Damaged in the mail - I tried to fix - ended up breaking it

[kitschkoven]

Hi guys, an item I bought (a second hand internal hard drive) was damaged in the mail, it appears. Two of the pins were bent. 

I thought, no biggie, I'll straighten them. One of these pins broke off.

So what recourse do I have, considering this? None? I didn't take photos as I thought I could fix it.

[springyzone]

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@kitschkoven wrote:

Why, would sellers usually be confrontational?

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Some of them can be.

In this case, I don't feel you were lucky as such, I feel that any ethical seller should have offered a refund. Two reasons.

One, it isn't as if the main problem was you playing around with the item and accidentally breaking it.  That's a secondary matter.

The main problem was it arrived in damaged condition in the first place.

Two.  As a buyer, all power was with you. You could very easily have opened a claim for a faulty item and stated it arrived like that, with a broken pin. But you didn't. You told the whole truth. You're an honest buyer so an honest seller should respond in like spirit.

But it does signal that this is a reliable seller and one who values his business so it is worth giving positive feedback.

[kitschkoven]

The item was already broken, you guys. It was damaged in the mail. You can't connect a hard drive when some of the pins are bent. It was not in usable condition. 

[domino-710]

To be quite honest - I don't think there is anyone here who would not have attempted the same Kit - it was damaged in the post.