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ebaY's "Mr Helpful"

Started by Sargeguy, May 11, 2009, 09:33:57 PM

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Greg G.

Quote from: Dave F on October 07, 2010, 09:27:49 PM
Quote from: Brinybay on October 07, 2010, 05:31:10 PM
Just to clarify, the type of "helpfulness" I resent is when strangers to the seller, who aren't interested in the phone, inform the seller that what they have is a highly collectible item and can fetch much more than the original starting price asked for, and consequently the seller ups the price based on that information. 

I'm not talking about friends helping friends, and I'm not referring to the reverse situation where a seller is trying to pass something off as a genuine antique, when in fact it's repro garbage.

As a collector, I agree 100% with you.  However, play devil's-advocate for a moment and consider the other side.  Many sellers sell all kinds of stuff that they know little about, and it is often not possible to adequately research every item before putting it up for auction.  Mr Helpful, by doing what he does, is providing a valuable service to these sellers, even as he kicks us in the teeth.  I know that if I were selling something I knew little about, I would be very grateful if Mr H sent a little of his wisdom my way.  My collector's instinct prevents me from giving out such helpful hints to sellers; as we generally believe that it's not our duty to do others' homework for them.    But it is clear that there are really two sides to this story.

Of course the sellers aren't going to complain, and I don't blame them.  Buying/selling and dickering is a hard-nosed interaction, that's why a lot of people aren't comfortable with it.  In fact, I've always stunk at it.  I'll go buy a car at a "no-dicker-sticker" dealer rather than deal with the sneaky shysters at other dealers (with apologies to any car salesmen in the group).

With that said, I hope I didn't start something that is not in keeping with the unique level of friendliness we enjoy on this board.  My intent was to start a discussion about ebay sales and the impact that Mr. H. has on them.  It wasn't my intent to stir up an online lynching against any one person or persons. 
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

Dave F

I think we are all friends here.  As others have mentioned in other postings, it's difficult to determine the tone of someone's comments when all we have is the written word.  This is an imperfect medium, and we lose the emotion that comes from face-to-face communications, or even from phone calls for that matter.  I personally think that this topic is very instructional and useful.  Certainly, from a collector's standpoint, Mr Helpful is a royal meddling busybody.  I only meant to point out that sellers would probably not look at it that way, and perhaps Mr H himself believes he is providing some kind of worthwhile service.  However, if we ever get the opportunity, I for one would absolutely vote with you and all those who would like to find a way to shut him up.

Jim Stettler

Some of those helpful folks on ebay could turn into  some good members here on the forum.

It is  handy to have a large knowledge base avaliable when you are trying to do research.
I think a lot of the "helpful" phone folks are just "lost" or bored collectors. This forum gives them pleanty of fun topics.
JMO,
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Dave F

Quote from: Jim S. on October 10, 2010, 01:08:29 PM
Some of those helpful folks on ebay could turn into  some good members here on the forum.

It is  handy to have a large knowledge base avaliable when you are trying to do research.
I think a lot of the "helpful" phone folks are just "lost" or bored collectors. This forum gives them pleanty of fun topics.
JMO,
Jim

True enough.  But you would hope that if he himself is a collector (lost, bored, or otherwise), he might take a moment to consider the cost he is inflicting on the rest of us.  I would welcome having him share his knowledge here on the forum, and leave eBay to the bidders.

Dave F

#109
View Mr. Helpful's latest eBay contribution here:

http://tinyurl.com/268xkjm   ( dead link 02-15-21 )

Jester

#110
I'm thankful Mr. Helpful miscalled this one last week:
http://tinyurl.com/35ea4sd   ( dead link 02-15-21 )

I was looking for specific parts to make the 532 I won this summer function properly, and this one looked like a good gamble.  There is a good chance that what I'm after is bad on this phone, too, but the price stayed reasonable enough to try.  The right 2 cents' worth might have shot me down. 
Stephen

Dave F

Quote from: Jester on November 15, 2010, 02:37:48 PM
I'm thankful Mr. Helpful miscalled this one last week:
http://tinyurl.com/35ea4sd

I was looking for specific parts to make the 532 I won this summer function properly, and this one looked like a good gamble.  There is a good chance that what I'm after is bad on this phone, too, but the price stayed reasonable enough to try.  The right 2 cents' worth might have shot me down. 
Yeah, that was probably his intern-in-training putting in some quality time!

JorgeAmely

Quote from: Jester on November 15, 2010, 02:37:48 PM
I'm thankful Mr. Helpful miscalled this one last week:
http://tinyurl.com/35ea4sd

I was looking for specific parts to make the 532 I won this summer function properly, and this one looked like a good gamble.  There is a good chance that what I'm after is bad on this phone, too, but the price stayed reasonable enough to try.  The right 2 cents' worth might have shot me down.  

Jester:
It doesn't look like his writing style. Mr. H. has an elaborate way of explaining things. This guy's explanation was kind of short. I am not a detective, but like to watch NCIS episodes a lot.  ;D ;D ;D

Anyway, what's wrong with your 532?
 
Jorge

Jester

I'm a Jethro Gibbs fan myself.

The dialtone is faint, and the potentiometer has little affect. I've chased the problem to the amp., but I am not sure how to find the defective component in it.  I have been meaning to either PM you or post a request to the troubleshooting page, but this one came up & I thought I'd see if this cures the problem.  I'll probably still ask some questions later about the bad one--I'll bet that there aren't many that have pried that amp. assy. out of its little box & are dying to know what's in there! :D
Stephen

JorgeAmely

Jester:

Have you tried to bypass the potentiometer out of the circuit? When the wiper travels from end to end, it shorts from wiper to either end of the potentiometer. You can do the same with a jumper to eliminate it from the circuit and see if it is bad.

Jorge

Dan/Panther

I sent the following email to the seller. I wish he would post it, but he won't.

Being that the volume control is not functioning properly, your phone may have sold for a higher price if Mr. Helpful had not pointed out what the button was for. Then you said it didn't work. Collectors know what it's for.

D/P 

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jester

Jorge,
I did try bypassing the switch with no result.  I also installed that potentiometer in the green 532 & got normal dialtone.  I'll start a thread on the troubleshooting page so we can discuss this further--I don't want Dennis to feel he needs to moderate this thread.

To get back to the previous topic, I now see the pattern with Mr. Helpful's descriptions that you pointed out earlier.  I was under the impression that anyone that offered an open ended, unsolicited explanation of a seller's auction was referred to by that name.  
Stephen

Jester

I wouldn't ding this phone because the potentiometer isn't affecting the volume.  If you look at the detail shot showing the amp., you'll notice an empty binding post in the center lefthand portion of the terminal block.  If memory serves, one of the receiver leads from the handset should terminate there--meaning the handset is probably wired directly to the 425B network & is bypassing the amp. circuit.
Stephen

JorgeAmely

#118
Jester:

Could it be the bridge rectifier (polarity guard) that sits under the dial? Here are some pictures. although mine is just plain vanilla black. I took some pictures of the network and the amplifier. As you can see, the handset cord was bad and required a couple of coils to be removed and some leads repaired with shrink sleeving. Except for some noise when you turn the pot, it works very nice.

I have to say "Hats off" to the Bell engineers for creating a cool amplifier with just one transistor.

Jorge

Jester

Jorge,
You may be right about the bridge rectifier, but I think I ruled that out, too.  BTW, this 532 is also plain vanilla black.  The base is dated 10/55 but almost everything else--including the parts inside the amp--are dated 9/57.  The dial is a 7G-3--it has an extra set of shunt contacts to short the amp. side of the receiver circuit when dialing.
Stephen