posted on September 13, 2001 07:41:01 AM
I sold a lamp on eBay a few weeks back, the buyer received it last week and claimed it was badly damaged. It was fully insured by the US postal system for $225 (the final bid amount). The buyer doesn't want to wait for a refund, but wants me to refund the money and have the claim check sent to me.
I think he is being difficult, and was wondering what others think? Is this normal practice? I am an eBay Silver powerseller and never had this occur before (only one other insured item damaged prior to this).
posted on September 13, 2001 07:50:18 AM
I'd definitely complete the transaction through the claims process for more than one reason...Well, for one, I probably wouldn't have $225 lying around unaccounted for. But, also, it would make more sense to start a claim and have the usps go ahead & forward it to the buyer to complete. That way he would need to provide the parcel to them and sign the claims document stating that the damage occurred prior to his having received it. (Just in case he's trying to pull something over on you!) PLUS, that is the purpose of insurance! So that you don't have to come out-of-pocket!
posted on September 13, 2001 07:53:40 AM
Thats what the insurance is for.
Politely email them and exp[lain what they need to do to follow-thru with the claims process. Keep at it politle no matter how crazy they get. Do be prepared for a l---o---n---g wait for the St. Louis office to process the claim. The last one we had took 5.5 MONTHS! Stay the course.
posted on September 13, 2001 07:58:53 AM
If the buyer paid for insurance then they should expect to get recourse through the due process of filing a claim with the Post Office. You are not the insurer, nor are you an insurance company. You took out insurance for a reason and that was so YOU would have to refund in the event of something going wrong as it did. Otherwise why pay for insurance in the first place?
I would explain to the buyer, insurance was taken out and you will follow the proper guidelines to file a claim and get his money back to him as soon as possible. Explain you are not the insurer in this matter the Post Office is.
Keep you e-mails short, to the point, business like and non-emotional.
posted on September 13, 2001 10:20:11 AM
I had this happen once before. Except this lady waited only about two weeks before demanding a full, instant refund of her $150.00. I told her that she had to wait 30 days before I could even submit the paperwork, and a few more weeks to get the refund. And she just chewed me up one side and down the other, calling me thief and worse, and threatening all kinds of action top to bottom. This despite hundreds of positive feedbacks on eBay.
The thing that matters here. Once you file a claim, the USPS will send a tracer along the route. Most of the time the package will be found and delivered. You cannot tell them to return to sender. The seller must be delivered it, then refuse the item. What assurance do you have that the person won't simply keep both the item and the money?
And when I told my buyer this, I really thought she was going to fly down to my house and scratch my eyes out. She ended up filing a claim on amazon, and amazon paid it. I finally got the refund from the P.O. about 8 weeks after filing the claim, and I sent amazon a check in the amount of her claim. I had sent them copious documentation and all her horrible emails, and the basically just ignored all that work ad paid her claim. Oh well.
So anyway, my advice, stick to your guns and do not pay out of your pocket. That is the entire purpose of the insurance.
posted on September 13, 2001 10:21:40 AM
I recently had a buyer return an insured damaged piece to me. He did not contact me to state that it was damaged, he just returned it to me and I had no idea why -- until I opened the box. I wrote him an e-mail telling him that he should have kept the item and started the claims process himself.
Here's the amazing part: He stated that he was not looking for a refund, he just didn't want to wait in line at the post office to file the claim and he didn't want to wait for the refund check to arrive. He said it made no difference to him whether I ever refunded him or not, he was moving and didn't want to move a broken item.
When I took the item to my post office and filed the claim myself, I received a lecture from our postmaster about how claims should be made. I explained to her what happened and she backed down.
I did refund the customer for the bid price of the item (not the postage) and am still waiting for the post office to return my money.
posted on September 13, 2001 11:24:55 AM
some seller will refund the buyer because this is a repeated customer or could be a repeated customer,if you sell pricey items,you want to be nice to your well heeled customers.
some buyers could be resellers,damaged goods is money losing to them and they just want thier money back fast so they can keep reselling.
those are the ones with bad disposition.
if you are certain usps will approve the claim and you can afford to refund him first and wait for the usps money,go ahead and give him the money.
beware usps is becoming rather picky these days with claims,no double boxing,no external damage,etc they will deny claims
posted on September 13, 2001 02:53:56 PM
Good luck getting the p.o. to pay. They are a pain in the @$#. The post office just lost an item of ours that was insured for $200. They said that we need proof of how much the item is worth. And no, they do not take into account how much the item sold for on ebay. They want proof of how much we paid for it! The item was bought along with a bunch of other stuff at the same time at an auction. How do we prove it's worth? It's impossible. Another problem, the item was sent from a postal contract station that closed its doors last week and the insurance numbers were never entered into the p.o.'s system. We will probably ending up paying the buyer back on this one. I'm hoping for a miracle, and the item will still find its way to the buyer.
Sorry, I had to vent! This isn't the first time we've had trouble with the p.o. on paying claims!
When I buy something and someone wants me to pay insurance, I decline. When I sell, I do pay for insurance if the customer wants it, only because it makes them feel good. Postal insurance is a waste of money and time!
posted on September 13, 2001 05:24:53 PMThey said that we need proof of how much the item is worth. And no, they do not take into account how much the item sold for on ebay.
Nobody should have to put up with this crap. Once payment for the item is accepted, it belongs to the buyer, and the seller's cost is irrelevant- the item is now worth what the buyer paid.
If it were me, I would haunt the PO until they paid up, no matter how long it took.
posted on September 13, 2001 05:30:26 PM
I agree with MrP...cuz you paid for insurance and they accepted the premium from you and the parcel in good faith so they (the USPS) need to either get it to the addressee in the same condition or pay the claim...
posted on September 13, 2001 09:18:55 PM
I agree with kolonel, "they" are the ones paying for insurance and "they" are the one that the post office should pay, fill out your part of the paperwork and send it to them to fill out their part and "they" sumit it. Why should you be out the money when they buy the insurance.
