New buyer claims item broken.

[justcruising49]

Just had a buyer with 0 feedback get an item delivered and put a claim in for item not new and not as pictured which I have never had before,  and received a photo of the item broken in 3 which is a first for me and claiming refund.  Anything I can do as this seems suspect to me as never had anything broken before. I sent an email as reply  "Hi Kate, this was most certainly a new item and was not damaged in any way. In all my years on ebay never ever had something like this happen. The photos are of the actual item sent. Swarovski pack themselves the item in fitted foam for the item itself, and then I bubble wrap the whole thing and posted in an extra box with newspaper to protect even further. Any chance you damaged this yourself please? And please be honest regarding this. I am not a store but a private individual and I will loose so much if you or someone you know damaged this, money I certainly cannot afford to loose. Is the box damaged in anyway, as it does have $100 insurance if Australia post damaged the box, so if that is the case please send photos of the box with packing and keep the box for insurance purposes. This item cost me a lot, and was bought direct from Swarovski and I checked before posting as I always do, and I am a reputable seller. I have appointments tomorrow, and Dr's Friday morning but can contact ebay later Friday, best regards Gemma 

[gutterpunkz05]

Stuff gets broken in transit all the time, no matter how well an item is packed.

Not a good idea accusing the seller of breaking the item after receipt, you can hardly expect any help at all from the buyer regarding an AP claim.

As the buyer has made a claim, it is now up to you to resolve it.

[justcruising49]

I was just shocked by the claim -a piece unglued maybe but not in 3 parts.  Always a first of an item being broken but I do always pack so well so never happened before and certainly not a big item. The picture they sent even had a tube of glue in the background and as they only opened an ebay account to buy the item it does seems suspicious.  Guess I will have to wear this. They did dispute the item was not new and was not as pictured, not that it got broken in the post.  

[*sons_n_daughters* · Accepted solution]

Is it possible they already had the same item, but it got broken, so bought a new one and then claimed it was broken, so they get a freebie replacement? It sounds very suspect to me. I have a lot of Swarovski figurines and the way they are packaged, a bus could run over them and not break them. Sadly, you can never prove either way though.

[sugar249]

You have cooked your goose,  accusing the buyer of breaking it themselves,  come on  even if they had would they now admit it that they have opened a claim.

But if they hadnt and it was broken in the mail (yes Australia post do drop kick parcels),  you have just raised their heckles to the point they will not compromise on anything.

And at the end of the day,  they don't care that you have a Dr's appointment, that just sounds like an excuse not to do anything and hope they go away.

You accuse them of breaking it themselves,  than raising a false dispute,  but than you want them to help with an insurance claim.   Enough said.

A lot of people open accounts to just buy one specific item, does that make them guilty,  lets check with judge judy.

But the best comment is that they open the dispute because it was not as picture, and not because it was broken.   I am sure your picture didnt show it broken, so it was definitely not as per the picture,  so nothing wrong with their dispute

[oddsandendsoz]

It sounds a bit suss. I don't know those products but if they are protected as mentioned and you then added extra protection, you would imagine that it would be ok.

I send mostly fragile items and have sent probably around 4000 items. I have never had one breakage or problem, although I do pack extremely well, perhaps too well. I also receive lots of fragile items and yes, unfortunately I have had breakages where there has been almost zero protective packaging. And then as I am sure others can attest, I have recieved things n perfect condition, that you wonder how such is the absence of any protective packaging. So it is not an exact science. When my new delivery driver started around 2 years ago, I had 3 breakages in around 6 weeks, far greater than the average up until that point. So a lot can depend on the drivers and how they handle (throw) the packages in their van. Could your item have been thrown and not damaged but the shock caused the breakage? I ma assuming it is ceramic?

There is possibly nothing you can do, as it is your word against theirs. But what does seem suss, is that if the package was obviously damaged, you would imagine that this is what the buyer would lead with, as in 'package arrived badly squashed and broken', this is what I have led with when I have had breakages as a buyer.

Did the parcel get 'left in a safe place'? If so, you could contact AP to see if they have an image of it? If nothing else it should show obvious damage or not to the packaging? It might not lead to you getting the outcome you want of course, but might answer your questions and provide reassurance. It might also provide a bit of leverage with the buyer?

[justcruising49]

Photo with a tube of maybe glue in background my support this  

[gutterpunkz05]

Hardly likely that it will be seen to support anything.  If the tube of glue is supposedly relevant, how come the item is still in 3 pieces.

[springyzone]

Swarovski ornaments are usually some type of glass so it is feasible they could break, even if the package itself still looks pristine. I have received broken items inside undamaged parcels in the past. Not swarovski though, I have to admit.

But I think you'll lose this ebay claim because they are breakable.

Your best bet is to immediately block her from ever buying from you again, although I doubt she would try it on again, or not with you. I think sons n daughters may have a point & this could well be a replacement item.

I don't see anything wrong with your message to the buyer. It is confrontational, for sure, and likely to put the buyer's back up. But hey, she has opened a claim anyway and you're going to have to pay her out, so no harm done.

If she is scamming you, your message has simply shown her that you're on to her and she hasn't pulled the wool over your eyes. And it has let her know that she isn't ripping off a big business (where she might feel it doesn't matter) but that she is hurting another person financially.

If she genuinely received a damaged item then yes, she will feel insulted and she'll probably send back a message to protest her innocence.

You can't do much about it, if you sell for long enough on ebay, you're sure to run into the occasional problem. Make sure your prices are high enough to cover the occasional loss.

[sugar249]

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@justcruising49 wrote:

Photo with a tube of maybe glue in background my support this  

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not sure that would hold up in a court,  

If you were scamming a seller would you leave a glue tube there?

Be realistic