Scratched sword replica advertised as NEW

[s_erie_zzyai6cj]

Hi I'm pretty new to buying medieval type weapons so I'm not sure if I made a mistake here but I ordered a replica gandolf sword(lord of rings) and it advertised as new but it came with a bunch of imperfections like scratches on blade, scribble scratches and wear scratches, even scabbard had some scratches.. my roomate got a sword and it was near perfect and actually looked like factory new i would give it a 99 out of 100, mine was maybe 75 out of hundred and I was upset with it so I told merchant and he said it was customs that does this to the blade, so I countered with then u should tell people this may come with scratches and imperfections due to customs.. he said he would discount next item but I dont plan on buying from them again so I left neg feedback but was only being honest, like i gave him 3 stars and explained what happened and left pictures of blade.. I wasnt trying to hurt the guy or his business but he is messaging me now about the feedback and I'm not sure if I did right thing or if I should somehow try to revise the review.. it's my first neg review as well.. am I the a hole☹ should I just move on or try to revise idk.. thanks for any feedback.. I will also mention my roommate blade came unsharpened and mine had sharper edges if that matters idk

[chevymontecarlo88]

If the seller is offering you a full refund (including shipping), i would accept that and revise your feedback. Mistakes happen all of the time but how they are dealt with is what matters. If you open a return, make sure you choose Item Not As Described. (This is assuming the item was described as new and was received as not)

They will have to take back the item (and supply you a return label) if you choose INAD. Personally i would let them know you would be returning the item and you could revise the feedback once you are made whole. Do not extort them by offering a revised feedback for refund. Just do it on your own if you feel good after the refund. You could accept the partial refund and revise the feedback but it depends on if you want a new item without issues or this one at a discount.

[mudshark61369]

@chevymontecarlo88,

You replied to the OP saying:

"Personally i would let them know you would be returning the item and would revise the feedback once you are made whole".

That would be a good way for s_erie... to get reported for Feedback extortion. Neither buyers or sellers can mention anything about feedback in exchange for taking an action of any kind.

[s_erie_zzyai6cj]

Thanks for the feedback.. unfortunately they have a no returns policy that of course I didnt see until after I bought as I'm a bit new to collecting things and purchasing from ebay.. they did offer a future discount which was nice but I dont think I'll order from them again just because of what happened and of course being called out when I left a review. I didnt realize that a partial refund for the product was an option, maybe that's what they were saying but it's also from hong kong I believe so there wasnt the best communication. Thanks again for any feedback or suggestion's!

[chevymontecarlo88]

I understand if you do that it would not be good. I should of been more clear and will edit that. Good catch. The advice was how they should handle it not how they should respond to them personally. They had a future discount offer already and if that is not ok, just open a INAD. I dont think that is what the OP is suggestions as well. They are just trying to do the right thing by also getting what they ordered.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@s_erie_zzyai6cj wrote:

Thanks for the feedback.. unfortunately they have a no returns policy that of course I didnt see until after I bought as I'm a bit new to collecting things and purchasing from ebay.. they did offer a future discount which was nice but I dont think I'll order from them again just because of what happened and of course being called out when I left a review. I didnt realize that a partial refund for the product was an option, maybe that's what they were saying but it's also from hong kong I believe so there wasnt the best communication. Thanks again for any feedback or suggestion's!

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To be clear about your purchase. If you purchase an item that was described as NEW and it arrives that does not fit that description, you still can open a Item Not As Described case. (within 30 days) You will have to wait a few days for the seller to respond but you will be able to return it if your item is not as described. (buyer will have to supply and pay for the return shipping label) Take a moment to read Ebays Money Back Guarantee (specifically items that are not described). The point of revising your feedback is a decision you can choose to do but as mudshark61369 states, do not use it to extort your feedback for a return. You don't even need to because you are covered by the MBG from Ebay.

-Good Luck

[mudshark61369]

@s_erie_zzyai6cj,

I would not accept a sword with as many flaws as you described.  Stop communicating with the seller, go to your purchase history click on the More actions box,  select Return item, then select doesn't match description or photos, as the reason for the return. 

Once you have done that the seller will have 3 days to respond, they may offer you a partial refund, or say to return the sword. Since the seller is located in Pakistan, they cannot buy postage for the return cost, so you will have to rebox it and take it to the P.O. to get a return shipping estimate for shipping it back to Pakistan with tracking.  Then contact the seller through the dispute which will appear on your My ebay page, with the shipping cost. 

   At that point the seller can either refund you the original cost plus shipping & taxes, or send you the funds for the return. They can also offer you a partial refund which you can negotiate,  If they do not respond at all or try to wiggle out of doing anything, in the dispute will be an option to Ask ebay to step in. click on that and they will provide a refund without you having to return the item.

In the future I suggest that you check the feedback profile of any seller you intend to buy from. You do that by scrolling down a listing page to where you see the seller's Username in a large font. Below that will be a few comments and under them an oval with See all feedback in it click on that to see their profile. If they have received any neutral or negative feedback you can click on the numbers of those to read only those comments.  You also want to see how many feedback they have received as a seller which can be important, since you can run into issues with New or inexperienced sellers, like yours. 

I do no know if you noticed on the listing that you bought from, that there were a few other listings for the same sword.  You should have opened them to see if you could get one from a more reliable seller, with more experience selling those items.  You may have had to pay a bit more but it can be worth it to save the agrevation. 

[tinsoldierunderground]

No returns policy is moot once you open a INAD case.  Ebay over rules the seller in these situations.

Do as others have advised and stop communicating with the seller, follow ebay procedures for opening a case.

[12345jamesstamps]

"but it's also from Hong Kong'...but buyer is in Pakistan and it states shipped from Pakistan.

Returning something not knowing where the item should be really returned...one might wonder...well, I do anyway...what if it gets returned to the wrong location...would seller not have to do a refund?...and would buyer be out a refund and the sword? Tracking shows it going to the wrong location...even though seller creates a label going to Hong Kong or Pakistan...and not knowing restrictions of mailing something like this.

I would probably just keep item and take it as a purchase of a lost. That's just me.

[s_erie_zzyai6cj]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the advice and input.. I spoke to the guy and like I said I'm new to collecting these so all in all the sword was only about 120$ and once I cleaned it up(polished/oiled) it looked pretty nice considering the price. The seller was polite and did offer a future discount so I revised the feedback to positive and wrote it was nice considering price.. they were very grateful for the revise and I just felt better about not hurting his business w a neg review.. again my buddy had a much cleaner one but with dull square edges, mine was a little worn w the scratches here and there but maybe it all did happen during customs like they said. I'll take this as a learning experience and do my research next time.. thanks yall!