Item arrived damaged!?!? What do I do?

[Ilovecake1]

Sold an item recently for £31, I received an email from the buyer a week later saying it has a piece broken off...the item is extremely sturdy and near impossible to break and it was very well packed. I sent a lovely email back saying it was in perfect condition when it left here etc and unable to receive returns as all money raised helps my LO. I have now received an email from eBay to say she has opened a case with them and wants to return the item for a full refund....what shall I do? Do I have to give a refund? I really don't want to give a refund as all money raised goes towards my daughters therapy! Thanks for reading

[CuriousMama]

How awful for you I wonder if people sometimes do this as they have a broken item of the same thing, so send for identical and then claim it's broken? If so I hope karma gets them.

[Ilovecake1]

I know...exactly what I was thinking! And a new one if these is on sale at various shops for £30 ATM! Went on sale a day after payment! Maybe I am just being paranoid...lol.

[lljkk]

What is the item?
I had an heart monitor strap arrive broken which baffled me (it's bendy hard rubber, how could it be in shattered bits?!) & the seller was obviously furious about it (this for an item that cost £6 with postage and was sold for spares or repair, anyway). I refunded as soon as I saw the pic of damage.

Thing is, weeks later I found the heart monitor watch in a box... in brittle pieces. It had obviously spontaneously disintegrated. Weird, but true!

[CuriousMama]

No you're probably not being paranoid.

[Ilovecake1]

Would I have to refund her or would eBay or PayPal refund her? Just makes me so mad! It's a plastic item and very near unbreakable!

[fergoose]

the buyer will win a case and get a refund - eBay will prob tell her to return the item to you and then will give her back the money from your Paypal account.

I guess it could have been damaged in transit, in which case you can claim from the courier/royal mail.

[Ilovecake1]

I guess it could have been damaged by transit...but it had lots and lots of bubble wrap around it and in a box! I have always used eBay to sell and raise money..nearly a 1000 stars and had no trouble..I guess I am taking this badly. Wished now I had just taken it to the local hospital or charity shop! I have also looked at her feedback...she leaves lots of bad and neutral! How do I claim with Royal Mail? Just take the recorded delivery slip down to the local post office?

[bureni]

contact your buyer and ask them to send a photo via the ebay email of the damage, if they are honest they will do so. If they are chancers ask them to return the item for a full refund, they have to pay for the postage and packaging. The post office may ask for proof of the damage so a picture is important both for ebay and the P.O.

[CuriousMama]

That's awful about her and feedback, I hate that. They shouldn't get away with it.

[hattifattner]

yes, ask her to send the item back, as you security marked it before it was sent, so you will know if it is the same item or has been switched for a broken one.

[CuriousMama]

I was thinking the same as hatti, call her bluff.

[Ilovecake1]

The item is being sent back to me!! Do I cover the cost of return postage? Or do I just give full payment back and the postage for one way? If there is something missing or the item has been switched, where do I stand then? I really don't think I will sell anymore on eBay as this has i really can't be doing this on a regurlar basis.

[lljkk]

You cover return postage if you can confirm it's really the same item you sent & you can confirm the damage claimed.

If it's not your same item then you pursue that as a dispute with Ebay.

It is annoying & a constant hazard of Ebaying.

If you truly expect to never sell on Ebay again you could just shrug it off & not refund everything.

[Ilovecake1]

This is still ongoing!!! How do I claim with Royal Mail? Take the return item and recorded delivery slip to my local post office? Sorry my question might sound very basic but haven't got a clue!

[tutu100]

If you go to Royal mail websire there is a form you fill in and print off and the post off to Royal Mail. You can include pictures of the damage and packaging and Royal Mail then look into the claim. I was once told that sometimes they send an assessor out to look at the item, but when I had to claim I sent the frm off, then didn't here anything till I got a cheque in the post 4 weeks later.

[tutu100]

Here is the web address for the claims form. It was pretty hard to find here

[lljkk]

I always pick up the form from the post office (much cheaper than printing it out at home). Form is usually away from the counters and with other miscellaneous forms to fill in. Sorry I've never done a damaged claim, let us know how you get on with it.

[nellyjelly]

My sympathy. I sold something quite expensive then later got an e mail from buyer to say item damaged. He sent me a photo and the damage was definately not there when I sent it and doubt it could have been done in post. In the end I just had to accept them back. Ebay nearly always finds in buyers favour.

I am convinced buyer damaged goods when trying on (sunglasses) or sent me damaged ones he already owned in place of mine. Put me off using ebay again.

He really hassled me by e mail too. Really bullying in tone.

[Ilovecake1]

Thank you so much for your replies...very grateful. Do I need picture of the item and postage materials or just the item? She wants me to pay for the return postage to which I have declined!! Only because I know the item was 100% perfect when it left here! I don't know if I was right to do that but I have....what I also did was sent her a message asking if she wanted me to send her the recorded delivery receipt and she could claim..that way she wouldn't need to pay return postage. Don't know if I was right to say that!?!? I know I am very sensitive but this has really made me cross...just trying to make a bit of £££ here and there but end up out of pocket!! Thanks again and sorry for my rant!!

[Ilovecake1]

Thanks Tutu, I probably would have never found that form!! Lol.

That's just horrid nelly...did you give him a full refund? The thing is these buyers are probably doing it on a regular basis and we can't leave any neg feedback to warn others!!

[lljkk]

The form will tell you what to do, IIRC for damaged items you are supposed to send in the damaged item to Royal Mail along with packaging.

I think most sellers would ask buyer to pay return postage & then reimburse that after they examined item for themselves to confirm damage.

She could pursue damage claim but technically the contract for delivery is with you, so you should claim for the lost value.

I strongly suspect a recent buyer claimed damage for something he already had himself damaged, & he just wanted a free replacement.

[Ilovecake1]

Hi lljkk, thanks for your reply...yes just noticed this! And free post address, I was starting to worry about paying postage again! Lol. I really don't want to pay for the return postage.....I sound very mean I know but I am pretty sure she will leave me a neg anyway so why should I? And by the end of it I will be close to £50 out of pocket! But cross fingers I can have a refund with Royal Mail. The joys of eBay hey...I will keep you updated. Thanks.

[nellyjelly]

Yes full refund. Felt under so much pressure and it was my word against his. He was a longstanding seller too so had tons of good feedback. I noted on his profile that he had bought tons of the same sunglasses so who knows which ones he sent back to me!

[InABloodyRut]

Ebay, or paypal, cannot remember which, states that return postage costs is down to the buyer doesn't it?

[GiveMeStrength2day]

Just to share my experience of item damaged in post. I was the seller. I absolutely cannot understand how the item got damaged (must have been run over!!). The buyer did appear genuine though. If I remember correctly, the post office issued a return label for nothing. However, my buyer did not keep my original (seriously sufficient) packaging so because I could not prove I'd packaged properly, the post office would not pay for damaged item. I refunded the buyer whilst I was going through the claim process - rightly or wrongly, I regretted doing the right thing in refunding as the buyer disposed of my packaging and therefore invalidated my claim. I was over £50 out of pocket in the end (given I couldn't sell the damaged item)