TheHistorian wrote:I received a manila envelope with two books tossed in - no padding, cardboard stiffeners, etc.  Books didn't fare well.  Okay, that happens some times.  No matter what you do, it's unavoidable.

But I've also received two items that weren't as described.  I asked SPECIFIC condition questions - "does the dustjacket have any tears" and "does the box have any split corners and/or tape".  I received a firm no to both questions.  And of course, upon receipt, my knowledge of common defects was proven right.  (And there is zero chance it was shipping damage.)

What the heck?  You have the thing in front of your face and you've been asked a specific question.  How hard is this?

It's not going to cost me a lot to ship these back, but it irks me to be out even a small amount when an honest answer would have prevented me from bidding at all.

This pisses me off to no end and I have started leaving negative feedback when in the past I would never have done so. What is worse is that I have this happen from not only reputable sellers, but sellers I have bought from many times in the past. Not even high dollar items, which just seems insane, a seller will sacrifice a repeat customer and get dinged with a negative and bad DSRs, and for what?

I pack items so that it takes a good amount of malicious intent to damage them, and I do not blame customers for damage done by the post office or any poor packaging on my part, and if I misgrade an item I make up for it with the customer. What I want is to be treated the same way as a buyer.

The same thing that is wrong with them every week... it is not a new discovery.

TheHistorian wrote:I received a manila envelope with two books tossed in - no padding, cardboard stiffeners, etc.  Books didn't fare well.  Okay, that happens some times.  No matter what you do, it's unavoidable.

But I've also received two items that weren't as described.  I asked SPECIFIC condition questions - "does the dustjacket have any tears" and "does the box have any split corners and/or tape".  I received a firm no to both questions.  And of course, upon receipt, my knowledge of common defects was proven right.  (And there is zero chance it was shipping damage.)

What the heck?  You have the thing in front of your face and you've been asked a specific question.  How hard is this?

It's not going to cost me a lot to ship these back, but it irks me to be out even a small amount when an honest answer would have prevented me from bidding at all.

Happens to me every week, mostly badly packaged items. I've noticed I'm getting more and more emails from buyers saying "Thanks for packaging my items the way you did, they arrived without damage". I used to think they were just being nice but I've realized lately a LOT of buyers on Ebay just don't give a damn. Works for me, just gives me a lot of repeat buyers....

Mike B.

Apparently it's an eight month cycle.

This week's all stars:

1.  Charged for UPS Ground shipping.  Actually shipped via USPS First Class mail, which cost him much less.  You may be able to build in "handling" fees, but I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to alter the advertised shipping method.  Oh, and the item was just placed in a manila envelope, and isn't as nice as described in the first place.  Of course.

2. I asked my standard questions when buying box sets, including are there split/taped corners?  Answer - "box is in pretty good shape,a little shelf wear is all."  What I received has 5 of 8 split and taped corners.  That's NOT the punchline.... wait for it... contacted seller and he says, "They werent that way when it was shipped."  Classic.  He offers a refund and tells me to return it.  He then remembers that he checked off the "no returns or exchanges" box so he changes his mind and tells me to complain to ebay instead (which of course I have done).  Why do sellers believe that no returns actually means something (outside of the very narrow window of you can't just change your mind about a purchase)?  If you sell a defective item, you have to take it back.  This isn't an ebayism, it's a core tenet of successful internet commerce, heck successful commerce in general.  It's the dictionary definition of FRAUD!

FormCritic wrote:Same thing......me.....this week......formerly pristine KNOCKSPELL magazines.....bubble envelope.....damanged.  :x

Sell says, "Sorry your items were damaged.  I've never had a problem before."  :evil:

Had this happen with a $100+ private sale/purchase from someone on RPG.net.  Never even got the books just the front of the bubble envelope in a USPS manila envelope saying "Sorry your items lost in the mail!"  Two claims and some nasty grams to USPS with little response so far other than " We'll check the mail recovery area for your books..."

Gnat the Beggar wrote:

Badmike wrote:
Happens to me every week, mostly badly packaged items. I've noticed I'm getting more and more emails from buyers saying "Thanks for packaging my items the way you did, they arrived without damage". I used to think they were just being nice but I've realized lately a LOT of buyers on Ebay just don't give a damn.
Works for me, just gives me a lot of repeat buyers....
Mike B.

I HATE the e-Bay policy that requires buyers to pay return shipping when fraud is clearly at hand by the seller...

I gree with all of Mikes post except for the highlighted part.
I think for the most part there are a heck of a lot of sellers who dont give a damn too, which is the reason this thread got posted.

I think he meant to write "sellers". I hate the policy that buyers have to pay return shipping, too. I purchased some books last week, and when they arrived the musty odor hit me like a ton of bricks when I opened the package. Since I only paid 8 bucks or so plus shipping, it's not worth it to me to spend another $3.50 to send them back. Either way I'm out the books (I threw them away, since they're useless) and the money, so why spend more. As a result, the seller gets a neg and misses out on the opportunity to make it right. At least other buyers might see the FB and avoid buying from this person.

Sea-to-sky-games wrote:

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:
I think he meant to write "sellers". I hate the policy that buyers have to pay return shipping, too. I purchased some books last week, and when they arrived the musty odor hit me like a ton of bricks when I opened the package. Since I only paid 8 bucks or so plus shipping, it's not worth it to me to spend another $3.50 to send them back. Either way I'm out the books (I threw them away, since they're useless) and the money, so why spend more. As a result, the seller gets a neg and misses out on the opportunity to make it right. At least other buyers might see the FB and avoid buying from this person.

Couldn't you lock the books in some tupperware with a lot of baking soda? A lot of that smell will be absorbed.

One problem with that musty odor is that it usually means mold spores. Baking soda may take away the smell but the spores remain. Musty books are a big danger to an collection of paper items. The best thing to do with them is to toss them. If not then make sure to keep them separated from everything non-musty/moldy.

JasonZavoda wrote:

Sea-to-sky-games wrote:Couldn't you lock the books in some tupperware with a lot of baking soda? A lot of that smell will be absorbed.

One problem with that musty odor is that it usually means mold spores. Baking soda may take away the smell but the spores remain. Musty books are a big danger to an collection of paper items. The best thing to do with them is to toss them. If not then make sure to keep them separated from everything non-musty/moldy.

Right, which is why I tossed the books; Last thing I need is for any of my other books to get "infected". Worst part is, they were paperbacks that I meant to use as reading copies, but the musty odor is so overpowering I can't bring them close to enough to my face to read! At my current level of tolerance for bad descriptions (approaching zero), this meant 1 neg and several neutrals for the seller.

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:

Mars wrote:Is this an Ebay policy?  It never used to be but I haven't kept up with Ebay policy changes.  
This was always a lame-a$$ seller's choice to discourage buyers from returning items when sellers make mistakes.

I'm not sure it's an across-the-board eBay policy so much as their stock response when dealing with a valid "item not as described" complaint.
Every time (two or three times tops) I've filed one and the resolution was in my favor, I've been required to send the items back to the seller at my cost.

yup...
Every time for me as well and you MUST get tracking too, otherwise e-Bay will never approve your refund since they have no proof it was ever sent.
Refund does not happen until the item is proved to have been delivered.
Only ONCE did the seller agree to pay for return shipping and that agreement was made OUTSIDE e-Bays claims system.
E-Bay refunded me the purchase price and the shipping costs to me and that was all... then the seller sent an additional amount to cover shipping back to them.

Even with proof of delivery back, that does not mean you will get your refund.
The seller might claim that the item you returned was not the same copy they sent to you.

For instance; one claim I lodged in the past was decided in favor of the seller.
The main reason I was given (from e-Bay) was that the seller stated (on the record) that I sent a different item back than the one they had sent to me.
Problem is that the item was a limited edition copy that was individually NUMBERED by the publishers.
I called e-Bay to ask for an investigation that the e-Bay person who agreed with the seller was wrong (not my exact wording) I also sent further proof (pictures) that the item was the same one I was sent and the same as the one in the listing.
Even so, with positive proof that the seller had committed fraud not just against me but against e-Bay as well... E-Bay allowed the seller to keep my funds.
But they evetually sent me a separate e-Bay check to cover all my costs...