shipping damage

[danielkmcg70x9]

A vendor shipped a ceramic humidor ($39.95 + $21.20 USPS shipping) and it arrived badly broken.  No damage to the box and the packing was clearly inadequate -- loose material, no tight bubble pack at least double wrapped, which would be expected.  The word "fragile" was written in ballpoint pen and barely noticeable.  Oddly, this vendor has a perfect record selling thousands of items.  This item, he "was selling for a friend", who may have packed it, I don't know.

Anyway, I suggested canceling the transaction so I could get my money back from PayPal, which he did.  However, now he says it is my responsibility to get the insurance refund from USPS for the shipping damage.  Why is that my responsibility, I did nothing wrong?  I sent many photos to him of the damage, the box and the shipping labels which should enable him to obtain the insurance refund.  Please advise, thank you.   Dan

[lamber9347]

@danielkmcg70x9 I'm unclear what your question is. If you received your money back from PayPal than you are whole again. If the seller wants the humidor returned, then they need to send you a shipping label for that. Did you in fact not receive your money back? Please clarify for the best solution. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@danielkmcg70x9 wrote:

Anyway, I suggested canceling the transaction so I could get my money back from PayPal, which he did. 

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Why would you ask to cancel the order on a damaged item?

All you had to do was file an INAD on Ebay for a refund.

Now you'll have to work with Pay Pal and since you asked to have the order canceled, not sure what will happen.

[dirk12955]

I've discovered that marking a box "Fragile"  is the same as marking a box,  "Kick here"    

[danielkmcg70x9]

Thanks for responding.  Yes, I did receive a full refund from PayPal (vis his cancellation of the transaction, as I suggested to get my refund), so I'm good, but I didn't think I should have to deal with USPS having not done anything wrong.  I'm guessing that dealing with USPS on an insurance claim is a pain.

[danielkmcg70x9]

My bad, but PayPal has already reimbursed me.  I suggested he cancel the transaction because another vendor did that for me, so I could get refunded quickly -- again due to his very poor packing job leading to severe damage to the item.  This vendor did not want the item shipped back, so I don't know whether he filed an insurance claim with USPS or not.  He had a perfect Ebay record also but admitted it was poorly packed -- his fault.

[titipeo]

Hello, typically with USPS claims, proof needs to be given to the local post office regarding the damage. This proof consist in showing them the package and content. You as receiver have the item, it defeats the purpose to send the item back, as there is no proof where the damage occurred, hence your responsibility  to deal with the insurance refund with USPS. With that said, I'm confused with your message regarding canceling transaction to get money back from PayPal. If this was done, and you got your refund, then maybe the seller is asking you to help him get the insurance from the USPS, since you have the package. Just my .02

[danielkmcg70x9]

Agreed!!  Another cute one is that "Fragile", Fra- gi-le, means it's from Italy, for those who are not well-read!!

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

The seller is the one that needs to file the insurance claim, however you need to hold on to the item and all packing materials so you can turn it over to the post office when they ask to inspect it.

Since the outer box was not damaged the seller is not going to get an insurance payout from USPS.

[danielkmcg70x9]

Seller agreed he was at fault for the subpar packaging, he has accepted the loss on his end.  thanks!

[danielkmcg70x9]

Seller agreed his packaging was not what it needed to be and has accepted the loss on his end.  Thanks!!

[danielkmcg70x9]

Yes, I think the seller was asking for help in being able to obtain at refund from USPS, but admitted his packaging was subpar and accepted the loss, to end the matter.  Thanks for responding!