Damaged item.

[donnao6703]

I have just recieved a damaged item. (large wall clock).  Total cost- $60 : ($30 for the clock + $30 postage)
The seller is stating that she is only willing to reimburse me for the price of the clock, not the postage, as she claims she would be out of pocket, even though I paid for it. The actual cost of postage was $18 but she say's the packaging cost her an additional $11. I highly doubt that as most of it seemed used but regardless, I paid for postage not her. She says that she is within her rights to do this according to Ebay rules but I can't find anything about it on the site.

My inital message to her was to let her know about the damage and provide photo's. I said that either I could send the item back for a full refund or she could refund me $40 and keep the other $20 so she doesn't completely lose out. I thought that was fair, she doesn't.

I paid by Paypal but have read quite a few posts saying that they don't cover damaged items so it's pointless trying to make a claim through them. Not sure what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

[davewil1964]

You got that right.

I don't understand why people want to blame AP for sending stuff that can't comply with AP's criteria. They clearly state that everything must be packaged to withstand 22kg dropped from waist height (in reality chucked from 5 metres), and people still think a bit of bubblewrap will give them protection.It will, but not from AP.

[trusteduserid]

Just wondering how you know that?I cannot see where it says that it was not packaged properly.  Am I missing something?

[trusteduserid]

I cannot understand why people want to blame the seller always. It may well be the sellers fault, but so far there is no evidence to suggest this.

IMO- If Australia Post broke it, they should pay!

[donnao6703]

So many different opinons makes it very confusing and hard to judge what the best thing to do is but as of today the seller wants me to open a PayPal claim as she is very sure it will work in her favour. I myself can't decide who is in the wrong for the item being broken- her or AP, although I will say that if it was me who was sending the item I would have packed it alot better than she did, which was a single layer of bubble wrap over the glass front and outer frame of the clock and cardboard cut and taped to fit over the front and back ( so wrapped to the shape of the clock)
The glass is quite thin, so that to me was asking for trouble.

Anyway, since I now have to go the route of making a claim, could anyone advise as to what condition I make the claim under?
I see there is a provision for ''Item not as described'' but nothing about damage....

Thanks again.

[donnao6703]

Never mind. PayPal dispute in progress.

[rjm6572]

the seller is totally at fault for not packing properly

[davewil1964]

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@trusteduserid wrote:

Just wondering how you know that?I cannot see where it says that it was not packaged properly.  Am I missing something?

---

It's a fair bet. One now borne out by the buyer.

AP do not offer a 'fragile' service, so everything has to be packed to withstand robust treatment. A bit of bubblewrap and thin cardboard with not even an air gap does not provide that.

At the least it should have been double boxed. Anything with glass in it should be double boxed.

[trusteduserid]

Fair enough. I believe in asking questions before shooting, unlike in America 🙂

[donnao6703]

Has anyone had any dealings with PayPal? The seller wanted the dispute escalted to a claim but is now fibbing out the packaging. She is claiming she doubled boxed it, which is completely untrue. I wanted to repond with photo's of the packing but there is no provision for me to respond at all. I called them and was told that if they needed anything like that they will contact me for it. Hopefully they do as I can't see how just taking her word for it would be fair.

[phorum_junkie*]

What you should probably done is taken the clock to the PO with all the packaging and ask if they would accept responsibility, chances are they will say that the parcel was not packed securely enough to resist damage if a 20kg parcel is dropped on it from shoulder height, once you had that notification it would have stymied any claim from the seller that it was correctly packaged.

There is no significance in the seller having escalated it to a claim, a dispute is just a chance for the two parties to communicate through Paypal, once it is escalated then you communicate with Paypal and they will adjudicate based on the prior communication. 

You have stated your case and the most likely scenario is that they will find in your favour and you will receive a refund as soon as the parcel is returned. I would asvise you to send it with signature required. 

If Paypal find in the seller's favour then come back here and we can tell you how to proceed, I have only had Paypal find in the other parties favour a couple of times and a phonecall has sorted it out in my favour everytime.