Delivery problem help please

easilydistracted

Hi everyone
I recently bought a car headlight for only a few pounds however the postage was over £10. When it arrived it was smashed which was no surprise as it was just wrapped in a piece of card wrapped with no cushioning. I've heard back from the seller who has asked that I either claim back from royal mail myself or send him the item back first so he can claim. The thing is by the time I've packed it safely and paid the postage it will cost me as much as I paid and I'll be stuck if theres a problem and I have to claim from paypal. I've asked the seller how he wants to resolve this and heard nothing back but its only been a day. What would everyone do in the situation? I thought he would just want evidence e.g. a picture that its broken. Im happy to send the item back but not at my own expense. How can I resolve this. Thanks from a not very experienced ebayer!

twotimes

Just open a "significantly not as described" case on Paypal. The seller will have to refund or Paypal will just take the money out of their account and refund it for you anyway. Paypal is completely in favour of the buyer so you should always get your money back.

With regards to posting back, I don't understand why the seller would request it back as they risk you giving them a negative. The official ebay "policy" is here:

Does the buyer have to return the original item? Who pays for return postage?
The buyer must return the item to you to qualify for a refund. In most situations, the buyer will pay for return postage. In some situations, eBay will pay.
Here are the criteria for return postage:

• Buyers must return the item using trackable postage with delivery confirmation, or risk not qualifying for a refund if the item is lost in transit.
  
• If tracking or delivery confirmation is not provided by the buyer returning the item, and the item does not appear in a reasonable amount of time, then the seller is not obligated to refund the buyer.
  

TurkishDelight

twotimes wrote: »

Just open a "significantly not as described" case on Paypal. The seller will have to refund or Paypal will just take the money out of their account and refund it for you anyway. Paypal is completely in favour of the buyer so you should always get your money back and not have to post back at your expense, if at all.

Paypal will refund, however you will have to post it back, at your expense. The only claims that this is not the case is where the item is fake (you need proof) or where the item never arrives.

PinheadSK

easilydistracted wrote: »

...I either claim back from royal mail myself...

It's the sender that has to claim from Royal Mail. You can't claim as you had no contract with them.

The sender took out the contract with Royal Mail to deliver the item safely to you (as responsibility for this lies with the sender). Royal Mail have failed to honour their part and therefore have potentially breached the contract with the seller, not the receiver.

HTH...

Sean

custardy

easilydistracted wrote: »

Hi everyone
I recently bought a car headlight for only a few pounds however the postage was over £10. When it arrived it was smashed which was no surprise as it was just wrapped in a piece of card wrapped with no cushioning. I've heard back from the seller who has asked that I either claim back from royal mail myself or send him the item back first so he can claim. The thing is by the time I've packed it safely and paid the postage it will cost me as much as I paid and I'll be stuck if theres a problem and I have to claim from paypal. I've asked the seller how he wants to resolve this and heard nothing back but its only been a day. What would everyone do in the situation? I thought he would just want evidence e.g. a picture that its broken. Im happy to send the item back but not at my own expense. How can I resolve this. Thanks from a not very experienced ebayer!

PinheadSK wrote: »

It's the sender that has to claim from Royal Mail. You can't claim as you had no contract with them.

The sender took out the contract with Royal Mail to deliver the item safely to you (as responsibility for this lies with the sender). Royal Mail have failed to honour their part and therefore have potentially breached the contract with the seller, not the receiver.

HTH...

Sean

or the seller packed a fragile item in a crap fashion :rolleyes:

Ames

I thought you couldn't send broken glass through RM?

I had similar, I bought a car mirror and it was sent in just a jiffy bag so obviously got smashed. I offered to send him a picture and he said that as I needed a mirror I obviously already had a smashed one I could send back. He did agree to send a replacement as a goodwill gesture though.

PinheadSK

custardy wrote: »

or the seller packed a fragile item in a crap fashion :rolleyes:

That may be so, but Royal Mail still took the contract (they could have refused it) and therefore failed to complete their obligation to the seller...

easilydistracted

So seriously the ebay rules are that I have to pay for the postage to return it when it was badly packed in the first place? The item was £3.19 and the postage was £10.40- so I'll only end up getting back about a quarter of the price I paid when you include postage and he'll get the full amount back? Thats ridiculous. Surely thats a typo in their policy? If thats the case though if I open a paypal dispute won't I only get the refund as per the ebay policy? Thanks all

PinheadSK

Unfortunately, Paypal will only decide in your favour if you send back the item, at your cost (not refundable) and via an online trackable method.

In this case, I hate to say it, but you may well be better off not bothering and just chalking it up to experience. Sorry.

Perhaps try some serious negotiations with the seller for at least a partial refund?

Sean

*LoopyLaura*

Just a thought.......If seller manages to claim with RM they will write to him asking for the item & packaging to be sent to them for inspection. This is a Freepost address so it may be an idea to suggest that he pops claim in, refunds you, you keep hold of damaged item then when he contacts you with claim refs/return details you kindly drop it off at the Post Office to be returned at no cost to you. Hope this helps!

custardy

PinheadSK wrote: »

That may be so, but Royal Mail still took the contract (they could have refused it) and therefore failed to complete their obligation to the seller...

given customers are not asked whats inside a package then thats a moot point
maybe when the seller is on whining their claim was refused for poor packaging you can help them

heres what RM state for packing glass

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400044&mediaId=400251