eBay

blue_finch · ‎10-27-2017

Buyer received package and immediately sent email claiming one of bulbs I sent is broken on pieces. I asked for pictures, but he/she responded "It's already gone in the trash compactor as it almost cut my hand had I not been really careful when I opened the package".

Those are regular shaped round LED bulbs, entire body is made of thick plastic and someone should beat it with something like hammer to break it. I disassembled many of them and know they are VERY hard to break, and to break it "on pieces" is almost impossible. Look like buyer not realized it is plastic when he was making his story.

So he got no item left to make pics or to send it back, but he wants me to just take his questionable story and refund payment. Its just $5 so I would rather refund then risk neg feedback, but I still dont feel like buyers should be allowed to do that. Is there anything i can do other then blocking/reporting him?

blue_finch · ‎10-28-2017

@coolections wrote:

As a buyer I can tell you I have no smart phone and it is a hassle to take a picture and put into computer then send to seller.

I dont use phone, Im using my old camera with SD card to make pics, it takes less then 5 min to make pic, stick SD card in PC slot, open folder and attach it. I just made two pics to post here as proof how strong those bulbs are, if that would be so much "hassle" I would not waste time doing that

Anonymous · ‎10-28-2017

Had this happen to Hubby once, Selling a diecast car on stand for 100.00 or so , They opened a return They sent a message asking for a refund because the car on a stand double boxed . Arrive broken, said the tires fell off and windows all broke and paint with scratches all over it, We ask for pictures, Never received any, We ask them to return for full refund...... After they did not return it in time we called and had the case closed.. A week or so later we received a message they just desided to fix it......

I always ask for them to return it, Wither its 5 dollars or 100's.

blue_finch · ‎10-28-2017

Here are two more, better view of cover that I tested, pics was made AFTER testing

jonathankirkland · ‎10-29-2017

@coolections wrote:
@campesinoplastic2014 wrote:
Taking a photo is so easy these days, it's second nature. 99% of consumer phones take good clear photos. People photograph anything and EVERYTHING, but when they want a refund all of a sudden a photo is not feasible? And everything is in a compactor? Yeah right !!!! I like fairy tales too, but my favorites begin with "in the next fiscal quarter....."
@campesinoplastic2014
As a buyer I can tell you I have no smart phone and it is a hassle to take a picture and put into computer then send to seller. I have thrown out at least 20 items over the years that arrived broken and never took a picture. Then again the items I've thrown away are usually under $10 so I just take the loss give the seller their feedback and move on without a refund. I am not about to ship back some broken item under $10 to waste my time getting a refund. I am sure there are may other buyers out there that feel the same. Sellers who think everyone who does not take a picture of a low cost broken item is a scammer should leave Ebay and not do on line sales.

Well it's your choice to eat the loss then when you don't have to. I wish I could afford the luxury of throwing money away on broken things rather than finding a way to take a picture. I'm just trying to think of all the people I know in real life if any of them would have trouble taking a picture to send online and the only one I can think of is my girlfriends 94 year old grandmother.

Also I am unsure how it's even a big deal to return a broken item if you are asked to. You pack it back up in the same box you got it in, print out the label you're provided by the seller and depending on the size of the box you can just have the post man take the box when he comes to pick up your mail.

I don't think sellers who request a picture of a "broken" item are unreasonable, but I do find it pretty hard to believe that most buyers can not provide a picture when asked...

jonathankirkland · ‎10-29-2017

@stitchesandseamsct wrote:
I would just refund the 5.00 as well. I mean, you can insist they RETURN THE ITEM, which they cant, since they threw it out already, but you are at risk of receiving a negative feedback, and for 5.00, its not worth it, to me anyway. on a 30 dollar item, i would call the customers bluff all day. and win, and take my negative like a boss.

What does feedback have to do with it? Feedback means pretty much zero these days. And it's not a matter of $5 or $30 or $5,000 or 1 penny. It's the principle of the matter.

I would never let a buyer get away with telling me something is broken and then refusing to provide some of evidence of this and/or return it.

coolections · ‎10-29-2017

The OP will not last long on Ebay if they take some of the advice given here. The bulb may have already had a crack and you didn't notice it which means you may have possibly scammed the buyer. I can't believe the extremes some will go to around here, especially for a $5 item. Let it go OP and move on; no one scammed you.

chrysylys · ‎10-29-2017

Clicking reply on last post for general thoughts.

I have about 5 devices that will take pictures. All of them connect to a PC via a USB cable and enable simple drag and drop picture/file transfers. No brains involved.

I have a number of $5 and $10 items, some a bit higher that didn't work out. Sometimes it's just not worth the time to repackage and ship, even for a refund. I send a message to the seller and see how they respond. That usually determines my next move. If they seem honest in their reply (just a feeling I get), I will most likely just forget it and move on. If they put up a fuss, I may pursue it further.

Unlike traditional bulbs, LED bulbs will work fine without the shell. It's more for styling than anything else. They do not need the protective envelope to operate. I know that for a fact as I have a few in use without the shells. And a couple where the shells came loose at the base like the one shown above. A small bit of glue solved that easily.

Forget keeping up with the Joneses. Be the Finklegrubers!
OK kids, time to get the Dodge loaded up again. I hear 'Poppy's By the Tree' calling. This trip might be a long one too.

jonathankirkland · ‎10-29-2017

@coolections wrote:
The OP will not last long on Ebay if they take some of the advice given here. The bulb may have already had a crack and you didn't notice it which means you may have possibly scammed the buyer. I can't believe the extremes some will go to around here, especially for a $5 item. Let it go OP and move on; no one scammed you.

Again, if you bought something from a store and it arrived damaged, do you think the store would refund you without wanting the item back? That they would just take your word for it? Sorry, but it doesn't work that way.

Then again if they item truly was broken, then there should be no reason not to provide a picture of it. In which case the seller could then issue a refund without return if they were so inclined.

But to just blindly believe what some stranger on the internet says and accept the fact that they have no way to take a picture of it? Sorry, I don't think so.

baantiques · ‎10-29-2017

@coolections wrote:
The OP will not last long on Ebay if they take some of the advice given here. The bulb may have already had a crack and you didn't notice it which means you may have possibly scammed the buyer. I can't believe the extremes some will go to around here, especially for a $5 item. Let it go OP and move on; no one scammed you.

I've been doing this a long time, and it's pretty easy to tell when someone is fishing for a refund so they can get the item for free with free shipping. I've seen it many times.

Nothing is 100%, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. In the real world, that means if it looks like a scam and smells like a scam, it's a scam. And the OP is being scammed.

It's easy to poke holes in lies. In the OP's case, it's clear that the bulb arriving shattered is an extremely unlikely event. You can only work by probabilities, and the probability here favors a scam by far.

I work by the rule of thumb that a reasonable buyer will send a picture of the damage and/or be williing to return the item. Adamant refusal to do either one means scam - maybe not in 100% of cases, but close enough. A reasonable buyer should realize that they are going to need to prove their case (and it's not hard, just take a friggin picture), and if they aren't willing to do that, they should be prepared to be labeled a scammer.

Most of the time, would be scammers can be filtered out by simply asking them to do something that would expose their lies - such as returning the item or taking a picture. If you make one of those simple requests and they refuse or disappear, it's safe to say they were a scammer.

I've never had an instance where I have wondered after the fact if I was right or wrong in my conclusion.

luckythewinner · ‎10-29-2017

@jonathankirkland wrote:
But it is the principle of the matter.

Two weeks from now, I'd hate to be in the position of second-guessing whether it was really worth making my principled stand over $5 - especially if I ended up paying shipping both ways in order to lose a sale and/or receive a negative.

*madison · ‎10-29-2017

Those are regular shaped round LED bulbs, entire body is made of thick plastic and someone should beat it with something like hammer to break it.

--------------

LED bulbs are quite tough.

All the bulbs in my house are LED.

I purchased most of them online and none arrived smashed, even though some of them were not packed very well.

campesinoplastic2014 · ‎10-29-2017

I don't have a "smart phone", I have an old waterproof flip phone, but it will take and send photos. Also, my ancient Kindle will.

coolections · ‎10-29-2017

@jonathankirkland wrote:
Again, if you bought something from a store and it arrived damaged, do you think the store would refund you without wanting the item back?

@jonathankirkland

Yes, just had it happen a couple months ago. Ordered new window screens. 2 arrived bent, called the CS and they sent me 2 new ones, no questions asked and no pictures taken.

coolections · ‎10-29-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@jonathankirkland wrote:
But it is the principle of the matter.
Two weeks from now, I'd hate to be in the position of second-guessing whether it was really worth making my principled stand over $5 - especially if I ended up paying shipping both ways in order to lose a sale and/or receive a negative.

@luckythewinner

But you already know many sellers on the boards are hard headed and love knocks. They most likely never have and never will understand customer service.

jonathankirkland · ‎10-29-2017

@coolections wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@jonathankirkland wrote:
But it is the principle of the matter.
Two weeks from now, I'd hate to be in the position of second-guessing whether it was really worth making my principled stand over $5 - especially if I ended up paying shipping both ways in order to lose a sale and/or receive a negative.
@luckythewinner
But you already know many sellers on the boards are hard headed and love knocks. They most likely never have and never will understand customer service.

Please direct me to your store so I can choose some items I'd like to have for free, since you're obviously offering to be charitable.