Both issues are now concluded. One resolved, one not resolved, but that's the way it goes I guess.
I sent the package by Royal Mail. Arrived with the guy next day, so there certainly wasn't a problem with the address. I gave up phoning Parcel2Go.com. They were useless, so I filed a complaint with PayPal. They didn't respond to the complaint, so after 10 days I got my money back. I'm pleased to have the cash, but I certainly won't use them again.
I kept e-mailing the seller of the mag drill, and he kept failing to respond. Eventually I filed a PayPal dispute but e-mailed the guy to say that I'd rather resolve the issue directly. He refused, simply stating that he sent me a "flawless" machine. PayPal e-mailed me to ask for an independent assessment of the machine. I started thinking about where to take the machine for such an assessment, but received an e-mail from the seller first. He said he would not give me a partial refund, and would only give me a refund in exchange for the drill if I returned it to him in perfect working order. Obviously I couldn't do this as it is faulty. He wouldn't even entertain the possibility that there was a fault with the machine, and accused my of lying and trying to commit fraud.
I called Hougen who said the fault was likely the result of damp and/or lack of use. Replacement brushes are not too expensive, so I think I will take this route. I just hope I can chip away the existing seized brushes as the engineer suggested, but I am still upset at the 12 hours or so of time this has cost me. The machine was worth less than half what I paid for it, and I just wanted a working machine.
By the way, Hougen were great to deal with - really friendly and helpful, and the smaller spares do not seem overly expensive.
I left him scathing (but factual, of course) negative feedback today. He left me negative feedback saying that I tried to initiate a chargeback. This isn't actually true as my bank weren't very helpful, but even if it was it would have been entirely justified. I'm slightly upset to lose my
100% positive feedback as I had a feedback rating of 97, but I had to do it. Perhaps now I have a negative I'll be less concerned about leaving negatives for people who screw me, which will be a good thing. Don't buy from the seller "direktmarkt".
In future I think I will only purchase second hand items over £50 in value if I can inspect them in person first.
I'm glad it's all over before Christmas. Thanks for listening, folks!
Chris