Ebay buyer dilemna: Received damaged goods. Full Refund Deserved? (1 Viewer)

[John Morris]

Hi,
Back on September 21st, I won an auction for a Refurb Toshiba SD-6109c DVD/Receiver. You can see it http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1275256306
God Bless America!!!

 

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

As you have presented the story, I totally agree, 20 bucks the poorer with nothing to show for it is bogus. But, does UPS refund the shipping as well as the value of the item? If they don't, I think that is way bogus too, but if it is true, then the seller may be splitting the cost of the shipping with you. But, $40 for shipping a DVD player? That's a lot of money, did he send it overnight?

 

[John Morris]

Hi Jah-Wren: UPS decided that the shipper was at fault and refused the claim on the damage. Otherwise, the seller would have gotten a check for $400... what she insured it for was way more than I paid for it. Maybe, she knew it was damaged from the start??? Then again, maybe she insured it for what she thought the DVD/Receiver was worth? In the end... she has a slightly damaged unit and $20 of my money, and I have nothing!
BTW, before I received this first damaged unit, I also won a second identical unit from this seller and it also did not arrive unharmed. Still, after the BS I'm now going through, I'm gonna keep this second sucker and give it to my kids for Christmas. Originally, I thought that they'd each have one one of these... now, they'll have to share.
If I don't get my $20 back, I'm gonna dispute the CC charge and then burn the seller on Ebay by contacting all his/her potential buyers to warn them too. After all, as a honest, caring citizen, I should do no less...
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Take Care,
merc
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God Bless America!!!

 

[Dmitry]

Keep in mind that eBay may decide to suspend you if some of the people you warn will complain to them, so be careful.

 

[John Morris]

Dmitry... Someone like me has many friends not associated with my email address, Ebay ID nor IP, so warning the potential buyers should be no problem for the good hearted folk that I know. Still, thanks for the warning!
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Take Care,
merc
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God Bless America!!!
[Edited last by John Morris on October 16, 2001 at 01:33 AM]

 

[Henry W]

John
It sounds like you are doing all the wrong things here. If you had a problem the first time, why did you make a second purchase? If the second purchase was also a problem, why didn't you return it or at least contact the seller about the difficulty? Have you utilized your e bay options which insures your purchase up $200? I think you have a lot of choices here you haven't explored which are more sound than the ones you've selected and are considering. All this has transpired in the last thirty days which is a very short period of time to settle a dispute. My recommendation would be to contact e bay's safe harbor group and see if you could get them to help you. I would also try and return the second unit. Why accept less than what you deserve?
Best regards-Henry
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[Allan Jayne]

You can fight it if you want but going after that last $20.00 is going to be more than $20.00 worth of aggravation.
One thing, I think you have only a day to fish or cut bait regarding accepting the $182.50 PayPal payment as a refund.
Once that goes into your account, the only way to refuse it is to send $182.50 the other way. Then if you dispute your original $202.50 payment, all kinds of complications could happen. For example the seller disputes his $182.50 sent to you. And you have sent him a total of $386.00
On the other hand, if you were able to refuse the payment in a manner other than sending $182.50 in his direction, there could be a long drawn out letter writing campaign to explain things.
Sellers seldom graciously reimburse you for shipping even if the goods were defective.
Tangentially related but worth looking at: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/bidscam.htm

 

[John Morris]

Henry: thank you for the sound advice. I bought the second unit before I had received the first damaged unit, so I had no way to determine what would eventually happen. The second units dent is on the back side corner of the unit and is no where near as serious as the first unit's damage. Also, I promised one of these to my kids so they could play DVDs upstairs in their playroom on that TV. (It helps me to explain to my wife why I am buying Spy Kids on DVD instead of on a VHS tape).
Allan: I think that you may be right as far as it being worth a fight. Thanks for the link on the PayPal scam. I hadn't even thought of that...
Finally, I reimburse my buyers fully for any damaged or lost goods. Maybe, that's why I have NEVER had a dis-satisfied buyer?
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Take Care,
merc
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God Bless America!!!

 

[Myram]

I would call yourself lucky and take the loss of the $20. Not many people on eBay would have even issued a refund, let alone refund you for any shipping costs. Don't forget that PayPal has fees that it charges the recipient of the money. That fee rate is $.30 +2.9%.....or about $3.30 per $100.00.
So to only be short $20 is pretty good in my opinion.....and I agree with the others, going after that $20 is going to be alot more work then what it is worth.
Good Luck.
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Home Theater Page

 

[Patrick Sun]

Ever see those ads for exercise gear, like the Butt-Cruncher 2000, touting a 30 day money back guarentee (but in mouse-type, it says "minus shipping/handling")? Well, if you did return the BC2K, you'd get back the purchase price, but you forfeit the shipping/handling costs on the initial transaction, and whatever it costs to ship back the BC2K. You should consider yourself lucky that you didn't lose the entire amount of money for the damaged item, and were refunded the bid price and half of the shipping.
Personally, when I was selling on Ebay, I also refunded the TOTAL price when something bad went down, but that's because I valued my feedback more than a few bucks on squabbling over shipping cost refunds. Some have that attitude, and others will at least split the shipping costs (remember that the seller also lost in the transaction as well by not making the sale and being stuck with damaged stuff).
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PatCave; HT Pix; Gear; DIY Mains; DIY CC; Sunosub I + II + III; DVDs; Link Removed

 

[Henry Carmona]

UPS decided that the shipper was at fault and refused the claim on the damage.

Im always amazed at UPS. Hod did they determine that she was at fault?
Who cares if she damaged it, how did they know this esp if the box was damaged when received.
UPS is strange.
So, basically im saying, get your $20.00 or make sure you leave a complaint on her feedback.
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"Charlie don't surf."

 

[Andrew P]

John:
I would dispute the $20 on my cc and let them do the work for you. You will win the dispute no questions asked. I have done this many times (not for $20 of course). You will have to fill out 2-3 forms over 6 months and then you will get your $20 back. Even though its a small amount it is still a matter of principle.
Andy