Sold goods damaged in post

kathyb1230

I sold some stuff (in glass bottles) on ebay, wrapped it well in bubble wrap and sent it off to the purchaser. Apparently when it was received, 1 bottle was fine but 1 was broken.
Sort of in a dilemma......do I offer to refund the purchaser part of the cost of buying the items, or leave it as I packed it as well as I could, and not technically my fault as was damaged in transit. The purchaser has left me positive feedback, and hasn't asked for a refund at all, but I still feel a little guilty (why oh why do i have a conscience?!)
I'm still relatively new to ebay, so would appreciate advice from more seasoned ebayers.
thanks!
Kathy

jbbonce

kathyb1230 wrote:

I sold some stuff (in glass bottles) on ebay, wrapped it well in bubble wrap and sent it off to the purchaser. Apparently when it was received, 1 bottle was fine but 1 was broken.
Sort of in a dilemma......do I offer to refund the purchaser part of the cost of buying the items, or leave it as I packed it as well as I could, and not technically my fault as was damaged in transit. The purchaser has left me positivie feedback, and hasn't asked for a refund at all, but I still feel a little guilty (why oh why do i have a conscience?!)
I'm still relatively new to ebay, so would appreciate advice from more seasoned ebayers.
thanks!
Kathy

If it was me, I would refund if they asked for it, but otherwise leave it. You will gain nothing by refunding and if they were really that bothered they wouldn't have left feedback and would have asked for their money back.

funkyfunkymonkey

kathyb1230 wrote:

I sold some stuff (in glass bottles) on ebay, wrapped it well in bubble wrap and sent it off to the purchaser. Apparently when it was received, 1 bottle was fine but 1 was broken.
Sort of in a dilemma......do I offer to refund the purchaser part of the cost of buying the items, or leave it as I packed it as well as I could, and not technically my fault as was damaged in transit. The purchaser has left me positive feedback, and hasn't asked for a refund at all, but I still feel a little guilty (why oh why do i have a conscience?!)
I'm still relatively new to ebay, so would appreciate advice from more seasoned ebayers.
thanks!
Kathy

Hi Kathy

You could refund and claim off of the Post Office. If something is damaged in the post you do not need a certificate of posting. Just ask the buyer to hang on to the packaging and broken contents for a while in case PO want to investigate.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/customerservices?catId=400144&pageId=cs_claimform&csd=damage

Certainly worth a try - although not sure if you will be covered as it was glass - I think it depends on which postal service you used. Nothing to lose by sticking a claim in though.

FFM

colin79666

The Royal Mail tend to be very tight about their rules on what you can send and how it is packed. You also usually have to provide the packaging used for their inspection. Still worth a shot though

I would be temped to refund the buyer a small amount - say 20% as a good will gesture.

080766

I sent the soft doll and the box was damaged the buyer asked for refund. I refunded her and claimed the royal mail didn't expect to get any money because it's only the box. I sent the pic of the item. I got full price for the item excluded the postage. I got more than the item was lost. ???
I think it's worth a try.

neilwoods

Royalmail does not cover you for damage to any glassware, only for loss. Doesnt matter what service was used.

Same with most couriers, wont cover you for damage, and technically it is your fault it got broke, as it is the sellers responsibilty to ensure it gets to the buyer in 1 piece, should have wrapped it even more.

martindow

With situations like this I always think what it would be like the other way round. If you had received a parcel with something broken you would expect a refund. As neilwoods says you won't be able to claim as glass is excluded from damage claims. Glass items need a lot of careful packaging. When you have it ready to go you should consider if you would be happy dropping the packet onto a concrete floor - if not it needs more packaging. I'm afraid you need to refund and take the loss.

shelly

kathyb1230 wrote:

I sold some stuff (in glass bottles) on ebay, wrapped it well in bubble wrap and sent it off to the purchaser. Apparently when it was received, 1 bottle was fine but 1 was broken.
Sort of in a dilemma......do I offer to refund the purchaser part of the cost of buying the items, or leave it as I packed it as well as I could, and not technically my fault as was damaged in transit. The purchaser has left me positive feedback, and hasn't asked for a refund at all, but I still feel a little guilty (why oh why do i have a conscience?!)
I'm still relatively new to ebay, so would appreciate advice from more seasoned ebayers.
thanks!
Kathy

Personally I think you should refund in full and learn to package breakables more securely

We had this happen to us and there was no question of whether or not we should refund. You say your buyer hasn't asked for a refund but I *think * that they can leave follow up to feedbaqck previously left so if you don't offer some sort of solution they might let other's know that you didn't offer any help.

nightswimmer

kathyb1230 wrote:

Sort of in a dilemma......do I offer to refund the purchaser part of the cost of buying the items, or leave it as I packed it as well as I could, and not technically my fault as was damaged in transit. The purchaser has left me positive feedback, and hasn't asked for a refund at all, but I still feel a little guilty (why oh why do i have a conscience?!)
I'm still relatively new to ebay, so would appreciate advice from more seasoned ebayers.

If an item is lost in the mail, whilst technically that isn't your fault, you are still responsible for it, and should refund the item and then claim compensation from the courier. To my mind this is no different. Whilst the breakage isn't technically your fault (although it could be argued that you should have packed the items better or used a better courier), it is still your responsibility to make sure the items arrive safely.

So personally, I think you should offer a refund. How much of a refund depends on what the damage means. i.e. If the item is chipped but still perfectly useable, I would offer a partial refund, if however it is unusable or now valueless, I would offer half the money back.

I realise that might not seem fair, but unfortunately that's the responsibilty you take on as a seller.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I'd give them a partial refund proportional to the damage, e.g. if 2 items of equal value and 1 was badly damaged, I'd refund half the purchase price.

kathyb1230

Thanks everyone for the replies. I've sent an email to the purchaser offering a partial refund. Not particularly happy about taking the loss, as I really do believe that I packaged the bottles as well as I possibly could do...but live and learn and all that.
Thanks again
Kathy x