[missypoo]

Hey my fellow PF'ers!! Need some advice. I finally received an item today that I bought off eBay (plastic colander) and I didn't purchase insurance (I know dumb me) and of course the handle part was broken. I assumed, which I know you should never do in the first place, that she would we ship the colander in a box, but she put it in a plastic bag . I emailed her just now telling her the problem. Am I s*** out of luck cuz I didn't purchase insurance, but her packaging was so ridiculous for this item. What would you guys do? Thanks!!

[Jen Loves LV]

I'd file a claim with paypal (if seller isn't willing to send a new one), i think they have an option for broken items. It is the sellers responsibility to get you the item safely and not broken, insurance is to protect the seller in times like this, (you receiving a broken item and wanting money back), after all, it's the seller that has to file the insurance claim...

[missypoo]

I have a feeling she's just going to tell me that I should have purchased insurance. But my gosh, it's common sense to put something like that in a box. LOL!!

[spendingmore]

Paypal will only care that you actually rec'd an item. You should try to go through your cc company to get it resolved if the seller isn't accomodating. It is also the sellers responsibilty to ship it safely. So I guess I wasn't any help. Good luck with it.

[dcgal]

I would wait to hear back from her before you file - most sellers are fair & will refund you the money. If you haven't heard from her in a couple of days, or if she replies and says no to a refund, you would need to file a dispute with paypal 'item significantly not as described' (ie when you bought it, it wasn't broken). If you have no luck with the dispute, you can upgrade it to a claim (which is when paypal decide on who is right), and finally, if you have no luck with that and you paid with a credit card you can do a chargeback (check with your company how long you have to do this). For the amount of money that they made from the colander, your seller will probably rather refund you than go through all this hassle!

Insurance is a good thing, but to be honest it sounds like the packaging was not sufficient and I'm not even sure this would be covered by insurance anyway.

Dcgal.

[lorihmatthews]

An addition to the above great suggestions: keep the packaging until the matter is resolved. Someone might want proof (eBay, PP, your credit card company) that it was mailed in a way that didn't protect the merchandise.

[missypoo]

Thanks everyone! Here's the update: she emailed me today and was very sorry. She will give me a full refund and she wants me to mail it back to her. She said she will also reimburse me for shipping it back. I should mail it back in an envelope just like she did to me. LOL!

[SilverLotus]

This is the way it should be. Actually, getting what you bought, in an unbroken state, is the way it should be, so this is second best.

As an eBay seller I believe that it's my responsibility to get it to the buyer on time and without damage, and part of how I do that is to include insurance in the cost of shipping so that every item I sell is insured. It's possible to get much better and more economical insurance coverage from insurance companies than what's offered by the post office - this enables me to insure everything without having to charge exhorbitant extra fees.

I really don't like it when sellers say that they are not responsible for the item once they ship it!

Anyway, I'm glad your situation has been taken care of.