - unless the seller bubble wrapped it with 50 metres of bubble wrap...

[Simon Beigh]

After Greg's horrible news, I'll attempt to cheer this thread up with a little Shakara grail page I picked up recently - which I'm very pleased with. It's a Book 1 page, and boy is it a cracker!

[ming]

Following Greg's awful tale of great and terrible woe, here are my thoughts on how best to avoid this kind of thing (or at least minimise the risk).

1. Avoid Hermes at all costs; I've heard nothing but bad things about them.

2. Avoid shipping framed art.  Yes, getting a ready-framed bit of art may be handy but is definitely not worth running the risk of breakage and subsequent potential damage to the art, let alone some idiotic policy of total destruction of damaged articles.  Glass in post?  No.

3. For shipping in the UK (or UK to elsewhere) I heartily recommend using www.Parcel2go.com, which allows cheap options (much cheaper than Royal Mail / Parcelfarce*) for various courier services and door-to-door service.  People pointed me at this and, having used it, it's a really good way to go.


Greg - you have my deepest sympathy.  Good to have the money back but it's no real consolation, is it?



* I was quoted £75 for shipment of something with Parcelfarce, then I suggested the sender try parcel2go and that came in at £28 (which, strangely, was for a Parcelforce Euro Priority service, including collection from the sender).

[Greg M.]

Thanks for the condolences and thoughts on the matter, everyone – much appreciated. I'll be taking on-board the very sensible and useful advice you've all given for the future. With the benefit of hindsight, I clearly should have gone the 'no frame' route, but foolishly, what now seems screamingly obvious just didn't occur.

On a different note – lovely piece of Flinty goodness, Simon.