How would you handle this? | Buying

rnoe4586 · 2024-03-10T11:57:37.037000Z

You came across an listing for a used computer and you wishlisted it along with another one the same seller was selling. The listings were pretty generic for what looks to be an old 15+ year off lease computer that needs to be wiped down as the black is more grey in the few photos taken. Out of the two listings, only one picture showed the inside of the computer and it did not look too bad. The listing itself did not say much about the computer except that the Operating System had been reloaded and that there is "General wear and tear". A few days after this, the seller makes you an offer that was $10 off the listed price and you end up buying both of them. When they come in, they are both loosely wrapped in quite a bit of bubble wrap, but you immediately start having breathing issues due to the smell of something burnt. Your hands are now black due to taking the computers out of the box. As you do a quick inspection of opening up the computers, your asthma kicks in. The incident causes your spouse to take you to the emergency room as your inhaler did not help. While at the hospital, you email the seller asking them why they did not mark the listing as being fire/smoke damaged items and why did they ship them without any markings as being hazardous our dangerous since fire/smoke soot is classified as class 9 hazardous materials. The seller replied that the computers were never in a fire and just needed to be cleaned a little. This is also when they claimed they never even opened up the computers and just wiped the old drive and loaded the new operating systems as these computers come from a school. So, I sent them the pictures that I took of my hands being black from taking them out of the shipping box, and the pictures I took as I was opening them up for a quick look over, they replied that all the black is just dust and offered $25 for cleaning and that was the profit they were making off of the two computer purchases. I explained that it was definitely not dust at all. It was clearly soot from fire/smoke as I have seen it in my job before and that I would have never had to go to the emergency room if it wasn't fire/smoke soot. I then explained to them that they are lucky that I am a disabled veteran which will most likely take care of the emergency room visit otherwise I would be sending them that bill and asking for a complete refund as I should not have to pay for a dishonest listing that put me in the hospital. I told the seller that once I got out of the hospital, I would be getting with the fire department to verify that yes, it is fire/smoke soot and to have them destroy the computers. The seller then stated that they want written proof as people tend to lie and they want the computers back instead of destroying them. I told them that I completely understand such as not being honest in an ebay listing, being selective with their pictures of the ebay listing, claiming they did not even open up the computers even though one of the total of 8 pictures was a distant picture of the inside of one of the computers, claim that they only made a profit o $25 on a $145 transaction, and then to claim that someone would claim they had to go to the hospital because they ignored listing an item properly. On my way home, I stopped by the fire department and a few of the fire fighters went to my house to get the computers so that when I went inside, I would be less likely to have another reaction. They verified that yes, the computers were "smoke damaged" and that it was fire soot all over and inside them. They even stated that yes, the computers still smell of smoke and that I was not imagining things. I asked them to hold onto the computers for a few days until I can find out what the seller wants to do since I cannot even be in the same room with them long. I requested a return for the computers with the seller as I cannot afford to have the computers professionally cleaned by a hazmat team and I cannot do it myself. The seller almost immediately approved them. Before the seller could send the shipping labels, I reminded them that the computers are now with the fire department and the seller will have to ensure to pay for the special handling of the packages since they will be properly marked this time. The person I was contacting at the seller store might not have known that the items were fire/smoke damaged, but whomever handled the computers clearly knew that they were making them negligent from an incorrect listing on ebay to shipping products illegally marked. How does one report the incident to ebay? I do know how to report them to DoT, but should I? I have been buying and a little selling off of ebay since the very early 2000's and I have never been in a situation like this.

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