Help! Am I screwed and SOL?

[rix9321]

Buyer claims shipping damage to a laptop that I shipped him. My wife in a rush to buy the postage left with the package and went to USPS to ship the product and didn't buy shipping insurance.

The buy sent some not so clear, highly suspicious, and self incriminating photos and claims the unit powers on and can see the keyboard light and hear a chime, but no picture on the screen and wants a refund. See the hammer on the bottom right of one of the pictures? The marks on the box look like the hammer was used.

What can I do to prevent being taken advantage of? I've never had to deal with this before, so any help is appreciated!

[timemachine777]

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@missjen831wrote:

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@retrose1wrote:

Help! Am I screwed and SOL?

You are being scammed and yes,  you are SOL.

I saw laptop and didn't have to read any farther.  Prepare to lose everything, the item and the money, and postal insurance would not cover you because the buyer will not cooperate.  Those are the risks of selling on ebay.

There is a reason my signature line is what it is.

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Trinton has stated to me in a post last year, ( I believe it was the famous INR one), that if the buyer does not cooperate with a Postal claim, then eBay will not honor their MBG claim.

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I don’t believe that’s what he said. Because he has said the exact opposite on the shipping board. He has said that the seller is expected to refund the buyer regardless and that if the insurance claim is denied by the carrier that the seller can contact customer service because there are protections available to them. In other words, the buyer gets their money back and the seller gets a courtesy refund from eBay. The MBG does not state that the buyer is required cooperate with an insurance claim so eBay has to honor it.

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I found it. I forgot that Trinton asked me to start a new thread on the topic.

Now to your other statement...How would eBay protect me if USPS, denies my insurance claim because the recipient/buyer ignores the insurance claim process or lets the clock run out during a request of a response from them by USPS? 

Thank you for beginning a new thread! While I am not able to elaborate on the specifics of our protection options here on a public thread so as to ensure any abuse of these protections is minimized, we will be happy to discuss this with you should you have a case where an insurance claim has been denied. I can only reiterate that if your insurance claim is denied due to the recipient not cooperating, we would be able to protect you.

Message 15

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/USPS-insurance-vs-Seller-protection/m-p/27185524/highlight/tru...

[missjen831]

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@missjen831wrote:

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@retrose1wrote:

Help! Am I screwed and SOL?

You are being scammed and yes,  you are SOL.

I saw laptop and didn't have to read any farther.  Prepare to lose everything, the item and the money, and postal insurance would not cover you because the buyer will not cooperate.  Those are the risks of selling on ebay.

There is a reason my signature line is what it is.

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Trinton has stated to me in a post last year, ( I believe it was the famous INR one), that if the buyer does not cooperate with a Postal claim, then eBay will not honor their MBG claim.

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I don’t believe that’s what he said. Because he has said the exact opposite on the shipping board. He has said that the seller is expected to refund the buyer regardless and that if the insurance claim is denied by the carrier that the seller can contact customer service because there are protections available to them. In other words, the buyer gets their money back and the seller gets a courtesy refund from eBay. The MBG does not state that the buyer is required cooperate with an insurance claim so eBay has to honor it.

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I found it. I forgot that Trinton asked me to start a new thread on the topic.

Now to your other statement...How would eBay protect me if USPS, denies my insurance claim because the recipient/buyer ignores the insurance claim process or lets the clock run out during a request of a response from them by USPS? 

Thank you for beginning a new thread! While I am not able to elaborate on the specifics of our protection options here on a public thread so as to ensure any abuse of these protections is minimized, we will be happy to discuss this with you should you have a case where an insurance claim has been denied. I can only reiterate that if your insurance claim is denied due to the recipient not cooperating, we would be able to protect you.

Message 15

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/USPS-insurance-vs-Seller-protection/m-p/27185524/highlight/tru...

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Nowhere did he say ebay wouldn’t honor the buyers MBG if they won’t cooperate with an insurance claim. He said exactly what I said he said above—the seller is expected to refund the buyer and if the insurance claim is denied because of lack of cooperation from the buyer, there are protections available to the seller. So the bottom line is, the buyer gets their refund regardless and eBay may issue the seller a courtesy refund 🙂

[castlemagicmemories]

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@lookng2015wrote:

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@castlemagicmemorieswrote:

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@davidelane73wrote:
The outer box looks like it was damaged without the inner box inside.

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Yes, quite a feat there, wouldn't you say?

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Exactly. Easy to tell the damage was done to each box separately

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@lookng2015wrote:

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@castlemagicmemorieswrote:

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@davidelane73wrote:
The outer box looks like it was damaged without the inner box inside.

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Yes, quite a feat there, wouldn't you say?

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Exactly. Easy to tell the damage was done to each box separately

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One could postulate that the inner box has less damage because it was protected, but a poster said the damage does not line up~so that does not work.

[timemachine777]

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@missjen831wrote:

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@missjen831wrote:

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@retrose1wrote:

Help! Am I screwed and SOL?

You are being scammed and yes,  you are SOL.

I saw laptop and didn't have to read any farther.  Prepare to lose everything, the item and the money, and postal insurance would not cover you because the buyer will not cooperate.  Those are the risks of selling on ebay.

There is a reason my signature line is what it is.

---

Trinton has stated to me in a post last year, ( I believe it was the famous INR one), that if the buyer does not cooperate with a Postal claim, then eBay will not honor their MBG claim.

---

I don’t believe that’s what he said. Because he has said the exact opposite on the shipping board. He has said that the seller is expected to refund the buyer regardless and that if the insurance claim is denied by the carrier that the seller can contact customer service because there are protections available to them. In other words, the buyer gets their money back and the seller gets a courtesy refund from eBay. The MBG does not state that the buyer is required cooperate with an insurance claim so eBay has to honor it.

---

I found it. I forgot that Trinton asked me to start a new thread on the topic.

Now to your other statement...How would eBay protect me if USPS, denies my insurance claim because the recipient/buyer ignores the insurance claim process or lets the clock run out during a request of a response from them by USPS? 

Thank you for beginning a new thread! While I am not able to elaborate on the specifics of our protection options here on a public thread so as to ensure any abuse of these protections is minimized, we will be happy to discuss this with you should you have a case where an insurance claim has been denied. I can only reiterate that if your insurance claim is denied due to the recipient not cooperating, we would be able to protect you.

Message 15

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/USPS-insurance-vs-Seller-protection/m-p/27185524/highlight/tru...

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Nowhere did he say ebay wouldn’t honor the buyers MBG if they won’t cooperate with an insurance claim. He said exactly what I said he said above—the seller is expected to refund the buyer and if the insurance claim is denied because of lack of cooperation from the buyer, there are protections available to the seller. So the bottom line is, the buyer gets their refund regardless and eBay may issue the seller a courtesy refund 🙂

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That's the post that I was originally looking for, but I had to settle for this one. I also outlined in this post that I follow the Postal ins process, and have gotten eBay to do so also. 

[pburn]

And no visual damage to the laptop itself. How do those boxes get that hammered* without any apparent physical damage to the machine inside?

I'm telling you, I have the cheapest, crummiest Samsung netbook ever manufactured. About two years ago, I dropped it and chipped the corner off the upper right hand section of the bezel and the top cover. Since that time, because I am a horrible devise owner, the top screen section is barely attached to the bottom keyboard section. I can't even close it anymore, for fear the hinges will just give way. The damage has gotten progressively worse, like a malignant cancer spreading slowly throughout the device.

But, it still works. I'm using it right now.

[dcintennessee]

@billm77- don't we get $100 PM insurance if the label is purchased through eBay? Unless that's recently changed...

[castlemagicmemories]

The hammer in the pic is so Freudian...I laughed out loud  because it reminded me of my son at 20 months  covering his eyes as he reached into the cookie jar while saying "you can't see me". LOL

That is SO cute!  Thank you for sharing that.  I laughed, too!

[a_c_green]

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@dcintennesseewrote:

@billm77- don't we get $100 PM insurance if the label is purchased through eBay? Unless that's recently changed...

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You get $50 minimum, or $100 if you're a Top Rated Seller... or something like that, qualification-wise. Someone will need to correct me on that, I think. In any case, your level of available insurance on your Priority Mail shipment ($50 or $100) will be stated on your Shipping Label form, and you have the option of paying extra to increase the amount  of coverage to that of your sale (or some percentage of it; your choice).

[dcintennessee]

@sparkysretroelectro, after reading all of this, if I were selling electronics, I think I'd put the serial number right in the listing description. It MIGHT scare off someone looking for a swap for their defective "identical" item?  If there's any sort of security risk from listing the entire serial number (cell phones?), I'd replace a few random numbers with "x". Of course, there's still nothing to keep them from opening a computer & swapping out whatever part they actually wanted. Thieves...unfortunately they'll find a way to to what they do.

@rix9321, I'm so sorry this happened to you. Please post the outcome. And, apologies, but thank you for the comic relief we've all enjoyed from some of the comments!

[timemachine777]

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@rix9321wrote:

Buyer claims shipping damage to a laptop that I shipped him. My wife in a rush to buy the postage left with the package and went to USPS to ship the product and didn't buy shipping insurance.

The buy sent some not so clear, highly suspicious, and self incriminating photos and claims the unit powers on and can see the keyboard light and hear a chime, but no picture on the screen and wants a refund. See the hammer on the bottom right of one of the pictures? The marks on the box look like the hammer was used.

What can I do to prevent being taken advantage of? I've never had to deal with this before, so any help is appreciated!

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Any positive results coming to light with this claim from eBay?

[vintagemoth12]

Ebay might view that hammer in a REALLY bad light. It's hard to say that your hammer just happened to be in the photo of the damaged laptop box. And, it is probably some sort of crime to try to blame it on the post office.

[couldabeenworse]

Did the buyer actually state the words "shipping damage" in his complaint?  And is he claiming that the boxes arrived in that condition?

Or, did he just claim the laptop was defective upon arrival, and took the pictures after he had already begun disposing of the boxes?

His feedback doesn't allude to shipping damage at all.

[timemachine777]

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@vintagemoth12wrote:

Ebay might view that hammer in a REALLY bad light. It's hard to say that your hammer just happened to be in the photo of the damaged laptop box. And, it is probably some sort of crime to try to blame it on the post office.

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Besides the hammer being present in the photo, the fact that the impact marks match hammer strikes sheds a lot of light on this claim. Postal fraud should be looked into also.

[sockmonkeydave]

@timemachine777

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@vintagemoth12wrote:

Ebay might view that hammer in a REALLY bad light. It's hard to say that your hammer just happened to be in the photo of the damaged laptop box. And, it is probably some sort of crime to try to blame it on the post office.

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Besides the hammer being present in the photo, the fact that the impact marks match hammer strikes sheds a lot of light on this claim. Postal fraud should be looked into also.

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That there is bean can damage...

The Hammer, was just an innocent bystander.

Or as my wife would say HammerTime...

Can't touch this.

Ouch, that was my head...

[timemachine777]

I am really curious how this claim plays out.