Item arrived damaged, buyers wants refund

hubb

I sent a box set of cds, that are inside a sturdy plastic case in a padded jiffy bag via Hermes. The buyer has requested a return as the case arrived smashed in the corner, making it impossible to close. Beggers belief what Hermes do with their parcels if they can do this to a hard case, padded inside bubblewrap.
Anyway, I have the options of

Accept the return

You pay for postage and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.

Give a full refund

You can fully refund the buyer to close this request. The buyer keeps the item.

Offer a partial refund

You have one chance to offer an amount. The buyer keeps the item.

Send the buyer a message

You can reply to the buyer.

Can I claim off hermes as the buyer has sent photos of the damaged item ?

Thanks

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Unfortunately I'm not sure a jiffy bag would be classed as sufficient to protect something like this, it should have been boxed. 

Hermes make it difficult to claim as it is but I think it's doubtful they will payout if you have to supply photos of the packaging.  

pramsay13

Unlikely you will get anything from Hermes. 

If you think the buyer is genuine make them a decent offer to keep the box.

hubb

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Unfortunately I'm not sure a jiffy bag would be classed as sufficient to protect something like this, it should have been boxed. 

Hermes make it difficult to claim as it is but I think it's doubtful they will payout if you have to supply photos of the packaging.  

Really ? Its a very sturdy, thick type of Jiffi bag around a hard plastic case. Sorry but damage is damaged and they are responsible. The buyer wants a full refund and he will return it but now what use is it to me with a smashed case ?
Sorry but I will pursue Hermes, as it's covered free for up to £20 surely they don't legally have any way of getting out of this.

MalMonroe

I'd do this one : 

"Accept the return

You pay for postage and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer."  And I'd use ebay's label.

Because then you don't lose altogether. The buyer will be happy at getting a refund and give you a good rating as a seller and you will be able to see the damage, put CDs into new cases and offer them for sale again. But make sure to use double the bubble wrap next time. Everyone's a winner. 

You could try to get something out of Hermes, they do have a page for that : https://support.myhermes.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/198/~/damaged-parcels

hubb

MalMonroe said:

I'd do this one : 

"Accept the return

You pay for postage and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer."  And I'd use ebay's label.

Because then you don't lose altogether. The buyer will be happy at getting a refund and give you a good rating as a seller and you will be able to see the damage, put CDs into new cases and offer them for sale again. But make sure to use double the bubble wrap next time. Everyone's a winner. 

You could try to get something out of Hermes, they do have a page for that : https://support.myhermes.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/198/~/damaged-parcels

Thanks for the suggestion but as its a 16 cd set, the case is hard to find as its opaque, thick plastic, much sturdier than the more brittle conventional type hemce my surprise at it getting smashed. If I can find one I will certainly do this though.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

hubb said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Unfortunately I'm not sure a jiffy bag would be classed as sufficient to protect something like this, it should have been boxed. 

Hermes make it difficult to claim as it is but I think it's doubtful they will payout if you have to supply photos of the packaging.  

Really ? Its a very sturdy, thick type of Jiffi bag around a hard plastic case. Sorry but damage is damaged and they are responsible. The buyer wants a full refund and he will return it but now what use is it to me with a smashed case ?
Sorry but I will pursue Hermes, as it's covered free for up to £20 surely they don't legally have any way of getting out of this.

Really sorry but your parcel is going to get thrown around without any care at all and likely to have many other parcels dumped on top of it, even those jiffy bags you get with the weird pulped cardboard flaky stuff inside wouldn't be sufficient. 

I won a normal CD from eBay, it was sent Royal Mail in a jiffy bag and arrived with a broken case, Royal Mail treat large letters far better than any of the couriers treat their parcels. 

Plastic is brittle when exposed to impact and a box with padding all the way round every side of the item to absorb any impact but leaving enough space so that impact doesn't travel through the packing to the item inside is the best way to pack something like this. 

martindow

If the contents are damaged in transit it is really evidence that the packaging was not adequate.  Unless the damage is something like a fork lift punched through it or there are tyre marks on the outside I agree that you are not going to get very far making a claim.  In reality the insurance only covers you for a lost parcel.

epm-84

hubb said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Unfortunately I'm not sure a jiffy bag would be classed as sufficient to protect something like this, it should have been boxed. 

Hermes make it difficult to claim as it is but I think it's doubtful they will payout if you have to supply photos of the packaging.  

Really ? Its a very sturdy, thick type of Jiffi bag around a hard plastic case. Sorry but damage is damaged and they are responsible. The buyer wants a full refund and he will return it but now what use is it to me with a smashed case ?
Sorry but I will pursue Hermes, as it's covered free for up to £20 surely they don't legally have any way of getting out of this.

I've received CDs & DVDs in jiffy bags where the plastic centre bit that holds the CD/DVD in place has cracked in transit.  I think unfortunately if you do send them in jiffy bag whether it's by Royal Mail or courier, there's a chance plastic will crack in transit.  When Amazon were using Indigo Starfish to send out DVDs and CDs from Jersey, they used jiffy bags rather than boxes like Amazon would have usually used and there were a lot of complaints about items being poorly packaged and arriving damaged.

Of course if you use a jiffy bag it can be sent as a large letter with Royal Mail or a postable package with Hermes which allows you to send for less than using a box but the cheaper option isn't risk free.

Spoonie_Turtle

I don't think it's fair to expect CDs/DVDs to be damaged in transit. I've bought most of my moderately-sized collection online, from various sellers with various delivery methods and they've mostly arrived in jiffy bags just fine - although the 10-series and 8-series sets were mostly boxed, bubble-wrapped and boxed again, with the larger ones being too heavy to be thrown around I'd have thought. I don't think I've ever received a damaged disc case that wasn't already advertised as having some damage.
Edit: of course there is always a risk, my experiences don't negate that, I just don't think it's almost inevitable. They *can* deliver these things undamaged and have done many times.

That said, half of the things I send in the post are unique, one-off handmade wooden items that can't be replaced with exact copies so I am extremely careful with packaging - while I've never doubted I could claim for the insured value, I also want to minimise the risk of any damage on the first place just because they are virtually irreplaceable.

pinkshoes

If the buyer wants a return, then send them a returns label, refund them, then claim from Hermes. Whether Hermes refund or not will depend on whether they think the packaging is suitable or not. 

Has the buyer sent a photo of the damage?

Are you sure eBay is for you? You do seem to have a lot of problems...