Item only partially refunded - WHY?

[oakleaffy]

I bought a very fragile, lightweight glass item, and was charged a lot {£4} for postage and packing.
However, when it arrived, I was dismayed to see a feeble packing effort {Bent and torn} and the vintage item was in fragments inside and definitely hadn't cost £4! 

I  showed pics to the private seller, who refunded but deducted 85 pence.

Why is this?

Surely this isn't correct?

The total bill was £11.50 but I only  received  £10.70 back.

Why would this be?

Thanks.

[hettsville]

That sounds like eBay hasn't refunded the buyer protection fee.

[plpmr]

most likely because the refund was not done through a case.

[oakleaffy]

The seller refunded, as no 'case' was opened? He partially refunded without Ebay having to ''step in'' as I said it was pointless to print a returns label for a load of smashed glass.

I do feel cheated on this, as it's not my fault the item was so poorly packaged. Surely I shouldn't have to bear the cost for poor packing? 

[lucy_farmer · Accepted solution]

This was a private seller, therefore the item was (most likely) sent by Simple Delivery.

Had they asked you to open a case for 'Item arrived damaged in the post', *you* would have got your whole payment refunded and the seller would have kept the payment *. i.e. ebay pay you themselves because they are the ones with the contract with the delivery company; not the seller.......

This is how S.D. is supposed to work.

( *But if ebay conclude, from any pictorial evidence that is asked for, that the packaging was rubbish, the seller may have lost some or all of the payment. Not quite sure how this element of S.D. is working out yet and whether it's A.I. looking at photos or humans!)

Your seller obviously has no idea they shoot themselves in the foot here...

[oakleaffy]

I just had customer service on the phone..I'd misunderstood -thank goodness I contacted them.

The seller refunded me 85 pence on an £11.50 deal.

CS were able to see the terrible packing and smashed glass and want seller to send me a returns label to get it back to him so I can get a full refund.

What a cheater.

Nickel and dime-ing  on terrible packing, and then having cheek to issue a tiny refund.

Ebay opened a case on my behalf after seeing details of it.

If I could post images here, I would.

[oakleaffy]

The packing was a thin brown envelope,  the cheapest possible, a fragment of brown card and a whisper of polythene tissue. {not even bubble wrap or a strong box} 
Dire packing. 

[lucy_farmer]

'...CS were able to see the terrible packing....'

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Thank you! You've just answered my questions about whether it's A.I. or humans looking at packaging.

I'm glad it's a human : I couldn't quite see how a computer could make that sort of decision, but I wouldn't put it past ebay to try 🤖😂

Well done with C.S 👍

[oakleaffy]

I'm so glad I contacted them {getting past the chatbot} - It was a helpful man in Ireland by the sounds of it.

I can't believe that the seller had the cheek to only refund a small proportion {less than 10 percent} - what was he playing at?

Good packing and good descriptions save so much hassle. 

[oakleaffy]

The seller isn't 'Private' as I initially thought {due to terrible packing} but Business.

He's not sending a label, and is asking for yet more photographs adding to the six I've already sent.

Just refund and then try and claim from Royal Mail {I have all the original thin packing}.How item arrived.

[oakleaffy]

Update: Six days later, and have received nothing but pain in the neck messages from this seller who is a mass of contradictions.

Says they have received no images, so they will not be sending a returns label or refunding.

He is actually insulting. I can see he has messaged yet again, but looking into Paypal I see that he hasn't refunded, so don't need to see his objectionable messages.

Seems he got into a bate as I'd ''opened a case''- I hadn't, Ebay opened it on my behalf, after I'd messaged seller to say ''Arrived damaged ''.  when he'd refunded a few pence.

I don't believe that he didn't receive any of my photographs. 

I'll let you know if I get the refund - Or the returns label.

I  hope that tomorrow when the ''Step in'' date happens that I am refunded in full.

[the_book_seekers]

If he doesn't issue a return label pretty sharpish and ebay steps in, he'll get a ding on his account for failing to resolve the case. That won't improve his mood any. 

[oakleaffy]

It does beggar belief as to why he just didn't refund me there and then. {on the morning the item arrived smashed.

I said it had arrived damaged, and that it was pointless to send a returns label {Trying to save him money!}

So now I have pressed the ''Ebay step in'' button - CS {a real person} said they could see all the photographs as part of the messages, so his fervent denial of me ''not sending him any'' were rather odd.

Have a QR code now, so can take to post office - Have put a stronger wrapper around his envelope because of the broken glass.

Once bought something{ new} that had a manufacturer's defect under the packaging and the seller refunded immediately {she sent a returns label as she could claim back from manufacturer} but she was efficient and business like, when it wasn't even her fault.

[sml192]

Okay, that's progress but rather surprised that eBay is expecting you to still return the item to the seller, instead of just forcing the refund, given the relative low value and the fact that broken glass shouldn't be sent in the mail.

[lucy_farmer]

'.....rather surprised that eBay is expecting you to still return the item to the seller, instead of just forcing the refund, given the relative low value and the fact that broken glass shouldn't be sent in the mail.'

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C.S. probably based in some far-flung country and has no idea about how the UK postage system is supposed to work...?

[oakleaffy]

Returned it today - what was a surprise, I was charged £4 postage by seller,  yet the cost on receipt post office gave me with my extra packing was under £2. He had really skimped on packing and had the gall to charge £4 for it.

It was via a QR code .

[the_book_seekers]

I don't understand why you've had to pay postage. The item was damaged so the seller should be paying for the return and refunding you for the item and the original postage. 

[oakleaffy]

I didn't have to pay, I had a QR code and asked the Cashier out of interest how much it cost 
{as I'd been charged £4 initially}. 


 Ebay issued a returns code-   Seller just wanted to make things as protracted as possible, digging in heels, being sarcastic and  unpleasant, so I can't see that it was he/she that sent the QR code, as they said I ''would not be receiving one or a refund'' .

[the_book_seekers]

Sorry I misunderstood. It sounds like your seller will deserve the ding on their account.

[oakleaffy]

I've just donated the refund {for what it's worth} to a small dog charity where the money goes towards vet care. It was so horrible having to deal with this seller - almost two weeks of unpleasant messages.

Someone suggested that had he/she used ''simple delivery'', none of this hassle would have happened?