Question about how much refund I should get for inaccurately described eBAY purchase

[stylemeup]

I purchased a pre-owned overcoat on eBAY. It was described in the ad as in good condition with no rips or tears. Prior to buying it I asked the seller if anything was wrong with the coat because the pic didn't show it very well. She emailed me back and said she couldn't see anything wrong with the coat.

So I bid on the item and won it based on that email from the seller saying that nothing is wrong with the coat. When it arrived, there was a big chunk of missing wool under one of the bottom buttons on the front; it looks like some moths ate a bunch of it. It didn't go all the way through enough to make a full hole, but it still looks very obscene and noticeable.

The auction says all sales are final but that obviously won't do in this case because I have no use for a coat with moth damage in it.

My question is about how far is fair and reasonable to push this. I need to know where to draw the line in terms of what is fair and reasonable with regards to demanding a refund /the seller to pay for these shipping charge related issues.

Should I demand a full refund for the coat, and my initial shipping costs?

Should I demand a full refund for the coat and my initial shipping costs, and the money it will cost me to pay for return shipping?

Should I open a dispute a with Paypal's buyer protection program right off the bat, or should I contact the seller first?

I'd feel like I'm kinda being scammed a little if I have to pay return shipping and the seller just refunds me the cost of the coat itself, with no refunds for my initial shipping charges. I think that's probably what the seller would want me to do, though.

Would it be best to file a dispute directly through Paypal's buyer protection program for this reason, because that will allow for me to keep more of the funds relating to this transaction in my pocket?

 

[vinouspleasure]

how much did you pay for the coat? Can you post the ebay listing? Is the coat unwearable?

Anyhow, I had something similar happen and the seller refunded payment+shipping and I donated the coat to goodwill. I offered to send the seller the goodwill receipt but she didn't want it so I ended up with a tax deduction of sorts for my trouble. She also offered to send me a free suit of my choosing from her current listings but I declined.

I think you need to inform the seller of the situation and ask how she wants to handle it. Be factual and dispassionate in your description, don't tell her you feel scammed or threaten her and see what she is willing to do. You may be surprised, no one wants a negative on ebay.

Hold on to the email in case you need to submit it to ebay in case of a dispute. My experience has been that if ebay sees you made the effort, acted rationally and politely, they will support you.

 

[SlamMan]

Post a link to the auction.

 

[stylemeup]

I don't want to post a link to the auction for the simple fact that this thread is readable by absolutely anyone, even non-SF members, so I wouldn't want any potentially crazy readers to potentially send weird messages to the seller as a result of having seen the listing posted here.

I paid ~$50 USD for the coat, plus shipping.

I feel the coat is absolutely unwearable due to the moth damage. It looks like a noticeable indentation in the coat. $50 ain't a ton of money, but i still don't wanna flush it down the drain on a useless coat that I would never wear. And more than anything the principle of keeping it bugs me.

I will email the seller first and ask how she wants to handle it. But if she tells me ship it back to her then she will refund my money less shipping, and then expects me to eat the initial shipping charge and then the charge to ship it back to her, should I refuse to do that and then open a Paypal dispute?

 

[lmaligaya]

Originally Posted by stylemeup

I will email the seller first and ask how she wants to handle it. But if she tells me ship it back to her then she will refund my money less shipping, and then expects me to eat the initial shipping charge and then the charge to ship it back to her, should I refuse to do that and then open a Paypal dispute?

I think that you should act rationally, contact the seller and give them the facts as you have conveyed them on this thread. a picture wouldn't hurt either. You can threaten to leave a negative feedback otherwise. In the event that she agrees to refund your money, then make sure you have the money in your paypal before you send it back. I would say that this is the ideal situation because you will have to front the money for shipping if reimbursed by paypal when you file a claim.

This could just be an isolated case of missing a detail, and if they are willing to work with you then a positive feedback should still be warranted.

 

[stylemeup]

Thanks.

I'm still unclear though if I should push for the seller paying me back for the intial shipping charges, and if I should push for the seller paying me back for the shipping charges to return it.

 

[lmaligaya]

you should ask for both initially. if you have to eat the cost of shipping it back, then that is fine because paypal will make you do this anyway. Try to get the money directly form the seller because it takes about 3 weeks to get your money back. the only drawback i can think of is the 3% fee that you will be charged if they send you the money back. Does anyone know if there is a "refund" option in paypal?

 

[DrZRM]

There is a "refund" option, which will undo the payment, no 3% paid on either side (or at least there was last time I had to deal with a refund for a bike seatpost last year). You should start by asking seller to refund cost and cover shipping both directions. If she does that, you are set. Email her a picture of the hole, she may not want the coat back. Clearly this is your best case scenario. If she refuses, then you eat return shipping, as was said above, Ebay would expect that from you even if they find on your side. I would not accept anything less.

 

[otc]

I recently gambled on some no-name leather dress shoes that looked quite nice in the photos and were sellign really cheap (probably because they were unidentified). The seller said leather but when I got the shoes they were clearly synthetic and pretty much crap (the pictures were not good). I responded to the seller that the shoes weren't even made out of leather and luckily they said they couldnt tell the differance and were amiable about the return.

In situations like this I usually ask for a refund of the full amount I paid (cost + shipping) and offer to eat the cost of return shipping myself (considering it is already packaged for me, the cheapest shipping isnt usually too bad a deal). IMHO "all sales final" should not apply when items do not match the description. Even if it says "as-is", the fact that you asked them if anythign was wrong and it claimed to be in good condition means that you did not recieve the item you intended to purchase. Since there was no real meeting of the minds, the all-sales final clause can't really be held to apply (if they sent you a pair of pants instead of the coat, that obviously would not be final).

 

[Tarmac]

You knowingly took a risk with blurry pictures, you should pay to ship it back. Use flat rate, it should cost you less than $9.

Once the seller receives it, they should refund you the full paypal payment.

There was only one way I have ever gotten around this. I noticed that a pair of shoes were mismates, after they had shipped. I showed this to the seller and they apologized, I used "Return To Sender" on the package without even opening it. It was free to send it back this way. I don't think you can do this, however.