Damaged Ebay item...how is it handled? UPDATE

[Disney1fan2002]

I am so confused. I have never had this happen before. Remember my post from last week about me bidding on an ornament and winning before I read the auction details? I ended up paying $5.75 for shipping. The ornament weighed less than a pound. Here, nor there, lesson learned. Fine.

I get the package today. It was in it's original packaging, in a bigger box, surrounded by newspaper. The ornament is a Gopher Golfer. The head of the golf club is broke off. It is not amoung the shipping contents, so it must of been sent out that way.

Her auction states she is not responsible for items damaged in the SHIPPING PROCESS. Which leads me to believe if it was damaged in the mail, I could not ask for my money back. I understand that. But it is obvious this was NOT damaged in the travel. Should I ask for a full refund? She also states she does not refund shipping charges (which was $2.00 more than actual postage, item was sent in an old gevalia coffee box, again, fine.)

I only paid $1.49 for the ornament. It bugs me it really cost me $7.24 for something that is damaged. I see no way to resolve this other than to eat the $7.24. Even if she did refund my full amount, I would still have to pay $3.75 to mail it back to her.

UGH. Any experience in this?

 

[momof3disneyholics]

I would eat it and leave her neutral feedback and go into as much detail as you can in there.

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

If you paid by paypal contact them, they don't care what's in the auction terms, which sucks as a seller but not so much as a buyer.

 

[bicker]

Another good reason to avoid eBay completely.

 

[Lil_Tink]

That sucks. I would just eat it, leave negitive feedback and move on.

 

[jfulcer]

Did you pay for insurance? If so, then you are ok - keep all the packaging as received and contact the seller for a copy of the receipt so you can file a claim. It is your responsibility to file the claim, not the seller. You will get the cost back, but not shipping.

If you didn't buy insurance - this is a good lesson in why you should always buy insurance. Always, Always Always. Even on a 1.75 item. If the cost of the item, plus shipping and insurance is too much, don't bid.

If you didn't pay for insurance, don't leave feedback either way for the seller - if you do neutral or negative that gives the seller a chance to rebut saying "you didn't buy insurance, not my fault", etc. It gets into a nasty fight. Chalk it up as a one of those life lessons, right after the shipping cost lesson you just learned.

 

[epcotfan]

To the OP, I would write the seller and ask if it was insured. You may be able to file a claim with USPS. Keep all the original packaging and any receipts or forms that came with it. If you have a digital camera take a picture of the broken ornament and email it to her. Check the original listing and the picture provided to see if the golf club was still in tact then.

Another good reason to avoid eBay completely.

Not all Ebay sellers are bad and intentionally send out damaged goods. Any merchandise (whether from Ebay or an online vendor) that is shipped can be damaged in transit.

 

[bicker]

While any merchandise that is shipped can be damaged, I have never had an online vendor indicate to me that they would not take responsibility for such damage.

 

[2BigKIdz]

Have you contacted the seller? I would definitely not leave negative feedback without first trying to resolve with the seller. The only time I have ever received a broken item from an e-bay auction, I contacted the seller and she mailed me another of the same item w/o having to send the broken item back.

 

[Towncrier]

Must be the week for damaged Ebay merchandise. I purchased a watch for my son from a seller in England. The watch arrived in the original packaging and appeared fine, but as it turns out, the watch was only partially functional. The stem used to adjust the time was bent. Long story short. I broke the stem trying to get the watch to work. I'm out $20. In my case, the seller was clearly not at fault, so I have chalked it up to "you win a few, you lose a few".

I guess that my feeling is that you aren't always going to be 100% satisfied with items purchased on Ebay. It does seem odd though that your item appears to have been broken before shipment. That is a shame. You need to contact the seller and see if you can work something out. Good luck.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

UPDATE:

I got a response from the seller and she was very nice. She was unaware it was broken, as she had never opened the box, and had assumed none of the boxes had been opened. she will now check the rest of her inventory. She has about 15 of these particular ornaments, and is sending me out another one.

So, I guess I got flustered for nothing. It was not insured, but like I said in my OP, it was obvious that it was not damaged by the USPS.