Need ebay advice!

[Ardenne]

DD really wanted a Disney Pocahontas costume for MNSSHP, and I found what looked like a good one on Ebay. It was listed as being in 'excellent' condition.

When it arrived, however, we found that it was missing 2 out of the 3 decorative buttons on the front of the dress, and the accompanying shoes are each split an inch or so down the back, below where the velcro fastens. It looks like they were actually cut. The missing buttons are just a disappointment, since it's mainly a cosmetic defect, but the split shoes would seriously affect their durability... but I don't feel that either qualifies as being in 'excellent' condition. (I can actually see in the auction pic now that the buttons are missing -- but only because I know exactly what I'm looking for. I'm glad, though, that there's at least that much evidence that the damage was there before I received it.)

I've emailed the seller, but she hasn't emailed back yet. I'm not sure what to expect. I noticed the shoes first and was just going to ask if she would take the shoes back and send replacement shoes, but then I noticed the dress buttons, too. Is it unreasonable to ask for my entire purchase price + shipping back, and I pay the shipping to send the costume back to her, so that we've each paid actual shipping cost one way? What other alternatives would be reasonable?

I'd normally just repair it the best I could and not complain, but I don't know where I could get the decorative buttons to match the ones that are still there, and I don't know any way to adequately repair the shoes. And I do feel I spent much more money on it than is justified, given that I can't adequately repair it

 

[cats mom]

Tough situation.

I'm not sure how you paid, or how much, or how much effort you want to expend to get it resolved. You can always file through paypal if you paid that way and the seller is not cooperating.

Hopefully the seller will get back to you and you can work something out though. That would be much easier.

I know I'm out shipping cost both ways on a car antenna I bought on e-bay.
Just got the purchase price back. It was specifically listed as fitting my make, model and year car. No way it was going to fit.
Not fair from my perspective, but not enough $$ to worry about haggling over either IMO.

Good Luck!

 

[Ardenne]

I paid using Paypal, and it was just under $50 including shipping for the costume and shoes together.

I didn't want to just start by leaving negative feedback. All of her other feedback was positive, and I thought it's possible that she just didn't check the condition of the items carefully before posting.

How long should I wait for the seller to get back to me before filing an official dispute?

 

[cats mom]

You might want to double check, but I think a dispute must be filed by 45 days after the payment date and then if you need to proceed with a claim, that has to be filed within 20 days of when you submitted the dispute.
You would just file under goods significantly not as described.

Hopefully you can work something out before then, sometimes just filing the dispute will motivate the seller to work with you and you won't have to go through the whole claims process.

I'd check and see if she has active auctions running right now, if she does I'd think she should be able to respond within a day or two (unless she has some kind of disclaimer about being unavailable due to vacation or whatnot)
I'd give it a little time and possibly a follow up attempt or 2 before I started a dispute. Just be sure you save copies of any communication, or attempts at communication, in case you do have to file.

 

[StephMK]

If I were the seller, I would think a refund w/each of you paying one way shipping would be more than fair. She may argue that the pic shows the buttons were missing, but that certainly doesn't qualify as excellent - esp. at that price. Good luck & I hope she was just in a hurry to list.

 

[Ardenne]

Thanks. I hope that's the case, too.

 

[Laurajean1014]

The seller should have refunded you the money. I buy and sell on eBay and I try my best to make it a win/win or win/lose (lose on my part). It's not worth the hassle to get into a debate on what is considered excellent, good, fair condition.

Negative feedback is very uncool. The seller should be willing to refund you the cost and settle the transaction.

Wait a few days and then start the dispute process with Paypal. (Paypal is very far from perfect, but if you don't start the process than you may not see a response or your cash).

Ebay is great, but it is "buyer beware."

Best of luck to you.

 

[Ardenne]

Thanks, Laurajean. I would rather not get into a debate about what constitutes excellent/good/fair condition, either, but it very much seems to me that if there are rips and missing parts, that ought to be noted in the item description. I'm hoping it was just an oversight on the seller's part and she wasn't aware of the damage, but it's good to know I have some buyer protection services to fall back on if necessary.

It's only been a couple of days since I mailed her. I'm thinking I should give it until Monday and then mail her again if I still haven't heard from her, then start the official route if she still hasn't responded within a week after that. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[plummer925]

Thanks, Laurajean. I would rather not get into a debate about what constitutes excellent/good/fair condition, either, but it very much seems to me that if there are rips and missing parts, that ought to be noted in the item description. I'm hoping it was just an oversight on the seller's part and she wasn't aware of the damage, but it's good to know I have some buyer protection services to fall back on if necessary.

It's only been a couple of days since I mailed her. I'm thinking I should give it until Monday and then mail her again if I still haven't heard from her, then start the official route if she still hasn't responded within a week after that. Does that sound reasonable?

I think it's VERY reasonable to wait until Monday - a LOT of people do not check emails on weekends. I'd give her until the end of the business day Monday to respond, then start the dispute.

Good luck!!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Wait a few days and then start the dispute process with Paypal.

Keep in mind that the seller must be eligible to provide PayPal Buyer Protection for an item significantly not as described claim, or you cannot file a dispute with PayPal.

If the seller was eligible to provide this coverage and you file an item not as described dispute and win, then you have to return the dress to the seller at your cost with delivery confirmation. As soon as the item is delivered, you will get a refund of purchase price and original shipping cost from PayPal.

 

[sbpuckett]

This happened to me 2 years ago. I received the costume and it had been cut off. Not hemmed- cut off. I emailed the seller and about a week later she emailed me and offered a refund and told me to keep the costume as it was of no use to her if it was damaged. It's been a great dress-up costume for my little ones. I would suggest you give her at least 10 days b/c of summer vacations. Then I would email her once more and give her maybe 5 additional days. If you don't get a response then I would go to ebay directly.

 

[Ardenne]

Well, she responded, but she says she isn't willing to give me a refund on the dress because the missing beads were visible in the picture and because the dress is otherwise in excellent condition. She also says she has no way to know that we didn't use the costume and now we want to return it after using it. I don't see what the big deal is in giving me a refund and relisting it, if she thinks it's in such great condition, but there you go.

She is willing to give me a refund for the shoes if I ship them back to her, but by the time I do that, I'll have nearly as much into shipping as she says she'll refund me for the shoes.

I've mailed back again and stated my case again for a full refund. I suppose I'd even be willing to pay shipping both ways if that's what it takes, though I really don't think that's fair given the failure to be upfront about the condition of the item.

I think I'm going to swear off using ebay after this. Too much headache

 

[DianeV]

File not as described with paypal asap. Be very specific about what she said the condition was in her wording etc. Do not admit anything about the buttons because you were going by her written description.

 

[StephMK]

That is just a bad seller imo. I always list anything - no matter how minor- just to avoid confusion like that after sale. There may be people that have no problem w/the missing buttons but if she was aware of them, she should have listed it as - excellent condition but missing decorations. Not fair to rely on someone scrutinizing a pic w/o possibly even knowing what it's supposed to look like.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[wendyl]

VERY BAD seller there--makes the rest of us sellers look bad!! Please do not settle here. Paypal "Significantly Not As Described" disputes are VERY hard for a seller to win in a case like this--if the seller wont offer you a more reasonable solution--just go straight to Paypal and cease communication with the seller. To even suggest that you should LOSE money by paying for all the extra shipping to get a pair of shoes that aren't CUT--is OUTRAGEOUS.

I would say something like "...a mistake has been made here, and damaged shoes rather than shoes in 'excellent condition' were mailed. While I certainly understand mistakes happen, it is clear in this situation that the mistake was not mine and therefore the expense to correct the mistake should not rest with me. As you are the seller, packer, and shipper of the damaged shoes, the only fair and reasonable solution is for the expense to correct this mistake be yours. Please send a replacement pair that is not damaged, and send necessary funds via Paypal for the return shipping of the damaged pair. Thank you for your willingness to solve this problem."

Edited to add: don't worry about a threat of negative feedback. One negative is not going to keep any seller from selling to you. You can always respond with the truthful details in your feedback--and the truth will be obvious.

 

[Ardenne]

Ok, so if I'm reading this right, I should file a dispute through Paypal, rather than through Ebay?

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you paid using PayPal, then yes, you file a claim through PayPal, not eBay.

 

[Ardenne]

Yes, I did. But another poster had said not all sellers were eligible for Paypal Buyer Protection and I wasn't sure how to tell whether this one was or not.

 

[ameraumi]

If you don't mind posting a link to the auction, it would help a lot! If you don't want to, I can understand that as well.

Pull up the auction. Under the seller's information on the right side there will be a spot for it to say "Buyer Protection". If it is there then it is eligible.

 

[Ardenne]

No, I don't mind posting a link. Here it is, if this works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...10013249060&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1