I ordered the Rimei $5.95 razor from an eBay seller on December 27, 2014. It arrived in my mailbox on January 13, 2015.
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| The razor outer, cardboard box showing bowing from slight crushing in transit. |
With much hope and enthusiasm, I tore open the shipping envelope, which was lined with small bubble wrap. I removed the triangular plastic case with the clear top and the blue base from its cardboard outer box, which looked slightly crushed -- probably during transit. It was encouraging that the inner, hard-plastic case showed no signs of crushing damage; that seemed to be a good sign.
I removed the razor from the case, and initially it looked good as I inspected one side of the double-edge razor head.
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| This was the encouraging first view of my new Rimei razor. But.... |
Then I inspected the razor head from the side....
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Initial disappointment: the left flange is significantly shorter than the right.
But there's more.... :-( |
$#%&*@!!! The side view showed that the baseplate was stamped carelessly, non-uniformly. Worse, when I inspected the other side of the razor head, the safety bar was bent at a corner.
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The side of the razor head with the short flange on the baseplate also arrived
with a bend in the safety bar. :-( |
Not only was the razor defective, it was listed as being made of stainless steel, which, of course, I suspected was going to prove false. As expected, stainless steel it is not; it is chrome plated.
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Viewed from the better end, the short flange has a blade angle of about 29 degrees
and a positive blade exposure (above the shave plane). |
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Again viewed from the better end, the long flange has a blade angle of about 27 degrees
and a positive blade exposure that is minimal, almost neutral. |
I have sent the eBay seller a request for a refund, but I really desire a well-made replacement. I will report the results as they arrive. Ah well, these are the risks of dealing with eBay manufacturers and sellers in China. Truth in advertising? What's that? Quality control? What quality control? :-(
Still, I'm hoping that we can make this right -- best case will be a razor that is symmetrical and otherwise ship shape.
Happy shaving!
Aw, how unfortunate! It feels like a conspiracy to me, how crooked the dealings are with these razors. Like it's too cheap to make it worthwhile for anyone to distribute with integrity? The design should be simple enough to make a global army of razors, as it duplicates (in form, at least) the Contract Tech, Gillette's breakout business deal. The plate IS the one steel component, though one wonders how the word "stainless" can apply to a plated piece.
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