Item received in disgusting condition

Charliezoo

I bought some used wooden farm animal toys for my 1 year old daughter from an eBay shop. They arrived today and when I tipped them out of the bag they were covered in a grey dust. On closer inspection one of the animals actually has grey mould growing all over it! I'm appalled, they've obviously been stored somewhere damp like a shed and there's no way they should've been sold, its even worse that they're a child's toy.

I've never had cause to complain on ebay but I'm quite annoyed about this. I was going to message the seller but ebay customer support says to open a case, contacting the seller in the first instance isn't suggested.

Can anyone advise me on how best to pursue this please?

SlowCooker

You can contact the seller without opening a case by choosing the last option "other" instead of "item not as described".

Charliezoo

Thanks SlowCooker, is this considered to be the correct way to deal with the problem? Am I able to send photos so the seller can see the mould?

SlowCooker

Charliezoo wrote: »

Thanks SlowCooker, is this considered to be the correct way to deal with the problem? Am I able to send photos so the seller can see the mould?

It is advisable to give the seller a chance to correct their mistake. Attaching pictures is a good idea too. If they don't respond or refuse to help, you can then open a dispute.

Kayalana99

I'd open a case personally as it sounds like it was one of those things that the seller wouldn't of missed - I would contact a seller if say something arrived damaged in the post ...or say a stain on clothes that could of been missed etc....but if its blatantly obvious and seller knows what they have done what is the point of trying to reason with someone who would do that in first place?

mrcol1000

Open a case. There are some problems that can be honest mistakes and then there some problems that the buyer is just hoping to get away with it. Sending them with mould I think is something it would be hard to do by mistake especially for a shop. You will most likely to return by tracked mail and My Hermes will allow you to send up to 2kg for £3.90 fully tracked if you drop it off at a local shop.

I would include photos if you can as if I was that seller I'd refund you in full without having them back. Although I'd not sell an item in that state.

Once it is all sorted do not forget to leave appropriate feedback for them on your experience.

SlowCooker

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I'd open a case personally as it sounds like it was one of those things that the seller wouldn't of missed - I would contact a seller if say something arrived damaged in the post ...or say a stain on clothes that could of been missed etc....but if its blatantly obvious and seller knows what they have done what is the point of trying to reason with someone who would do that in first place?

I bought an item once with horrible damage that the seller couldn't have missed. I contacted the seller, attached a picture, and she refunded right away.

Charliezoo

Ok, the seller has responded and was not particularly polite about it! They said they had checked the toys over before sending them which is highly unlikely. They have asked me to send them back for a refund, what exactly will I get refunded in this circumstance? The postage cost more than the item itself and I don't want to fork out even more for postage if I'm going to lose out!

Kayalana99

Charliezoo wrote: »

Ok, the seller has responded and was not particularly polite about it! They said they had checked the toys over before sending them which is highly unlikely. They have asked me to send them back for a refund, what exactly will I get refunded in this circumstance? The postage cost more than the item itself and I don't want to fork out even more for postage if I'm going to lose out!

I would send him a photo, leave a neg and take it on the chin (assuming the toys are not a lot)

Alternatively open a case, ring eBay to explain it will cost more to return (but still send a photo to seller) ...most likey they will offer a good will refund but it won't come from the seller but eBay....so its pretty pointless doing it for the principle depends if your bothered about a couple quid. (I am assuming its not a high amount due to postage costs)

SlowCooker

Charliezoo wrote: »

Ok, the seller has responded and was not particularly polite about it! They said they had checked the toys over before sending them which is highly unlikely. They have asked me to send them back for a refund, what exactly will I get refunded in this circumstance? The postage cost more than the item itself and I don't want to fork out even more for postage if I'm going to lose out!

In this case you might want to open a dispute through eBay. Normally they ask you to return the item tracked for a full refund. In some cases they provide you with a return label or give you a good will refund. If they don't, however, you will be responsible for the return postage, which is definitely not fair, but there's nothing you can do about it. Please leave a negative feedback for the stupid seller.

nightsong

You can ask them to refund the return postage. They are not obliged to do so, but they may agree. You are obviously going to leave them terrible feedback if they are not helpful, so I guess it's going to come down to how much they care about their feedback.