"New" item received with stains on

[tortoiseperson]

I recently won a cotton Fashion Week tote bag, one of two from the same eBay seller. Both were listed as Brand New and Unused, the photo was identical.

I received the bag this morning and it has a stain/watermark on the bottom mainly on the back, 4" at widest point, but extending a small way up the front too. The bag is khaki/tan so it's not that noticeable but ... I can see that it's there and it's annoying me.

It seems to me that there were 2 bags, seller photographed the better one and because mine was the lower of the 2 winning amounts, sent me the stained one (this is not a high value item - total cost £12.45, about US$19). Seller has 99.something FB, one neg out of nearly 300 for ... selling something as New when it was actually used.

I messaged the seller, who replied promptly: "Hi these bags are new and unused. If not 100% satisfied. Please send back asap and i will issue you a full refund."

If I return it, I'll be out by the cost of mailing the item via a trackable service and I have no guarantee that the seller will actually refund me! (you do hear horror stories ...) It only cost me £12.50 in total.

 

[BagloverBurr]

honestly for the price i would just count my loss. can the bag be cleaned?

 

[authenticplease]

Sorry this was sent to you stained but it is possible that it could be new & unused but still have spots/stains. If it were sitting on a counter and someone sat a drink next to it or it could have gotten soiled in transit, from rain, any number of reasons. Will it launder out? Sometimes it is just easier to let the Seller know you aren't happy but don't get overworked about something that my wash out easily. Your time is more valuable than the stress an arguement will cause. I would see how the seller responds before I leave FB but would probably only ding the 'item as described' star. Good Luck

 

[tortoiseperson]

Baglover, I don't know if it can be cleaned? it's a thin cotton tote with a printed-on design. They were given as freebies at Fashion Week so are quite cheaply produced, I'd be worried that the design might be affected.

Authenticplease, yes you're quite right that it could well be new and unused, yet still be stained. The stain honestly looks like a dirty water-mark. It was packaged in tissue and brown paper which weren't marked in any way so I don't believe this happened in transit. I'm not sure how well the bag might stand up to laundering.

I think you might be right that for the money, I should be able to shrug my shoulders and move on, and not be princessy about it. This isn't a Chanel, after all, just a tote I bought to stash for "bag overload" which will probably get dirty in use quite quickly. I'm just peed off because I had no reason to suspect it wasn't perfect.

Would it be worth asking the seller for a partial refund instead?

 

[tortoiseperson]

How bad does this look - would I look as if I were carrying something dirty, or does it honestly blend in with the brownish colour? There's something a bit icky about the idea of someone else's dirt, rather than your own ...

First 2 pics are the front, 3rd is the back of the whole bag, 4th is the front to back.

 

[Cocolo]

Well, it does look dirty. I would ask the seller for a partial refund, then try and give it a wash in cold water. It's a small amount, so I wouldn't go through the hassle of returning it, and wasting more money on postage. See what the seller will agree to.

 

[mindy621_xoxo]

Yeah, it's pretty noticeable, and I would be upset too! It doesn't matter if it was a 2K Chanel or a 5 dollar wall mart bag. If it was advertised as new, I expect it to be new!

 

[tortoiseperson]

Well, it does look dirty. I would ask the seller for a partial refund, then try and give it a wash in cold water. It's a small amount, so I wouldn't go through the hassle of returning it, and wasting more money on postage. See what the seller will agree to.

Thank you, I wonder if photos would convince the seller?

On a winning bid of £10.50, what might be a reasonable partial refund? I've never had to ask for one before, I'm realising now how lucky I've been previously on the Bay. The postage label said £1.55 so he'd be out that much if he gave me a full refund (IF by that he means postage too?).

Yeah, it's pretty noticeable, and I would be upset too! It doesn't matter if it was a 2K Chanel or a 5 dollar wall mart bag. If it was advertised as new, I expect it to be new!

Thank you for validating my feelings! and for confirming that it's not just me being ultra-fussy.

 

[platinum_girly]

Ugh no, i see it. It looks used, bleugh!
Honestly i would do a SNAD and get my money back, you don't know WHAT has been in/near the bag to cause that stain...
And don't think about price. Price isn't the issue here, the issue is that it wasn't as described, it is the principle of it...

 

[emcosmo1639]

Well if you do send it back and the seller refuses to refund you'll still be protected. Just make sure you have delivery confirmation. If they were to refuse refund you could open a claim and submit your tracking information. I had that happen to me once and paypal sent the refund as soon as they saw the tracking showed received.

In this case I would ask for a partial (maybe 30%) and cut your losses. If they don't accept the partial I don't know if it'd be worth returning.

 

[lisarx8]

I think a Tide-To-Go pen would get rid of that stain. I've gotten much worse stains out of my daughter's clothes with those. Plus you wouldn't have to wash after applying.

 

[tortoiseperson]

Well if you do send it back and the seller refuses to refund you'll still be protected. Just make sure you have delivery confirmation. If they were to refuse refund you could open a claim and submit your tracking information. I had that happen to me once and paypal sent the refund as soon as they saw the tracking showed received.

In this case I would ask for a partial (maybe 30%) and cut your losses. If they don't accept the partial I don't know if it'd be worth returning.

Thank you for the clarification! I've no previous experience of this kind of thing.

I've sent the Photobucket links to those photos in an eBay message to the seller. I said that I do not consider this to be in perfect "new unused condition" and feel that it was not correctly represented, and should not be resold as such (i.e. suggesting he stands to lose if I return it ... though he'd no doubt relist it immediately). I've asked him to consider a partial refund since I don't want the expense and inconvenience of mailing back.

I think a Tide-To-Go pen would get rid of that stain. I've gotten much worse stains out of my daughter's clothes with those. Plus you wouldn't have to wash after applying.

Thanks for that suggestion!

 

[MarneeB]

If something is advertised as new and unused it should not have stains or any signs of wear IMO. If something is spilled on a new item, then the condition of it in the auction should be changed. It's no longer new if it's dirty, no matter how it happened. If you feel like it's not worth it to try to clean it I would e-mail the seller and politely tell her that I want a total refund (my original shipping too) or you will have to open a SNAD. You'd get your original shipping back with the SNAD. Hopefully the seller will work with you, I know I would. Of course I would never list a dirty item as 'new' either.
I'd like to also say I think it's unfair when a buyer is told to try cleaning it, airing it out, etc. If the item is truly new and unused it should be ready to go!

 

[Cocolo]

I only suggested cleaning it if OP could get a partial refund, to her satisfaction. I agree New is New. Pristine comes to mind. But we all know the hassles of returning things, and if the OP can get a partial refund, it might be worth her while.

 

[MissMollie]

I would dip just the dirty area in a sink of lukewarm water and OxiClean or whatever stain remover you like. Swish it around a bit, rinse and HANG to dry. Should come right out. Not worth hassling with the seller, but still icky, IMO.