I haven't been on for a long time, and I'll try not to be too grumpy.... After passing over the last 40 Harbour Lights releases —for reasons that can be researched in the LighthouseKeepers archives, if anyone is interested— I decided that I really wanted Cleveland Harbor. so I ordered it from Lighthouse Depot. Let me hasten to say that Lighthouse Depot did NO wrong. Their packing box came smashed on one corner, but the Harbour Lights box was undamaged. So...I look at the lighthouse, and the lantern railing is glued out of alignment with the brackets below the platform, and the sail and mast on the boat is shoved over and cracked clear through to the metal at the base. Serves me right to believe that things might have improved. Back to Lighthouse Depot it has gone. Two rhetorical questions, then: Why is it that the people at the factory are not perceptive enough to match the railing posts with the corresponding brackets? If one has, say, twenty posts and twenty brackets, why would one go to all the trouble to stagger them? And why, in designing the pieces, are the especially delicate and fragile parts so often placed exactly in the area where the lighthouse is shoved into the styrofoam packing? This must be about my tenth or eleventh cracked ship's mast. Again, this is a problem at the factory and is not Lighthouse Depot's fault; they can't open each and every box to carefully examine things before shipping to their customers.

So, after stopping my acquisitions of Harbour Lights at the end of 2007, I come back and get burnt the very first time! No...I did not ask for a replacement. Can't take the stress on my nerves, nor can I afford to lose the cost of shipping them back every time there is a major defect.

Other than that, I hope that you are all doing well!

Danny

My suggestion to you is to find a dealer that WILL take the time to examine each piece that you buy before they ship them. I have been using the Bronze Lady in Orlando and have NEVER received a broken/damaged piece. Also, Roland's website is another good dealer that will take the extra time to make sure that the piece is not damaged before shipping. You can find both of these dealers on the Forums Dealer Forums.

While I have not experienced the problems that you have, I know how frustrating it is to buy something and receive it damaged or not built as it's supposed to be. I wish you luck and hope that you will consider other options before you give up collecting.

I also received ordered a few pieces from Cape Annie's and have never received a bad one.

Danny,

I sent you an email--be on the lookout for it.

Sandy

I've bought 150 HL pieces and never once received a broken sculpture or a defect. Quality control has always been excellent regardless of whether it was owned by Younger & Associates or Lighthouse Marketing, bought locally or via the internet.

I was on auto ship for many years. The only HL I ever had a problem with was Alpena MI. If I can remember it correctly, a small piece attached to the mast arm of the sailboat came unglued or something like that. It came from a dealer in Oregon so I never sent it back. Other than that, all others made it okay.

Bob