Ziffit Lose A Perfectly Good Book

fallen121

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Ziffit are a company like Zapper, Webuybooks or Amazon Tradein who buy used books and textbooks based on the ISBN number and condition. You scan the books, you send them, they look them over and provided they meet the condition criteria and the ISBNs agree with what you scanned then you get paid.

I'm posting this because I need to vent. I don't have any real expectation that anything will be done, because when you are dealing with big corporates, they pretty much behave how they want.

Don't get me wrong, I have had a lot of positive experiences with Ziffit in the past, but my most recent experience was far from satisfactory. They lost a book, and as it was quite an expensive text book which they had pledged to buy, I'm pretty miffed about it because I have no redress.

Out of ten books they accepted, one was a slim A4 sized paperback so had to be packed sideways in the box. The rest of the books were at the bottom of the box laid flat. The white spine stood out against the green foam chips. The unusual packing angle and the spine is how come I know the book was definitely in the parcel.

The parcel was received quickly, but one of the books - the A4 sized one - was listed as "not received". I sent an email enquiry, all I received back was a canned response which stated (and I quote exactly), ""If the item was in the box, then it might have been rejected or not received". Not only does that not make English sense (how can something be "in the box" and at the same time "not received" ?), but the email then went on to inform me about all the reasons why a book might have been rejected (incorrect ISBN, poor condition, etc). But the book had NEVER been rejected and I had NEVER complained about this. So this proved to me that standard responses are sent out, regardless of the nature of the enquiry.

I sent back a response, asking Ziffit to look into the matter further because I was convinced that due to the slim nature of the book, it had been overlooked and discarded along with the foam peanuts (I'd already complained along these lines but as you probably gathered from the canned response, they don't really read your emails).

I kid you not. Three hours later I get an email saying that I have been paid for all the other books, but NOT for the missing one, which is now listed as "EXPIRED". So not only could Ziffit not be bothered to investigate my enquiry properly by placing the trade on hold, they are now trying to fob me off with a payment so they can avoid the issue of having tossed a perfectly good book.

Rejecting books I can understand, but to lose a perfectly good book and then push the trade through to try and avoid the issue is just NOT acceptable in my opinion.

Thank you, I feel better now.

veryintrigued

Similar issues here and looking at Trust pilot I'm not alone.

I too had one book missing from a box of ten. Seems someone in the chain had a penchant for this one.

Also (in a different batch) had a book that was 'water damaged' but had only left my (dry) bedside cabinet the night before.

And a cd (in a third batch) that wasnt even used but apparently was 'damaged'

I wont be using these ever, ever again - the charity shop or something more ethical next time.

somethingcorporate

This is the thing with these kind of companies, they can "lose" or downgrade the quality of the item without any redress.

bod1467

It's the same as some of these mobile phone recyclers - send them a mint condition phone based on the offer they made, and all of a sudden the condition is just "adequate" and the offer is reduced.

peter_the_piper

Or have ""had water"" in them so offer £15 instead of £150.

mossstitchmama

With regards to recycling mobiles, my husband took his Samsung Galaxy W to CEX. They had initially quoted £27 cash or £35 (I think), store credit.

It was boxed up and I took it to a different branch and we ended up getting £58 store credit as it was in very good condition and complete in original box.

It might have been a bit more inconvenient to visit a store but at least we could reject the offer if we weren't happy and keep the phone. Will do this again when I get a new phone as we were very pleased.

lofielectronic

Thanks for this, I received a junk email from Ziffit.com today.

It seems I bought a book from a seller on eBay who sold on/used my email to sign me up with this company. Their email also mentions World Of Books, the eBay seller, which is what lead me to this thread. Thanks for at least clearing up the connection.

I should add the book I received from World OF Books on eBay also arrived with a broken spine so they aren't exactly great from a customer perspective either

Nat_F

I've just had the same experience. I have traded with Ziffit about three times with no problems. This time I sent them two brand new, unread and unopened books (unwanted presents). Ziffit have claimed that the more expensive of the two has 'water damage' and have given me nothing for it. Strange that both were in perfect condition when I sent them and, if they have been damaged in transit, only one has been affected.


I have emailed them to inquire about this but, from reading the above posts, I imagine I'll get nowhere.


My question, though, is: is this legal? I acknowledge that I have accepted Ziffit's terms and conditions and so am a willing participant in the theft of my own goods but is this a fair contract? I cannot get my items back and I cannot check the condition of them to verify the 'water damage'. Is there a precedent in banking charges? Many people willingly signed up to the conditions of bank accounts but they were found by the courts to have unfair conditions attached (such as credit card late payment charges). Could a similar thing apply here?


Just a thought.

geerex

Nat_F wrote: »

I've just had the same experience. I have traded with Ziffit about three times with no problems. This time I sent them two brand new, unread and unopened books (unwanted presents). Ziffit have claimed that the more expensive of the two has 'water damage' and have given me nothing for it. Strange that both were in perfect condition when I sent them and, if they have been damaged in transit, only one has been affected.


I have emailed them to inquire about this but, from reading the above posts, I imagine I'll get nowhere.


My question, though, is: is this legal? I acknowledge that I have accepted Ziffit's terms and conditions and so am a willing participant in the theft of my own goods but is this a fair contract? I cannot get my items back and I cannot check the condition of them to verify the 'water damage'. Is there a precedent in banking charges? Many people willingly signed up to the conditions of bank accounts but they were found by the courts to have unfair conditions attached (such as credit card late payment charges). Could a similar thing apply here?


Just a thought.

Small claims? They acknowledged receipt, if they are in wiling to provide evidence of damage or return (even if you offer to pay return postage), I'd say that was the theft. Just because you have agreed to their terms doesn't mean they can then do what they like.
I suppose it's up to you whether it's worth the hassle. I'm sure a legal eagle on here could advise further.

vaderag

These guys are absolute crooks.

Just sent a bunch of books, most worth about 30p but a few worth £1+

Surprise surprise, the books that they claimed were damaged were the ones worth £1+
I KNOW for a fact that they were pristine...

I've asked them to send me the evidence, doubt the will tho.

It's only a few quid and they would have gone to the charity shop otherwise, but do that on a mass scale and they're making a killing that could have gone to charity.

I was going to report to the OFT, but they don't exist any more, so where do you report these illegal dealings these days?

Jane_Imo

I have had problems with Ziffit too with CD's and DVD's.
[FONT=&quot]Do not use this company. I sent a selection of CD's in perfectly good working order, with no more than everyday wear and tear from playing them. Every case was checked before sending. Once Ziffit got hold of the parcel they claimed that 18 out of around 58 CD's were deemed damaged, and were being disposed of in an appropriate manner. When contacted they refused to provide any proof of the damage and gave a list of reasons including water damage and wrong cases etc (every single case was checked before sending to avoid this!). They then sent a payment significantly less than promised and would not return the items they refused to pay out on, or provide proof of damage. Please don't waste your time or money and use a competitor without so many comments amounting to the same complaint[/FONT]