Me, writing to an Amazon seller: "Could you please describe the condition of your copy of [Book X]. Your description does not contain any details. Is it damaged? Is there underlining/highlighting in the text?"
Seller (in part): "Thank you for your recent inquiry about our inventory. Due to the volume of our sales, and the structure of our fulfillment process, we are unable to provide researched answers at this time. Our entire inventory is listed according to the following guidelines: Like New ... Very Good ... Good ... Acceptable."
Each term above is followed by a list of descriptors, i.e., for Like New "Book looks new; similar to what you'd see in a book store."
Me: "Thanks. But your description doesn't include any of those terms; it reads, in its entirety, 'Our feedback rating says it all: Five star service and fast delivery! We have shipped four million items to happy customers, and have one MILLION unique items ready to ship today!' If you can give me an indication of which of your guidelines that falls under, I'd appreciate it."
No response.
No purchase. I'll wait until I can get the book from a person who's actually seen it.
