posted on April 6, 2001 05:25:58 AM new
First off, I should have known better but my sister wanted the item.
I purchased a $100+ item which has a glass top to it from a fairly newbie seller (mistake & I know it). Right away the problems started.
Got an EOA from an email different than his ebay one on where to send the money order. I sent it the next day. Didn't hear back for weeks. Meanwhile my emails to him went unanswered. After I pulled his contact info, I finally heard from him it had been shipped to my sister.
A week goes by & he calls me explaining it had been returned to him because he put the address on it wrong. I give him the address again.
Another 1 1/2 weeks go by & my sister calls to say it arrived but the glass top was broken because he'd only used one layer of bubble wrap around it, placed it in a fairly flimsy box (this is a very heavy item) & put in one piece of newspaper which was now scrunched into a corner. He had sent it priority but didn't use their box but had insured it.
I emailed him to let him know the item was broken & it wasn't usable w/o the glass top. BTW, these items are vintage & you can't buy the tops separately for them.
Here's the response I got from him this morning:
I've done everything i can to make all of you happy if it;s insured through the mail system then i think you shoutd handle this but if your not happy then i will but i'd like to say that i insured this item out of my own pocket . tell me what you want i have pictures of the item and that i triple bubble raped it padding on the sides and insured out of my profit . then i paid for shipping again and if you look it cost me 9.35 twice
Based on how the item was shipped, I can easily bet USPS is going to take one look at it & say it wasn't remotely shipped properly for a glass item. BTW, it WASN'T triple bubblewrapped, the padding was lightly wadded up paper & it was duct taped on the outside.
I'm not trying to rip him off but it appears he thinks I am. My sister hasn't even unwrapped the bubblewrap. Should I have her take pictures of it or take it immediately to her USPS for an assessment?
My own policy is full refunds for damaged items whether or not they are insured so I'm a bit baffled how to proceed with this guy.
Oh, his TOS didn't say anything about returns, damage, just $XXX for shipping which I paid. AND he waited another week (according to the postmark) to reship the item after I gave him the correct address AGAIN).
posted on April 6, 2001 06:07:13 AM new
I would bring it to the post office and file a claim for the insurance. If the post office feels it was not properly packed, I would contact the seller immediately and tell him what the post office said.
If this turns out to be the case, the seller then owes you a complete refund since he was the person who wrapped the package and, if he is in business to sell these items, he SHOULD know how to pack them properly.
Thanks. I'm having my sister take it to the post office for review. I have a feeling the claims about to be denied based on the lack of secure packaging around the glass & the less than sturdy box.
If it's denied & the seller doesn't handle this (and I'm only looking at my options at this point), can I file this with Lloyds?
Or is Lloyds only for fraud claims? I'm not claiming it's fraud, just that it's unusable in the condition in which it arrived. This would be a last resort after we've visited with the Post Office & IF he refuses to take responsibility if the post office refuses to pay.
