My first ever ebay item showed up damaged. What do I do?

[battlemaiden]

Actually it was my son who did the bidding. He is feeling quite disappointed. It was a star wars figure and it is missing an arm and a horn (hoth taun, for you star wars peeps).

 

I'm ticked. His ebay experience started badly (mine too for that matter).

 

I have emailed the seller and simply asked if I should send it back for a full refund? What are my other options?

 

Jo

[gardening momma]

If you go that route, they should also pay for return shipping (you sending it back to them).

[Tree House Academy]

I would let the seller know of the problem and give them time to respond. If they have positive feedback of 50 or more, you shouldn't have any issues. If you do not hear back from them in a reasonable amount of time, then you may want to proceed to other options like a paypal dispute. I wouldn't go there just yet, though. There are lots of honest sellers out there.

 

You may also want to skim the original listing and see if there is mention of the defect/missing part. If there is, then the fault is your own and I would NOT ask for a refund in that case. It is very important to read all of the details in the listing, no matter what the picture looks like.

[Loupelou]

I would let the seller know of the problem and give them time to respond. If they have positive feedback of 50 or more, you shouldn't have any issues. If you do not hear back from them in a reasonable amount of time, then you may want to proceed to other options like a paypal dispute. I wouldn't go there just yet, though. There are lots of honest sellers out there.

 

You may also want to skim the original listing and see if there is mention of the defect/missing part. If there is, then the fault is your own and I would NOT ask for a refund in that case. It is very important to read all of the details in the listing, no matter what the picture looks like.

 

:iagree:

[Tony'sMom]

See the following link: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/item-not-received.html

 

As the previous post said you want to make sure that the item's description did not mention the missing arm and horn. If it did not, you must use the line "item not as described" with the seller and also if you have to file a complaint. A seller definitely does not want negative feedback saying their items are not as described. Especially with all of Ebay's new rules. I know you and your son are disappointed - however you have one thing in your favor - Ebay caters to buyers - I don't think you will have any problems getting this issue resolved. Please tell me you used Paypal.

[Beth in Central TX]

I know you and your son are disappointed - however you have one thing in your favor - Ebay caters to buyers - I don't think you will have any problems getting this issue resolved. Please tell me you used Paypal.

 

I have not found the bolded point above to be true at all. Ebay did not help me when I purchased a book that was not what it was described to be. I finally had to dispute the claim through Paypal, and eventually received my refund once the book was scanned as delivered using USPS delivery confirmation. In order to get back my shipping charges to return the item, I had to file a complaint with the BBB (luckily it was a large seller who had an established business). The seller finally reimbursed my shipping charges, and I dropped the complaint. It was a nightmare and took up way too much of my time. I'll never use Ebay again because of their lack of customer service.

 

I hope you have a much better experience, but save all of your e-mail correspondence with the seller. This helped me in my BBB claim because the seller agreed to pay for the return shipping, but he never followed through. When I forwarded the e-mail to BBB, he finally paid (I had included a copy of my USPS receipt in the return package). Once I received the money, I dropped the complaint.

 

I kept Ebay up-to-date on all of the problems I was having with the seller including the BBB complaint. They did nothing to help.