Good News.....Bad News.....and then more Good News

Good news - I got my Strauch drum carder in the mail today....wahoo! Just days after purchasing it from another fiber enthusiast. I was soooo excited. Hubby signed for the box and mentioned that there was some damage to the box it came in - like the PO had stacked a heavier item on top. OK, I was a little worried, but not too much.
Bad News - I got home, looked at the box, and it didn't appear to be too bad, so I had high confidence that the carder was fine. I had been a bit worried about the actual metal hooks attached to the drum cloth. All looked fine. I breathed a huge sigh of relief....but it was short lived. When I looked at the side of the carder, I found that the crank handle had been broken off.....I was crushed!









I quickly fired off an e-mail to Otto (the designer and maker of these fabulous carders) and he responded right away. I didn't re-check my e-mail that night as it was getting late...and I didn't check it the next morning before we disconnected our cable box. As a result, I didn't see his response as I had no e-mail for a couple of days (that's another story....).

UPDATE (Sat night): Good News - I saw Otto this weekend at the Montpelier Fall Festival and chatted with him for a while about my carder. He showed me how to remove the arm of the crank from the drum so I could ship it to him to craft the replacement. Each of his carders is custom designed, and the old crank is needed to identify the "proper threading" so the handle will "rest" out of the way when you're ready to remove your carded fibers from the drum. This is also where I found out he'd already answered my e-mail the night before - I was VERY impressed with the customer service I've receieved!

Hopefully, the Post Office will be just as cooperative when I submit the claim for the breakage. The item was insured and the cost to repair the damages is not a lot, so I don't anticipate any problems...but then again, I've never had to place a claim before!