What is the sellers responsibility when a fragile item arrives completely broken and poorly packaged?

[tobie*]

I bought a porcelain catalytic lamp and when I received it I noted the very poor packaging and the result was that it arrived completely broken. What recourse do I have?

[nonstopchatter]

The first course of action is to email the seller. Let them know that the item arrived with damage and supply pictures if possible. 

It is possible that the seller may require a return of the item for a refund.  It is possible that the seller may not pay the return postage.  The best sellers on ebay will make sure that you are not out a single penny when something like this happens but that is not a requirement.  The seller must, at a minimum, refund your original full payment (including original shipping amount) on return of the item.

If the seller does not offer this solution you should file an item not as described dispute and follow the instructions that paypal and ebay give you regarding the return.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'tobie',

Have you contacted the seller?  Whenever there is a problem that is the first thing to do.  If nothing satisfactory comes of that, you may need to consider filing a claim.

Some sellers will accept pictures of the broken item and provide compensation.  If an item is completely damaged a seller may simply refund, and if it is a small thing they may offer a partial refund.  Most sellers don't want a bunch of pieces back, and they understand you will not be thrilled about paying to return them.

There are the other kind, though, who will say 'how unfortunate' and you can either file a claim to ship it back or live with the loss.  If you have to ship it back, you do so at your own expense, and reimbursement will only be provided for item price plus original shipping fee.  And if you bought it overseas, the cost of shipping back with Delivery Confirmation (a requirement in a claim) often makes returns no longer an option, and there are sellers who are smugly aware of that.

Officially, then, if the seller is no help, you file a 'not as described' dispute within 45 days of having paid for the item.  You will need to return it with Delivery Confirmation (otherwise a seller can say it never arrived), and once the seller is seen to have the item back, you get refunded.  Have a look at Section 4 of the following link which tells about this:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html

Most sellers are really good so if you are kind and pleasant in your inquiry you will not likely need to go the official route.  And of course, you have 60 days in which to leave feedback. 

Good luck. 🙂

[femmefan1946]

And if the seller is not helpful, you can leave appropriate feedback . The most effective feedback is calm and factual.

"Poorly packaged. Arrived in smithereens.No refund." for example.

At the same time you will be asked to leave Detailed Seller Ratings which are much much more important. A normal transaction gets Five Stars. The lowest Rating is ONE star. If a seller's ratings drop below 4.3, his ability to list and to sell is severely restricted. Severely.

Always check a sellers feedback and his DSRs before bidding.

But contact him before you get medieval.