Broken Boopies from Ebay

[michaelman2]

Has anyone else encountered very poor packing on fragile items won on Ebay. Realizing that most sellers on Ebay are not professional packers, I have rec'd 5 parcels this week, all with damage. The first 4 have been the small "Boopie" snack trays made of glass, demolished. The 5th was a VitaMix blender and this was suposidly packed at a UPS store. You guys should see this box, single box, thin cardboard. The machine was so tight in the box, the spiggot pushed out of the box and broke off. Dealing with UPS insurance, Fed Ex insurance and USPS insurance ALL IN ONE WEEK..I digress..just had to vent....I am going to offer a course in packing to Ebay sellers (and apparently UPS Store personnel at a certain location)

 

[drmitch]

Deco Dan

Here`s a link to mixer packing instructions.

Redirect Notice

 

[pumper]

...and then they charge you $10 for shipping and pocket about $8 of it. there oughtta be a law......

 

[JerseyMike]

I'm sorry that you have to deal with all of this. :-(

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised to hear that you also had problems with the package that was packed by a UPS Store. Shortly after Katrina stuck, I shipped off a care package to a friend who lives about halfway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA. I took it my local Mail Boxes Etc., where I was informed that UPS and Fed Ex, etc. had suspended shipments to the disaster zone. (They suggested that I try the Post Office, which accepted and delivered my package, but I digress.) Since I'm not a professional packer, and since I was shipping a lot of cleaning supplies, etc., I decided to utilize to their packing service. To say that I was disappointed with the flimsy box that they used and the haphazard manner in which they packed and sealed the box would be an understatement. I was positive that my package was never going to arrive in one piece. I literally was on pins and needles until my friend e-mailed me that he got my package.

Mike

 

[tomturbomatic]

Give a full account of each transaction, including amount paid for "packing & shipping" when you give flameba..sorry, feedback online and to Ebay and the pirates at Paypal on the problem resolution screens.

 

[gansky1]

I had a very difficult transaction with an ebay seller (hudsonvalleycollectables) on an Apex appliance catalog from c.1949. I sent my money, waited six weeks, no package came. I emailed said seller and got horrible, rude and insulting responses back. Even though it was only $32.50, I decided the principle was worth more effort. I learned that as fun as ebay is to shop, they have little or no concern whatsoever for the buyer - they are all about backing up the seller and keeping those listing fees rolling in. As a buyer, they only offer one option for recovery of any money. You can file a claim and for a $25 processing charge, get a refund IF their investigation shows a violation of ebay policies on the part of the seller. This can take weeks, of course. I opted for another, seemingly less thought of option, calling the local police in the jurisdiction of the seller. I spoke with a very nice officer in upstate New York who drove out to the seller's address the same day I spoke with him. He called me back after speaking with the husband/wife team and felt relatively assured that I would be getting the refund I'd spent weeks trying to get the seller to send. Realizing there is no protection for buyers from ebay, I left negative feedback for the seller stating that I had to contact the local law enforcement along with the sheriff's phone number. I also emailed every person who left negative feedback for this seller in the last six months (those reporting a loss of money) and gave them the same information. Six people total emailed me back that had either contacted the police or gave the seller a final warning via email and every one of them got results within a week. I got a very hateful email from the seller, which I of course forwarded to the officer I spoke with to keep in their file, but the satisfaction of not only getting my money back, but helping others in the same situation was well worth the time and effort. The deputy explained to me that accepting payment for goods or services and not delivering them is, without a doubt against the law and if the payment was accepted through the U.S. mail, also can be prosecuted as Mail Fraud ($10,000 fine and 5 years in prison for each offense) so it's important to report such crimes whenever you have obvious cases of theft by ebay sellers (and buyers, but ebay comes down much faster on deadbeat buyers).

 

[bostonwash]

A husband wife team in upstate NY? Sounds familiar. The only truely negative experience I had on Ebay was in about June of 2003 from a screen name of tiny_sparks. It was a model car for like $15 but these "people" literally shoved the fragile model into a box about 10" long and mailed it. It hardly fit diagonally and there was no packing material and it was damaged.
These people were totally rude. Insulting Emaails. I started a dispute. Then they broke into my, I admit, unprotected email and Ebay account and changed info so that I couldn't log in for several weeks. They are trash for sure.
Then this followed a host of other screen names that would bid on items I was selling and they wouldn't pay or communicate. Or people asking stupid or inappropriate questions. or sending fake Emails from claiming to be from paypal or ebay asking in some way for your password. For your block list these names include braindeaddogs, jonskyblues, pjr38, tadstan, ctpnc, lyssifer, shortcut, foreverinink, robertK215, randypan02, ericide

Other than that I really can't complain. Yes there have been the rare minor problem that you would have with anything. But people have been quite considerate and fair in general. I recently had a person send me the wrong DVD and he didn't want it back but just gave me a complete refund. I gave him positive feedback as he did me.

Check a persons feedback before buying. If you are selling, I have gone as far as to state and reject people's bid who have fewer than say 15 in feedback.

 

[petek]

Hmmm this sort of puts me off buying on Ebay, I haven't so far. Re packaging though, I sent a parcel to Lawrence last month via the post office, I thought I packed it ok and used a cardboard box I bought at the post office. Lawrence told me the box arrived damaged and one of the legs on the pan was broken but fixable. This has really soured me about sending anything anymore considering what I had to pay to mail it in the first place. Not that the cost puts me off but that for the amount you're charged something that isn't easily broken gets broken. I mean what in Hades happened to that box that it broke the leg off a perfectly new pan? You couldn't drop the thing from your counter accidently using it and do that hardly.

 

[michaelman2]

*drmitch*..thanks for the heads up...*Pumper*, I could not have said it better sir!..that is exactly the way I felt.*JerseyMike* what an ordeal, thank G-d the parcel finally got there! * Tomturbomatic* Oh man, I have this damn thing documented to the hilt. *Gansky*..sorry to learn of your experience..Ebay and Paypal just try to wash their hands of problems. *Bostonwash*..I would imagine that there are numeours duplicate stories, when you have a crappy dishonest seller/buyer they don't stop with one ..very bad.
I am in the process of dealing with another dishonest person about another purchase, he actually was allowed to have a Paypal account with partial information and the information that he "provided" was false...man I am typing fast..ha

 

[foraloysius]

Greg, good for you that you informed the police about that guy. Most people feel helpless when a seller doesn't deliver the goods.

In another thread I posted about the blender I had bought from a Dutch auction site. The glass jar was broken because it was only packed in a newspaper and put in a corner of the box.

I guess postal services in the US are not very different from the Dutch services. I worked at a postoffice and I know what packaged have to endure. That's why I felt so stupid when that blender arrived. I could have known that this could happen. Most people however are not aware of what happens during the transport of their packages. When you send a package you must pack it that it can stand falling from six feet high on a concrete floor or even worse on a sharp metal edge of a transport cart. Very often packages are not handed over, but thrown over. And not every employee of the postal services are good catchers... I don't know how it is at the moment, but years ago in the Netherlands UPS was the worst.

 

[Designgeek]

I've had a couple of cases of outright theft (send money, goods never arrive) and a slew of cases of bad packing, damaged goods.

Usually what I'll do, and I've told other friends to do the same, is: when I write to the seller asking the amount, I also say "please pack carefully, I've had a few shipping disasters lately with broken goods," and this almost always works. Sometimes I'll also say "with enough popcorn and stuff, that you can shake the box and hear nothing moving inside," or words to that effect.

Most sellers on Ebay are amateurs seeking to get rid of a few items and thinking they'll score decent $$ if a couple of them turn out to be antiques or something. But these amateurs don't know how to pack stuff securely much of the time, so you have to advise them and hope for the best.

Most of the time it works out.

 

[kenmore1978]

E-Bay

I guess I've been lucky, I've only had 1 item that was never received, and 1 item that cme slightly damaged in buying over 200 items. Very important to check the feedback before buying.

 

[chachp]

eBay Experience

My 500+ purchases have been OK for the most part. I have received some broken items, but have always been able to work it out with the sellers. I try to read the feedback before I bid and generally won't bid with someone with less that a 98% positive feedback or so. I never bid with someone who has the hidden feedback.

I really do hate it when they tell me to file an insurance claim with the shipper. When you hear those words you pretty much know you're in for the long haul.

I remember bidding on a really nice Sunbeam Chrome Model 11 mixer with clear bowls and juicer. I really bid on it more for the clear juicer as it is the one thing missing from my collection. Didn't the darn thing arrive broken? Every thing else was fine except the juicer. The seller refunded the entire price though so I ended up with a nice mixer but still no clear juicer!!

 

[ironrite]

I now use FedX Ground for all my shipping when I have an auction, unless the buyer has a fit over that. Then I'll use their requested shipping, but it's at their risk.

I tried UPS when I sold an old set of dinnerware. I used two heavy boxes, everything very well wrapped and cushioned. One box arrived fine, the other was smashed to pieces with no explanation from UPS. It is a pain in the neck to file insurance as it really takes both the seller and buyer's cooperation to get thing through. UPS did follow up quickly on their insurance, but for now I'll stick with FedEx.

 

[jasonl]

I haven't had a problem with broke stuff from ebay. I've gotten records, a record player and various small doo-dads. The only thing that broke was a Silex coffee pot. The thing was MUMMIFIED in bubble wrap and taped so tight and hard that I broke the bottom pot. I kept the top and the rest of it but of course, that's all gone thanks to Katrina and the Waves.