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Items that arrive to your buyer damaged
Recently a buyer received an item that was damaged - the glass portion - and opened a return case. I refused providing her with a refund until she would send me pictures of the damaged item as that is the only way I am able to have any chance to get my postage back from USPS - and that is a very slim chance at best. However, because I wouldn't just take her word for it and refund her, EBAY supplied her with a label (at my expense) to ship this back to me. Why do I want a damaged item? I wanted the pictures and EBAY told me when I called them that I wouldn't have to refund her without those photos - well guess what, that was a lie because I had to refund her (including the shipping that I can't get back now without those photos) AND I had to supply her with the return postage as well. However, I NOW have a damaged item that has cost me almost $100. What am I missing? Am I doing this all wrong? Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm lost and ready to give up. I'm not going to lie, I do make money at this, but not a lot as I'm sure you all know when you factor in all the time and effort and supplies. I absolutely love doing this and has been my "dream" job for many years, but in all honesty I'm ready to give up some of these headaches because this just doesn't make sense to me. Why is the "proof of burden" always on the seller? I'm also upset that EBAY really just removes themselves from any of the burden and everything is all automated so NO proof seems to be necessary. Thank you for any suggestions any of you may have.
kh-cathy
·3 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
mod-designs4u
·5 years agoThe few times I've had to file a shipping insurance claim, whether USPS or FedEx, the customer was cooperative and emailed me a photo of the damaged parcel. After they send me a photo of the damage I issue a refund and file an insurance claim (all of my insurance claims have been honored by the respective shipping companies). I must say I've never had a customer claim the item was damaged during shipping and not send me a photo or two. If a customer opened a return case against me I would empathetically and politely ask for a photo of the damage for the insurance claim. I would not automatically "refuse" the return within the eBay return system but select "contact buyer" and ask for a photo or two showing the damage (a photo of the smashed box and the damaged item would suffice for an insurance claim). I would also state that a refund will be promptly issued after receiving the photos (the buyer will get a refund much sooner by simply snapping a few photos on their smartphone then starting a return process for an item not-as- described case). @ "However, because I wouldn't just take her word for it and refund her, EBAY supplied her with a label (at my expense) to ship this back to me" indicates that the customer dialog broke down at some point (eBay doesn't just automatically issue a return shipping label). Sellers should realize that "customer correspondence" serves as "evidence" in case the deal goes sour for one reason or another. In your situation I would "appeal" the case to the eBay "court" and make my arguments. Several years ago I had a similar situation where an unscrupulous buyer opened a return case for an item that was supposedly not-as-described since he perceived some "damaged" which wasn't in the Item Description. He initially email some photos of the item to presumably support his not-as-described case (this particular customer was a lawyer out of all people). I asked him to please email a photo of the box and he obliged. The box was smashed mostly at the top section. I filed an insurance claim with FedEx and they wanted to have a driver pick the item up for examination. Meanwhile, this buyer had eBay issue a return shipping label at the same time that FedEx wanted to examine the contents and box for the insurance claim. A FedEx driver picked up the parcel with the eBay issued return shipping label one day before another FedEx driver showed up for the insurance claim pickup. I was going to issue a complete refund anyway after FedEx picked up the damaged contents/parcel but eBay automatically sided with the buyer at the gross expense of the seller. Well, I appealed the case to eBay "court" and won! Indeed, the item was returned to me "undamaged" although eBay issued a refund to the buyer. I resold the item, which wasn't damaged, on another online selling platform and received a complete reversal of charges to my eBay account (eBay ate about $250 for siding with the buyer and paying for return shipping). Ironically, shortly afterwards eBay came up with increased "Seller Protections" since their current approach was costing them money. A parcel damaged during shipping does happen once in awhile and here's some advice on how to minimize risk: Fragile items should be wrapped in bubble wrap and shipping peanuts. I would also write "FRAGILE" with a red marker pen all over the box. When I ship glass or plastic items I also write "GLASS" or "PLASTIC" all over the box. When I ship flat artwork I write "DO NOT BEND" on both sides of the cardboard. This approach serves two purposes: it increases the chance that the multitude of package sorters and drivers will handle the parcel carefully and not place a heavy item on top of it; it tells the buyer that the seller did due diligence for safe packing. I hope this helps and good luck!
iskatemc
OP3 years agoWow, this is great that you received your USPS refunds - I've filed a few claims and they NEVER refund. Once I got pretty far in the process........the item I sold was $30 - which is what my customer paid me. But USPS said that I needed to provide them with a receipt where I paid $30 for the item. What a waste of time. I will no longer file claims with them.