Damaged item, returned incomplete/possibly swapped

MR1988

Hi all,

I'm in sort of a situation. I sold an expensive collectible/figure last week, made of multiple plastic parts that fit together. The item was brand new with all seals intact. I bought two of these myself from store a few years ago as I was planning to have one on display and keep one unopened. As I want to downsize my collection I decided to let one of them go. I had a person buy it so I packed it away and shipped with Special Delivery.

As soon as the item was delivered, I received a message with photos of multiple parts broken. It's a bit strange how many of the parts were broken as the figure is tucked securely in a plastic insert and doesn't move within the box. I decided not to fight it and offered the buyer the option of returning or sending them a replacement figure that would cover all broken parts. They refused the replacement because "it's been opened" even though it never was displayed. A bit odd as to why would they refuse if it was open since they themselves opened the box they bought in the first place. Anyway, I just sent them a label and instructed them to return.

Received my item today and upon inspection there seems to be dust in certain areas on the figure. Which makes me wonder if this has been swapped now. Obviously I cannot prove it and it would probably only be a headache to try and fight it. For all I know dust could have settled in production before the figure was packed away. I also do not wish to message buyer and accuse them of anything as I have no concrete proof this has been swapped or not and that would be quite poor of me if the buyer was genuine and the item got damaged in transit.

The other thing is, they returned everything, except for a plastic insert that holds 3 of the figure pieces. So these 3 pieces are just loose now inside the box because the buyer didn't bother to put the plastic insert back. I know it may sound a bit petty, but these inserts are important to keep items in place from moving while in transit. And a lot of people collecting these items decide to buy or pass on a sale if said items is complete with inserts or not.

I honestly think the buyer is just sloppy as the box and it's sleeve are ripped around the corners from being opened, they didn't bother to put pieces back correctly in the box and also the missing plastic insert. Wouldn't surprise me if they dropped the pieces while openeing and got them broken themselves, but that is another story not worth pursuing.

So as it stands, what would be my best options? Just refund and take the loss? Is it worth asking them to return the plastic insert as well? Should I pursue this with Royal Mail since I paid for Special Delivery or would be difficult to have Royal Mail cover any loss? I doubt they would pay me anythign around £400 but even a partial payout for some of the broken pieces would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading and for your suggestions!

superbigal

Special Delivery comes with £500 insurance.

[Deleted User]

Based on what you’ve said, I can’t see where Royal Mail fall liable for your dodgy customer. Assuming the parcel was delivered on time, they will consider everything done as it should be and I can’t see them accepting any claim. They’re hard work as it is when dealing with legitimate claims, when they are clearly at fault, from experience.

Where did the sale take place? EBay? Take it up with eBay, best option, tell them what’s happened.

MR1988

Yeah, I don’t really put my hopes high into any Royal Mail claim.

I just messaged buyer to ask about the missing plastic insert/holder to which they responded that the plastic insert was ripped when they opened the box. So they admit to ripping and not including the plastic in the return. I could only assume they broke other pieces on assembly seeing how ‘barbaric’ they were in handling the whole item. Very disappointing.

shapala

MR1988 said:

Yeah, I don’t really put my hopes high into any Royal Mail claim.

I just messaged buyer to ask about the missing plastic insert/holder to which they responded that the plastic insert was ripped when they opened the box. So they admit to ripping and not including the plastic in the return. I could only assume they broke other pieces on assembly seeing how ‘barbaric’ they were in handling the whole item. Very disappointing.

You could offer a partial refund which can be done via the case your side and mention it was sold 'new' and you've received broken pieces which have massively impacted the value. Obviously don't be pointing fingers and stick to fact as best you can. Could also be worth reaching out to eBay by phone and put your thoughts to them - they may agree that a partial refund is best course of action.

MR1988

shapala said:

MR1988 said:

Yeah, I don’t really put my hopes high into any Royal Mail claim.

I just messaged buyer to ask about the missing plastic insert/holder to which they responded that the plastic insert was ripped when they opened the box. So they admit to ripping and not including the plastic in the return. I could only assume they broke other pieces on assembly seeing how ‘barbaric’ they were in handling the whole item. Very disappointing.

You could offer a partial refund which can be done via the case your side and mention it was sold 'new' and you've received broken pieces which have massively impacted the value. Obviously don't be pointing fingers and stick to fact as best you can. Could also be worth reaching out to eBay by phone and put your thoughts to them - they may agree that a partial refund is best course of action.

 I have already received the items back so I don’t think that is an option anymore as the tracking shows that the item has been returned. Think I’ll just take the loss and block buyer. It’s too much of a hassle to fight it. My only proof and fact is that buyer admits to rip the plastic insert and not including it in returned item.

GadgetGuru

Your chosen course of action is probably the best with least hassle, but I hate situations like this where the buyer just gets away with it - they will only end up continuing and doing it to someone else next. 
What goes around comes around. 

Olinda99

how do you know that you do not have a claim from Royal mail?

assuming the buyer is speaking the truth then the parcel arrived damaged. thus you have at least a reason to claim on your insurance unless of course it was not packed well enough in which case RM might reject the claim on this ground

MR1988

Olinda99 said:

how do you know that you do not have a claim from Royal mail?

assuming the buyer is speaking the truth then the parcel arrived damaged. thus you have at least a reason to claim on your insurance unless of course it was not packed well enough in which case RM might reject the claim on this ground

 From experience. Last time they damaged an item, and I mean they crushed it to bits, they only offered to refund me the postage. And that was for a £35 item. So I have no hopes that they would do anything with an even more expensive claim.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

My understanding is you can deduct up to 50% from the refund when refunding the buyer via the return.

You need to refund within 2 business days and also report the buyer.

There should be a comment box on the return refund flow to explain the deduction, I would note the box is badly damaged, part of the packaging is missing, the item was damaged in several places and had dust on it which means you believe the buyer has swapped the item. eBay isn't an expert on collectable figures, just keep it brief and to the point. 

eBay will decide what comes next if the buyer disputes the deduction (I wouldn't talk to the buyer about this matter, there's no need as it just gets messy, eBay are there to deal with such things to keep everything amicable). 
 
2 things stand out for me, the dust which on it's own might be as you say but when coupled with the fact people who buy £400 collectable figures don't rip the boxes open and treat their new prized possession with such a lack of care it does sort of point towards them swapping for their old one. 

Have you checked their feedback left for others? Any excessive complaints towards sellers? Are they selective about who they leave feedback for? Doesn't help with anything concrete but might help you decide whether this is genuine or not. 

GadgetGuru

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

My understanding is you can deduct up to 50% from the refund when refunding the buyer via the return.

Only if you accept returns in the first instance. If you list the item with 'No Returns Accepted', then this option is not available. 
I'm also not sure if its available if the item is returned as part of a 'not as described' case.