International Purchase Damaged in Transit, advice needed

paganskins

I was hoping someone may have been in a similar situation to the following and could offer advice on how to proceed or advise on how this problem is usually resolved.

Making the most of the dollar/sterling exchange rate and to avoid the inflated prices of US made guitars in the UK I bought a high end guitar from an ebay seller in the states, however on it's arrival and unpacking the guitar it seems to have suffered structural damage in transit.

The seller has a very a good rating/feedback dealing mainly in expensive musical instruments so I have no worries about his commitment to refunding the purchase however I was hoping someone could give me an idea of what I should expect to be refunded.

Looking at the USPS website he should be able to claim the value of the guitar and his shipping costs from and refunding me the cost of the guitar plus shipping, however I don't think I'm covered for the cost of returning the guitar and the duty paid when importing it which I expect to pay again if he replaces it.

The purchase was made through an the normal ebay and paypal channels and meets all their criteria for protecting purchases though it seems I would only be covered up to £500 and as this is only about half the cost of the guitar and would require it being returned or destroyed isn't a viable option.

The paypal payment was taken from a HSBC mastercard, would there be any form of insurance from the card provider in this type of case?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Madam_Arcati

I think you are supposed to claim for incoming damaged items using a Royal Mail or parcelforce claim form. Then you will get your costs refunded.

martindow

Normally the seller makes the claim as they have the paperwork from sending the parcel. I would consider it the sender's resposibility to ensure that the item gets to you safely. He may well have a fight to get refunded. If an item is damaged in transit, unless the package has obviously been damaged externally, the broken guitar shows inadequate packing. Have you contacted him? Is the guitar written off or repairable? I would write to him initially to let him know what has happened with a couple of photos and see what he suggests, and then decide on your response. Keep the packaging in the meantime.

As you paid by credit card to fund the Paypal you can claim from your bank (who can make a chargeback) as well as from Paypal. I hope that this works out well.

Madam_Arcati

If the parcel is damaged in transit it is not the Seller's fault.

I would still complete one of our post office forms - otherwise the OP cannot claim for the customs charges, etc.

paganskins

No joy with the credit card company.
Paypal will only cover up to £500 on proof of the item's return or destruction! Not an option as that would only cover half the cost.
I've contacted the seller who will pursue the claim once I've had a chance to email him photos of the damage and the packaging.
The packaging doesn't appear damaged so I'm not too confident.
I'm waiting on a reply from customs in regard to refunding the duty if the guitar is returned.
If returning it for a replacement would incur an aditional customs fee this with the cost of shipping back to the states and two lots of duty would be roughly twice the price of having it repaired.
If I did keep the guitar and have it repaired allowing for the depreciation caused the guitar would still be worth more in UK prices than my total spend so I'm may try for a partial refund to cover the cost of repair.

Hintza

You are in a minefield here, partial refund would be the best and easiest.

Your seller will probably get clobbered for import duty going back into USA, this is a nightmare and fortunately one I haven't yet experienced. Keep on friendly terms with seller, call him if you can (emails can look a bit aggressive if you are not very very careful with your language). You need to work on this together to sort it out.

Good luck.