Buyer claims I sent empty packet

Kitty_Ears

Yes, you read that right. Advice please!

Buyer bought a Pandora charm from me, I sent first class with a tracking number. Wrapped charm in bubble wrap, placed in envelope, sellotaped securely.


Received email from buyer saying I sent her an empty package. Then suddenly when she checked, there was a hole in it. Then suddenly LOTS of holes. She now wants her money back as her husband works for royal mail and is outraged (!) and it was for her Nana's birthday (of course it was).


Spoke to eBay and looked at their rules, they state if the packet arrived at its destination and is damaged/lost/stolen, it's royal mails fault. Buyer is claiming thats not right, it's my fault. An case has been opened and despite eBay saying I'm right, I have a feeling I will refund.


What do you lot think? I think she's having me on quite frankly...!

cootuk

Can't you refund, then claim against Royal Mail?..though you would probably need the packaging back

custardy

Kitty_Ears wrote: »

Yes, you read that right. Advice please!

Buyer bought a Pandora charm from me, I sent first class with a tracking number. Wrapped charm in bubble wrap, placed in envelope, sellotaped securely.


Received email from buyer saying I sent her an empty package. Then suddenly when she checked, there was a hole in it. Then suddenly LOTS of holes. She now wants her money back as her husband works for royal mail and is outraged (!) and it was for her Nana's birthday (of course it was).


Spoke to eBay and looked at their rules, they state if the packet arrived at its destination and is damaged/lost/stolen, it's royal mails fault. Buyer is claiming thats not right, it's my fault. An case has been opened and despite eBay saying I'm right, I have a feeling I will refund.


What do you lot think? I think she's having me on quite frankly...!

wrapped in a normal envelope?
wold you like to link to the page that changes the rules, and makes it not your fault?

BargainJunky

I dont wish to appear harsh but there is a chance that the charm has worked its way out of a normal envelope whilst in the post. It would have been much better to put it sandwiched between two sheets of card, bubble wrapped, taped and then in a jiffy bag.

I'm not sure how it will end as it all depends on how ebay decide. There is a chance that the seller is trying it on but there is also the chance that they did receive an empty packet.

aw0603

As a very experienced eBayer, I know that if eBay side in your favor you do not have to refund. Siomply provide the buyer with proof of posting and tell them to claim against Royal Mail direct. What is your feedback rating? If its good/high I would quote this in the emails.......... Which postage service did you and how much did it sell for?

custardy

aw0603 wrote: »

As a very experienced eBayer, I know that if eBay side in your favor you do not have to refund. Siomply provide the buyer with proof of posting and tell them to claim against Royal Mail direct. What is your feedback rating? If its good/high I would quote this in the emails.......... Which postage service did you and how much did it sell for?

So as an experienced eBayer,its your view that a buyer is at the mercy of your poor packaging?

soolin

aw0603 wrote: »

As a very experienced eBayer, I know that if eBay side in your favor you do not have to refund. Siomply provide the buyer with proof of posting and tell them to claim against Royal Mail direct. What is your feedback rating? If its good/high I would quote this in the emails.......... Which postage service did you and how much did it sell for?

As an experienced buyer you do not seem to be giving correct advice at all.

For a claim of INR (item not received) seller needs proof of delivery , not proof of postage, telling abuyer to make their own claim against Royal Mail is a recipe to disaster.

Feedback has nothing to do with th is, and I am extremely susprised that any experienced user thinks that to be the case.

OP, does tracking show delivery? If so then you need to assist buyer with this and try to work together to see what has gone wrong. Assuming the buyer is a scammer is not helpful and if that omes across in your email this could go horribly wrong.

You 'should' be able to defend an INR claim if you have proof of delivery online, but if buyer persuades ebay that packaging was damaged and item missing they may allow a claim to go through for missing item- so it is really a good idea to do what you can here to help.

If this has gone in an ordinary envelope then there is a fair to good chance it has been damaged en route by the machinery and the bead fallen out

withabix

Envelopes are intended for posting things which are the same size as the envelope (or can be folded to become so).

Anything else can move around in the envelope, causing mechanical damage to the envelope (that means holes!) and therefore requires more robust packaging.

You can make an envelope more robust by reinforcing it - I sometimes post ink cartridges in envelopes for example, as the ones I sell pass the '25mm small packet' test that way - I tape the edges with clear parcel tape and also across the front and back.

Otherwise you need a padded envelope or the 'Tyvek' or plastic ones as used by many parcel companies and Royal Mail.

A few extra pence in packaging is better than a total loss.

yoyoegg

99% sure OP will end up refunding. Will the PO deny any claim as it was 'jewellery'?

custardy

yoyoegg wrote: »

99% sure OP will end up refunding. Will the PO deny any claim as it was 'jewellery'?

Probably better claiming from Royal Mail

techspec

Kitty_ears - you really need to refund as you are the one responisble.

aw0603 - you have experience on Ebay and you think Ebay will side with the seller? Really?