Item damaged, seller "that happens sometimes"!

purple.sarah

I recently purchased a spray bottle of spider repellent on ebay (my housemate is arachnophobic.) This item arrived damaged and leaking through the packaging. It leaked all over my hands as I unpacked it, which is not safe as the instructions say "avoid contact with skin". It was only in an envelope and bag, which is not adequate packaging for a bottle. I received another spray bottle from another seller on the same day, which was in a box and bubble wrap and was undamaged.

I contacted the seller, who said:

"I am sorry to hear that. It is brand new as we tape the necks of each one, put them in a bag and then envelope in order not to leak. The leaking sometimes happens due to the position of the bottle no matter what you put it in. Please let me know if the fluid inside has been compromised significantly."

The leaking was not simply "due to the position of the bottle" and I'm not sure what they mean by that because it is inevitable that the bottle would change position at some point during delivery! The bottle was squashed because the packaging didn't protect it. I estimate about 25% of the product was lost, but that is not my only concern. As the product is not supposed to come into contact with skin, they should consider customer safety when packing it. I am not impressed with their attitude that "leaking sometimes happens", which suggests they have had other complaints and not improved the quality of their packaging. What should be my next step? They accept returns but the buyer has to pay postage, which I am not keen on. I would have to pay for the packaging that they didn't and even then surely they could say the item was damaged in the return post! I normally never leave negative feedback, but I am considering it as a simple complaint was not enough for them to accept their packaging was inadequate.

GregtheHammer

Pretty poor seller, if they know that they have problems before with leaking items the least they could do is send a replacement.

Personally I would contact the seller again requesting a refund or replacement and see how they respond this time.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Out of interest what the difference in price between the seller where it leaked and the seller who boxed it?

purple.sarah

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

Out of interest what the difference in price between the seller where it leaked and the seller who boxed it?

They were different products in similar spray bottles, but the seller who boxed it charged £4.65+£2.70 p&p, while the seller where it leaked charged £4.21 with free p&p, I would have paid extra for adequate packaging though, it's a false economy really.

purple.sarah

GregtheHammer wrote: »

Pretty poor seller, if they know that they have problems before with leaking items the least they could do is send a replacement.

Personally I would contact the seller again requesting a refund or replacement and see how they respond this time.

So you think it is reasonable to ask for a full refund even though I could technically use what is left in the bottle? I think the seller is implying they will only refund if a lot of the fluid has been lost but I am not really comfortable using the damaged bottle.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

There's your answer, the leaky seller knows buyers pick the cheapest deal (not yourself, just in general) so they skimp on packaging as the odd damaged item is more than made up for by extras sales (and extra sales may mean a bigger discount from the supplier again decreasing the price and increasing turnover).

If the seller was smart they'd apologise and refund thus keeping you somewhat happier, I'm assuming a business so if they made you cover the return costs I'd neg for that.

I'd email back and say you'd like to return for a refund but want them to cover the cost of this or offer a picture of the packing and bottle, if this would clearly show it had indeed leaked, hopefully resulting in a refund without return.

Is your complaint about the packaging valid, yes, is it the seller's fault, possibly, but market forces are market forces and if better packing pushes your price out the market then with some products you might as well not bother selling them on a place like eBay where every seller is side by side and judged on price.

Del_Astra

I'd be asking for a refund or replacement. The initial response was not helpful, and is just waffle IMO, they offer no guidance or assistance.

I'm surprised they are still selling "if it happens sometimes", I'd expect them to get hammered on the P&P star rating.

If they want you to return the item, I would send back an empty bottle (it will save on the postage) in similar packaging to what they used. I'd just say it must have leaked out due the angle it was at.

Haffiana

I am pretty sure this is contravening Royal Mail's policy on posting hazardous (poison in this case) liquids. It might be worth mentioning that to the seller, and to be honest, it may be worth reporting to RM irrespective of the seller's attitude. This isn't fair on postmen or people who handle mail, let alone customers.

purple.sarah

Haffiana wrote: »

I am pretty sure this is contravening Royal Mail's policy on posting hazardous (poison in this case) liquids. It might be worth mentioning that to the seller, and to be honest, it may be worth reporting to RM irrespective of the seller's attitude. This isn't fair on postmen or people who handle mail, let alone customers.

It's not actually poison, it's No More Spiders Spray, which is sold by a number of sellers on eBay, described as "non-harmful spider repellent, deters spiders but does not harm them" It's a mix of stuff like clover leaf oil. However it does have the health warning "Caution! Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with skin. Do not inhale the spray." So it could still be a hazardous liquid. I didn't know that when I ordered or opened it. I do think the seller is being irresponsible. Thank you for the info.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Haffiana wrote: »

I am pretty sure this is contravening Royal Mail's policy on posting hazardous (poison in this case) liquids. It might be worth mentioning that to the seller, and to be honest, it may be worth reporting to RM irrespective of the seller's attitude. This isn't fair on postmen or people who handle mail, let alone customers.

It be can't that poisonous otherwise the OP wouldn't be able to use it in their home to deter spiders, it could just contain something like lemon grass oil, without looking at the label on the bottle it's hard to say.

If it kills spiders then it's a pesticide and shouldn't be sent through the post.

purple.sarah

Del_Astra wrote: »

I'd be asking for a refund or replacement. The initial response was not helpful, and is just waffle IMO, they offer no guidance or assistance.

I'm surprised they are still selling "if it happens sometimes", I'd expect them to get hammered on the P&P star rating.

If they want you to return the item, I would send back an empty bottle (it will save on the postage) in similar packaging to what they used. I'd just say it must have leaked out due the angle it was at.

Good point, I did feel their response was very unhelpful. Regarding feedback, I made the classic mistake I'm afraid, trusting their mainly positive (99.5%) feedback and power seller status without actually reading the feedback. Looking closer I can see that although their feedback is more positive than negative, because they sell so many products they had to get it right sometimes, there are a number of negatives, 15 in the last month alone, 2 of which are about damaged spider spray and more about other damaged products. There are 91 negatives in the last 12 months. Let this be a warning to people to check feedback
I also don't know why their stars have not been lowered.