Dealing With a Problem Ebay Seller

[LarryInMichigan]

Last week, I bought a radio on ebay: ebay link.  The seller packed it poorly and it arrived badly damaged.  I contacted the seller with pictures of the damage, and he very rudely accused me of lying and claimed that the broken radio I have here is not the one he sold me.  I am now trying to determine my options.  I can open an issue with ebay, but they will require me to ship back the radio, and that will be a big hassle and likely cost me more than I will be reimbursed.  If I ship it back in the same small, flimsy box the seller used, the radio will likely be damaged even further on the way back. 

A rep from the credit card company told me that I could dispute the charge with VISA, but that could take 60 days, and I don't know what might happen.  If that fails, it might be too late to go back to ebay for a resolution.  What would you do?  The amount I paid is $57.  Does anyone here want to buy a smash Airline 62-475 radio for $57 plus shipping ?

I would recommend avoiding the ebay seller "powernine11".

Thank You


Larry

[FABphones]

Maybe it is not the same there, but in the UK the seller pays the return shipping. This is how it works here:

Raise an 'item not as described' case, ebay will look into it, if found in your favour you will receive from ebay the prepaid shipping label to print out for sending it back.

When you open the case attach photos of the item as received 'in the shipping box' and also of the damage. And add any note you sent to the selller re carefully packaging it.

When you return it take photos of how carefully and thoughtfully you have packed it for return.

Hope all goes well for you.

[Desert Phone Guy]

I would suggest filing a claim with the usps, provided that the shipment was priority mail.  I have done that twice recently after receiving broken phone parts, specifically WE bakelite 684 subsets.

Take photos of the damage, provide a copy of your purchase document, and a brief narrative. 

I received reimbursement within a week in both instances.

Steve

[LarryInMichigan]

I have had to ship back an item which was falsely represented, and I was reimbursed a few days later after the package was delivered, but this radio is big, heavy, and fragile, and shipping it back will take me plenty of time and trouble, and the shipping will likely cost more than ebya will pay for it.  Also, I can be quite confident that what is left of the radio will no survive a trip back in the small, flimsy box.

The seller sent me an even ruder and more insulting message a few minutes ago:

That radio you photoed is not the radio I sent you. Your tactics to get this radio for free, will not work.
The radio I sent you was wrapped in cloth and bubble wrapped was packed all around the radio.
Compare the photo's of the radio in the picture I posted, it was very clean and had the knobs in place. Your
photo is some old dirty radio you have laying around. My mistake was giving you a positive feedback when I
received payment.
Your gilt of premeditated plan to get this radio free, when you sent me instructions on how to ship an item.
Stop this non-senses.

I am really frustrated by this.

Larry

[twocvbloke]

Kind of hard to dispute it being the same radio, pre-existing scuffs and paint splatters match up between their and your pictures, so it's the same one despite their claim...

Might want to use their pictures with your own to identify these marks on both sets of pictures and point out to them that they're in the wrong...

[LarryInMichigan]

The seller is now demanding more pictures showing the same views of the radio as his pictures.  In the mean time, I entered a claim on the USPS website.  If they pay it, it will probably be $7 less than my cost, but that is better than nothing.  This ebay seller is quite a jerk.  He ignored my packing instructions and then claimed that I only sent them so that I could lie about the radio being damaged.

Larry

[twocvbloke]

Don't forget to include his own pics with yellow circles around pre-existing scuffs, scratches, paint splatters and other damage, and if they deny that, offer up a choice of settling or taking it to a lawyer with the gathered evidence, usually the mere mention of the latter makes them back down pretty sharpish...

[LarryInMichigan]

I am going to wait a couple days for the USPS claim, and in the mean time, if the seller doesn't change his attitude in the next couple of hours, I will leave him bad feedback, which will ruin his rating.  He is apparently not very bright, but I cannot tolerate mean, abusive people.  I have a really nasty one next door.

Larry

[jsowers]

Be sure to include a picture of the metal bottom of the radio when you send the seller some more pics. That rust stain is totally unique and you can still see the damage to the bottom part of the radio. Good luck with your claim.

[AL_as_needed]

It's incredible how people will try and dodge responsibility for something, especially when money is involved. What really would be the odds that you'd have a broken stand in of the exact make and model radio he sold you....come on flea bay....

[Pourme]

~

Negative feedback feedback was made for jerks like him. I would have no issue using it on him.

[Butch Harlow]

Well, every once in awhile it's worth it to jam someone as hard as humanly possible. To me that means even if I lose money I am going to make an example of this person. However. Ebay does have a few built in protections. Still, I would go well out of my way to make sure it never happened again. One of my other collections are Pez dispensers. Small, brittle, plastic. Common sense would say, ship that in a box with padding. I have received padded mailers full of plastic bits more than once. I take great pleasure in chastising the seller in every way available to me.

[LarryInMichigan]

The USPS website now shows my claim as "Paid", so I hope that means that I will be receiving a check from the USPS very soon.  The maximum claim amount is $50, and the smashed radio cost me a total of $57, so the parts will have cost me $7 which isn't entirely bad.  I left negative feedback for the bum who sold the radio to me.  Hopefully, either he will change his attitude and learn how to properly pack things, or everyone will avoid buying anything from him online.

Larry

[Partyline4]

As an avid eBay seller, I hate to promote their often heavily abused system of the money back guarantee they give a buyer...


File a " item not as described" request, include some photos in your request.

If the seller stalls, you will be given your money back in a week or so, and get to keep the item.

Likely the seller will give in, and ask you to ship it back on their dime. I know you want to keep the radio, but if it's not what you ordered - send it back!

Works in the buyers favor 97% of the time.

Good luck.

[LarryInMichigan]

I received a $50 check from the USPS this evening, so I plan to try to see if I can repair the radio.  I want to first glue back the shards of bakelite which are large enough to salvage and then fill in the gaps with the black Milliput epoxy putty that I recently bought (but haven't try to use yet).  The seller can go to a place much warmer than Minnesota as far as I care.

Larry