eBay shipping nightmare

Stuckfast

I sold a few things on eBay this week. One of them was an amp head, which was sold for spares and repair and only fetched £100 or so. I really didn't want to ship it but foolishly added that as an option and of course the person who bought it paid by Paypal and paid the shipping price so I then had to send it. It was very well packed and insured, but the package must have been dropped heavily because on arrival the chassis had sheared clean out of its wooden case.

Buyer is now sending me passive-aggressive messages on eBay asking if we can reach an "amicable" settlement, which will basically involve me giving him back some of the pittance that he paid for the bloody thing in the first place. Question is -- am I obliged to reach a settlement with him before I find out whether the couriers will accept liability?

This is all a lot more trouble than it's worth, and I am seriously tempted to refund him all the money on condition that he sends me photographic evidence of him destroying the bastard thing with fire.

spark240

Do you know if he has gone via EBay complaints or just contacted you directly?

do you have pics of before it was packed and sent...other wise the courier will just say that’s how it was sent.

Assuming you have a good rep already, personally I would offer some refund and let him keep it or sell again as spares, these thing happen...has he got a good rep?

Move on..

Winny_Pooh

Get photos of the damage inside and outside of the shipping box. Partial refund the buyer a fair amount of 30-40% (it's not their fault!) And raise a claim with the shipping company for damage. 
The shipping company is your problem not his so he should get his money sorted before yours.

JezWynd

Question is -- am I obliged to reach a settlement with him before I find out whether the couriers will accept liability? 

I don't know the answer to that, but in case you are being scammed (and it bothers you), then I'd hold off on negotiations until the insurers have seen photos of the packaging and damage and made some initial assessment.

Stuckfast

So far he's just contacted me directly. I'm feeling irrationally annoyed by the self-righteous tone of his messages which is why I'm reluctant to refund any more than I have to.

As far as I can see from his photos, there's little or no visible damage to the outside of the packaging. Basically it must have been dropped hard and inertia has ripped the chassis from the case. One of the wooden struts that holds the chassis in place has actually snapped in two.

That said I suspect the damage looks worse than it is -- the valves are apparently intact.

The Interparcel T&Cs state that if he signed for it without reporting damage no claim can be made. I don't know if he did that, but if he did, does that mean the problem is his?

BeardyAndy

Its a lot of aggro and if he's being a dick about i'd be tempted to get him to return it and give him his money back out of principle!

However, if your not a stubborn bugger like me i'd suggest you get some images of the damaged goods, pay the man so he's happy and then make your claim with the courier. Even if you don't get it you'd have to pay for postage both ways and that probably equates to 30/40% refund!

DefaultM

You've just said there was no visible damage to the outside of the packaging, so no its not his problem.
He cant report damage before signing for it if there's none apparent.

Stuckfast

Well one of the particularly annoying things about this is that he only lives about 50 miles from me, so we could easily have met and handed the thing over in person, but because he paid by PayPal that wasn't an option. Grrr. I have no use for it especially in broken state, but neither do I feel particularly inclined to make him happy. I expect I'll get over myself.

JezWynd

Knowing eBay, probably not, they usually side with purchaser. As it was sold as parts/broken, does it really matter how those parts arrive? 

Bidley

Get him to send it back, then refund once you've received it back. It's then your responsibility to get your compensation from the courier, because the postage insurance is for your benefit, not the buyer's. Not much else you can do.

Makes me laugh, if someone on here received a smashed up amp, there wouldn't be any talk of a partial refund from the seller.

Haych

FWIW, given that not a massive amount of money is involved, I would be tempted to just tell your buyer to send it back and give him a refund.

He's bought an amp for parts or repair, presumably it didn't work before you sent it, and it still doesn't work now.  The damage in transit is probably easily repairable (I assume just the head shell is damaged and not the chassis itself) and in any case would be difficult to estimate the compensation for damage on a non-working amp.

In the same situation I just couldn't be doing with the hassle of any other outcome.  Even the thought that he's dropped the amp after unpacking it and has tried to make a cheeky claim of damage in transit would be enough for me to stick the two fingers up and deny him his compensation and the amp.

PhilW1

Stuckfast said:

Well one of the particularly annoying things about this is that he only lives about 50 miles from me, so we could easily have met and handed the thing over in person, but because he paid by PayPal that wasn't an option. Grrr. I have no use for it especially in broken state, but neither do I feel particularly inclined to make him happy. I expect I'll get over myself.

Why not meet up half way then? You can have a proper assessment and come to an agreement there and then . People are usually much more amicable face to face or can't really express themselves properly in type which could come across as passive /aggressive.

Cols

You’re stuck on this one I’m afraid.  If the buyer claims that it’s arrived damaged, then ebay rules are that they can return it for you for a full refund.  You also need to refund them shipping costs, and pay for the return shipping.  

The onus is very much on you to make a claim against the courier.  For this I would ask the buyer for pictures and a statement to substantiate the claim you’ll have to make.

Given the costs involved in having the amp shipped back, it might be best to give him a partial refund and raise a claim with the courier.  Otherwise you’ll at least be shouldering the return cost and be left with a box of broken amp bits again.

ICBM

If it was for spares or repair only I would try to get him to accept a partial refund, even if a fairly substantial one - because if he does, that closes the door on getting a full one or having a right of return, if I remember the Ebay rules correctly.

If you don't do that you will most likely be forced into paying for it to be sent back again, and then you're two lots of courier fees down for an amp which is now even more knackered than it was.

It's a near certainty the couriers won't accept liability so it's not worth wasting your time pursuing it if they say no. They usually have specific exclusions for musical instruments and electrical items.

On the bright side, the worst you can be out of pocket is £100...

Fortheloveofguitar

Take it back he sounds like a twat.  Not worth the agro for £100

boogieman

Fortheloveofguitar said:

Take it back he sounds like a twat.  Not worth the agro for £100

Imagine you’re the buyer for a minute. You expect something to turn up in the same condition you saw it on eBay but it arrives smashed, through the fault of the courier.

How does that make him a twat? 

GoldenEraGuitars

For the sake of £100, get him to return it and refund him. 

You wont get a penny from the courier and without photographs prior to the box being sent/collected you can’t prove a thing. 

TeleMaster

The seller has a responsibility to make sure the item gets to the buyer safely and as described. Whether or not it’s the sellers fault or not the buyer shouldn’t be out of pocket. 

A partial refund or a return would be the only course of action. 

It sucks I know. I’ve had to do a few partial refunds because of it.

Stuckfast

Well, in the end, the buyer proved to be very reasonable, and we have it all sorted out -- I was worried he'd push for a huge refund but he only asked for £30 in the end which seems very fair. So it only goes to show that you shouldn't judge someone by the tone of their eBay messages. I hope he gets the amp sorted.

ICBM

Good result. It would have cost you at least half that to get it back again and then you'd have had to take a drop on the price to get rid of it the second time.

Stuckfast

Positive update... I sent photos of the packaging and the damage to Interparcel and they have paid compensation without a quibble. Somehow I wasn't expecting that -- I thought they'd try every technicality under the sun to avoid coughing up.