Courier trashed my fragile ebay item (Interlink)

minnie123

Hi I recently sold a big fragile easter egg on ebay and the item stated pick up only. One nice lady emailed asking if I would send to her if she paid the extra, I wasn't too keen on having to sort a courier but decided in the end it was worth it for a sale as easter was getting close. I used Interlink through the Interparcel website (after looking on here). I packaged the egg extremely securely - it was already boxed and I wrapped plastic wrapping all around the egg so it could not move and boxed it again in a snug fitting box and plastered fragile all over it - I even told the courier what it was. The lady who won the auction emailed today to say the egg arrived but it is in tiny pieces. I asked for pics and she has provided them and she is correct. You can see from the pics how thick the choc is so it would have taken some good kicking around and force to do that to the egg. I am going to try and claim off Interlink. But I am worried because on their website it says the buyer must check fragile goods are not damaged before signing for them. So what do you think the likelyhood of them paying up is. £50 insurance is included and the egg cost £39.99.

I would feel bad not reimbursing the buyer but also I sold the egg because I am really skint and needed the money desperatley (it was a competition win you see).

Does anyone have any prior experience of claiming from a courier.

StaffsSW

I've not had to claim from a courier so far, but I've learnt my lesson about agreeing to buyers demands on the subject.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=20226459&highlight=courier#post20226459

minnie123

Yeah your right I would never have normally done it but it was a few days before easter and I was worried about not selling the egg. So annoying the lady who purchased said she bought it to auction off for a hospice so I feel even worse. If the courier doesn't pay up i was thinking about getting the hospice details off her and donating half the cost of the egg to them.

MEMBER02

I had similar situation with dhl(used pay per parcel)as agents,item was well packed(polystyrene,large bubble wrap,edge supports,snug fitting box)item a large gold disc framed memrobillia arrived at destination with small hole in box and glass on frame broke disc scratched,buyers father signed for item(said did not realise it was damaged)buyer contacted me and sent me photos,i put claim in with dhl(had to be done through pay per parcel,their agents)i also refunded buyer,dhl refused claim as they said it was not packaged well enough(rubbish)i appealed their descision and again was not succesful as not packaged well enough and contained glass a item they do not cover?so iam £60 down,i will never use dhl again,that company damaged my item and got away without paying compensation COWBOYS:mad:

ArmitageShanks

They will just laugh at you when you tell them what the item was.

jasmineswhiskers

I received a broken item too courtesy of DHL. Buyer must check 'fragile' goods before signing - the delivery driver doesn't wait around for you to unwrap your parcel! And 'fragile' goods are always excluded one way or another anyway.

minnie123

well I told them what it was when I booked it and again when they collected it. I know a choc egg sounds really fragile but the choc was so think and it was really sturdy It would have really needed a good knocking about to break it - especially the way it was broken into loads of pieces. It's almost as if the couriers had a game of football with the box.

and it was wrapped in plastic and double boxed and had fragile plastered all over the box - if the box was simply moved and transported there is no way it would have broken - at some point it has been mistreated.

But I imagine they won't pay out - what would you do in that case - would you do as I stated and refund half the amount direct to the hospice? Or say the buyer should have checked before signing for it as goods ok?

ArmitageShanks

You told interparcel, they don't vet every parcels contents.
The driver isn't going to give two hoots either particularly if he gets paid per drop/pickup

Edit: Just out of interest why did you chose Interlink, they are like the most expensive!

soolin

minnie123 wrote: »

well I told them what it was when I booked it and again when they collected it. I know a choc egg sounds really fragile but the choc was so think and it was really sturdy It would have really needed a good knocking about to break it - especially the way it was broken into loads of pieces. It's almost as if the couriers had a game of football with the box.

and it was wrapped in plastic and double boxed and had fragile plastered all over the box - if the box was simply moved and transported there is no way it would have broken - at some point it has been mistreated.

But I imagine they won't pay out - what would you do in that case - would you do as I stated and refund half the amount direct to the hospice? Or say the buyer should have checked before signing for it as goods ok?

You will struggle though not to pay the buyer back in full, so I'm not sure why you want to lose the original money and then donate more to the charity as well?

I assume buyer paid via paypal, so they put in a claim for item not as described/damaged and you get to refund them in full when they return the egg. In fact it could be even worse, buyer might get their money back and you might struggle to get refund from courier. Paypal won't care that buyer signed for goods, for damaged items they mainly favour the buyers claim and just refund.

Frankly, you shouldn't even be waiting for the buyer to open a claim, you agreed to the courier so you were responsible for getting item safely to the buyer. Therefore strictly speaking the correct thing to do here is to ask buyer to return the egg and on receipt refund all their original payment and then take up your fight with courier company.

minnie123

Interlink were the cheapest when I got quotes from a few companies that is why I chose them.

I didn't mean refund the buyer & pay money to the charity. I meant buyer gets to keep choc as it's still edible and not have to pay to return egg + I pay half the money (£20) as a donation to the charity.

I can't afford to pay the £39.99 back not at the moment anyway I haven't got all that.

Surely if the courier was insured against damage but the buyer had to check on receipt of item for the insurance to be valid, then it is the buyers fault they signed for it as ok?. When I sent it all was well and now I cannot claim because buyer did not check the goods.

So the only person that loses here is me.

minnie123

I guess I will just have to borrow the money off someone so I can refund her. There is no point getting her to send the egg back it's broken and i'm meant to be on a diet anyway. I feel like crying I know it's only £40 but eveytime I feel like i'm making some progress I am going backwards again. No point tryng to claim from courier they will get out of paying as the buyer did not check contents on delivery.