annoying paypal situation

[edd_jedi]

i need a bit of advice. i sold an afa graded figure on ebay, and when it arrived the bubble was cracked.
it was sent by special delivery which i assume covers this. so i have sent the buyer the slip so he can claim for it.
however he has opened a paypal dispute with me, under the "not as described" option.

i have full sympathy for the guy, but am i right in thinking that i am not liable for this as it was packaged well?

and has anyone had experience with royal mail paying out for things like this?

 

[Fitzy]

I think the guy may be being a bit harsh on you. I'm sure he's disappointed but you have done everything possible to ensure safe delivery short of doing it yourself.

He should make a claim to Royal Mail. I think that once they have accepted it that it is considered suitably packaged for transit. Not sure on this though. Don't know if they would give the full amount or only how much it has depreciated in value.

The fact that it is graded and I assume that you have photos of it before posting that you would have a pretty strong case.

How did the bubble get cracked if in a AFA case? Must have been excessively heavy handed handling by Royal Mail.

Also, a bit cynical I know, but has he sent you a photo of the damage?

 

[edd_jedi]

yes mate he sent me photos of the damage so i dont think he's trying to pull a fast one.

i just hope royal mail cough up, they must have really smashed it about!

 

[jayjedi]

ok, it depends on how much the item is worth , i dont think special delivery is insured for any more than Ã'£32 unless you ask for extre insurance.
and i got to be honest edd , if i had bought an item from someone, afa graded, and it turned up with a cracked bubble i would be asking for a refund. i think it should be up to the seller to get the refund from royal mail. if something is damaged in transit from one of my auctions i always refund the buyer.
have just recieved a payment from the post office from a figure i bought 2 months ago and had a smashed bubble. i was pissed and it made it even worse when the seller said it was my problem and didn't want anything to do with it. :evil:

 

[spoons]

I think the buyer is being a bit harsh filing a claim if you've sent him the receipt. I'm with Jayjedi though it would have been easier for you to refund him and claim off royal Mail.

Saying that, you're not obliged to do anything, this guy can make the claim himself.

I've claimed a few times (no more than Ã'£35 admittedly) and Royal Mail has been pretty good - they didn't ask for evidence so I think they know they treat the post badly

I think special delivery is insured for a minimum of Ã'£500, its recorded thats Ã'£30 ish - which is crap as standard mail is insured up to Ã'£28 at no extra cost.

 

[edd_jedi]

ok, it depends on how much the item is worth , i dont think special delivery is insured for any more than Ã'£32 unless you ask for extre insurance.
and i got to be honest edd , if i had bought an item from someone, afa graded, and it turned up with a cracked bubble i would be asking for a refund. i think it should be up to the seller to get the refund from royal mail. if something is damaged in transit from one of my auctions i always refund the buyer.
have just recieved a payment from the post office from a figure i bought 2 months ago and had a smashed bubble. i was pissed and it made it even worse when the seller said it was my problem and didn't want anything to do with it. :evil:

i see where you're coming from. its a difficult situation.
personally, i think i havent done anything wrong so dont see why i should lose Ã'£100 any more than he should. so there's no way i'd refund him before a claim had been made.

i did offer to do it myself but said as i work all week it wouldnt be til the weekend, so he said to send him the slip and he'd do it.

royal mail are the ones at fault IMO, not me or him. if they dont pay up, the very most i'd offer is to split the cost. i dont see why i should offer a full refund.

 

[craignwo4life]

To be honest if I was the buyer I would send the item back to you for a full refund and I'm sure if the roles were reversed you would do the same.

While it isn't your fault it got damaged the buyer should always take some responsibility to see the deal completed properly otherwise nobody will bother wrapping packages properly in the future.

The item is insured so (hopefully) you will get your money back anyway so one of you can resend it to AFA for re-grading !! :wink:

 

[Dom]

Tell Paypal the situation. I have done this a couple of times and said that I have sent them the slip and they closed the claim. If paypal know you have done this they have no interest in getting involved as far as they are concerned its between the buyer and royal mail.

This may sound harsh, but I wouldn`t take the figure back, if the claim does not go your way then you are buggered. What Craig said is the way it should be done in an "ideal world" but ebay has taught me to watch your own ass with transactions. You did everything you could have to get it there in the way you would want to recieve it and you didn`t try to rip anybody off! At the end of the day why should you take the hit or be out of pocket for months fighting a claim. Im saying this as you are not a business, if it was a shop then thats a whole different story, but the one thing that really pisses me off with ebay is that people don`t seem to see the difference between a guy selling a couple of bits a month for pocket money and places like Brian`s Toys that have 20 + employees and resources.

 

[jedi_masters]

edd, as long as you have got evidence of the damage, i.e picture which you have, royal mail will almost certainly pay you out. just fill in the form you can get from the post office and send it off to them. i have to say that i work as a postman and special deliveries should be taken better care of than that, they really must have dropped it or put something heavy on top of it.

he's really harsh starting a dispute with paypal for something like that. some people just dont take into consideration that stuff does sometimes get damaged in the post!

 

[Jukesy]

Its definately a Royal Mail jobby, if during transit they have mishandled the goods then theyre liable. He has to go through them first and not you!

 

[Kneon Light]

Have had to claim from royal mail a few times for damaged or lost items and they have always been helpful and paid up.

It's a bit harsh of him to have opened a dispute so quickly but if you tell paypal what you have done about the situation and give them the special delivery no. I'm sure they will not make you pay anything until you have had a response from royal mail.

 

[AndyG]

ok, it depends on how much the item is worth , i dont think special delivery is insured for any more than Ã'£32 unless you ask for extre insurance.

Special Delivery covers to Ã'£500 as standard.

Recorded Delivery covers to Ã'£32.

Opening up a paypal dispute is exceptionally harsh.

Provided you have packaged the item well enough how can you be held in anyway responsible for the damage - if the Royal Mail ran a van over the item how is this the responsibility of the seller? The seller, however, does have an obligation to assist the buyer in whatever way to make the claim - despite what some write in their auction terms and conditions - one lunatic, in an auction seen recently, even wrote that you had to send him a stamped address envelope if you wanted the proof of posting to make a claim :shock:

As a buyer I prefer to make the claim - I have to show the damaged item and packaging to Royal Mail anyway and I prefer to be the recipient of the money. Most buyers don't want to do the claim because they can't be bothered or perceive it is too much hassle - it isn't really but then due to disappointment and maybe not knowing how the system works most demand that the seller makes the claim.

The one time I let the seller do the claim he stiffed me as he refused to provide the Royal Mail with some info and Royal Mail wouldn't proceed with the claim. In the end I took Royal Mail to small claims.

Like it or not damage in transit is a reality that you have to live with - even when the seller hasn't used a freakin jiffy bag and has packaged it properly and throwing your toys out of the pram and antagonising the seller by opening up ridiculous paypal claims won't help matters.

In this situation I would be happy to do whatever the buyer wanted me to do - make the claim myself on their behalf or assist with the claim if they made it - sending Special Delivery stubs, communicating with Royal Mail etc. However, if I made the claim I would only refund once the Royal Mail had paid me.

As for the claim itself - you need to decide who will make it. Don't make two claims. Then the item will have to be examined - Royal mail will travel to meet you at work/home so you don't have to go to the sorting office. It is important the buyer keeps all the packaging and the item for inspection. Royal mail will then look at the damage and the packaging and fill out a form which will basically is a yes or a no to the claim proceeding. The claim then proceeds and whoever started the claim gets the money. You also get to keep the itemc - so bear this in mind if the buyer is one of those who demand they send it back for a refund etc etc.