posted on April 28, 2004 12:38:02 PM new
How do you guys deal with buyers that e-mail you 2-3 weeks after the item has been delivered telling you that for instance.. picture's glass is broken or that clock's fenial is broken? Do you guys file claims with insurance (I ship with UPS and insure everything at their charge) or do you refund them out of your own pocket in order to keep the feedback looking good? I've had 2 customers complain to me that picture glass was broken even though i tripple bubble wrapped it, foamed it, put cardboard to protect the glass and such. Also, recently (3 days ago) I've received e-mail from customer saying he did not get remaining item that I forgot to put in original package which had delivery confirmation, but the remaining item did not. I checked UPS tracking site and it did say that the package was delivered to his front door. I'm still waiting for him to reply me after I sent him the tracking page. Do you guys have any good disclaimers I could use for such issues?
posted on April 28, 2004 12:56:36 PM new
Can you completely insulate yourself from shady or opportunistic buyers?
No.
Is there good money to be made in making false claims of damage or loss?
You bet.
I know someone who (claims to have) made $900 on a USPS error when they didn't make him sign for an insured package.
Scary.
As for me, I sell small easily-protected items and am not impressed by reports of damage on arrival. "Gee, I guess you should have bought insurance, then. What a pity."
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Answers to Questions Nobody Asked, #22:
Mighty Leaf Tea Company packages its loose tea in silk pouches rather than conventional filter teabags. It does not, however, seem to improve the taste of the tea.
posted on April 28, 2004 01:03:24 PM new
yeh... e-bay buyers are too shady and trying to rip you off as much as they can. from now on ill make them sign every item and put a disclaimer that they should notify me within 3 days of delivery if anything is wrong with the item.
posted on April 28, 2004 01:34:19 PM new
Nice attitude, auctioncure.
If you're not cynical yet, you haven't been selling very long. That would be confirmed by your belief that a "disclaimer" will keep people from causing problems.
Heh-heh-heh-heh. Good one!
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Answers to Questions Nobody Asked, #22:
Mighty Leaf Tea Company packages its loose tea in silk pouches rather than conventional filter teabags. It does not, however, seem to improve the taste of the tea.
posted on April 28, 2004 01:50:23 PM new
hehe fluffy shhh bro and yes you are quite right about me being new to selling. i guess one just has to deal wit sh*t like that, huh?
posted on April 28, 2004 03:40:53 PM new
Here's what I"ve started doing when I ship anything pricey that's breakable: When I ship, I send them a message, asking that, if the package arrives damaged, or if it sounds as though there's broken stuff inside, do not open it until you've taken a picture of the damaged package exterior. Then please take pictures of the items as they sit in the package, before you remove them.
I tell them we'll need to show the pictures to the p.o. and we can't make any claims without them. No buyer has questioned my message to them along these lines.
I'm doing this only as a precaution; I've never had a problem along that line. But recently I won an item that was breakable; the package arrived from England damaged, and I was so worried that I took pictures of it before opening it. The item wasn't broken, but that was a close one and it got me to thinking.
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posted on April 28, 2004 04:16:35 PM newauctioncure,
Be proactive. We use this in all our shipping notices:
In the unlikely event that the outside of the package appears damaged, don't open it. Contact your local Post Office to lodge a compensation claim and email me so I can arrange a replacement.
posted on April 28, 2004 05:07:35 PM new
Auction, it's ok. We all have to start somewhere at sometime. I would definitely put a disclaimer in the listing. Make sure that your listings don't contain enough rules to choke a cat. The few that you list will make an impact.
posted on April 29, 2004 07:40:08 AM new
We have an on line link which explains our refund/insurance policies. A copy of it is also in all the packages we ship. We got tired of folks claiming to have not received items and with our merchant account, and via PayPal, I couldn’t prove that they had, so I was hit with charge backs. We put a screeching halt to that, ALL of our shipments either via UPS or USPS REQUIRE a signature, and that ended the “I never received it,” issue.
Our policy says that you MUST report damage within a business day of the time you receive the item. Then our procedure tells them not to throw away any of the packing, box, etc, that UPS will be out to inspect the item. THAT up and end to claims of breakage, which weren’t broken. When the customer realized that UPS was personally coming out to inspect.
When something is actually broken we try to work through UPS, and U-Pic which ever is the covering insurance. BUT with the requirement of a signature, and the information that there will be a personal inspection, that just about eliminated most problems.
We use Endicia mail program, which is easy to set to require a signature on all shipments, and we use U-Pic insurance.
The ONLY packages we ship without a signature are costume necklaces at a cost of $5 or less.
On one of our web site we hand many types of brass knuckles, and even the least costly an ABS Knuckle at $5.95, is shipped USPS/Insured/Signature Required, which cost the customer $5.15, and we have not had any gripes about cost.
posted on April 29, 2004 09:42:38 AM new
auctioncure; don't paint all eBay buyers with the same brush. I have had very few claims for breakage & my main product is china. I am not a high volume seller but I have been selling for over 6 yrs. Most of my buyers are pleased with my service & compliment me on fast deivery & packaging.
posted on April 29, 2004 10:17:37 AM new
fluffster: Not every experienced seller is cynical. Why let the 2% problem buyers make you a cynic? After all, there's the other 98% to think about.
posted on April 29, 2004 10:53:45 AM new
I have a shipping letter that I always include in my shipment that state problems should be reported immediately and there is the occasional winner that has reported damage. The first thing I ask them to do is take a photo of it and send that to me. Many are sellers also and have digital cameras (I check first before I suggest this). If it's insured - I file a claim - if not all my TOS state I'm not responsible if they don't insure. If I didn't pack well and they didn't insure well I will refund most of the time anyway but that has only happened once.
posted on April 30, 2004 10:04:26 AM new
bizzy makes a good point, if I have to bring a lunch to read the TOS I just go on to the next auction, the seller comes with too much baggage.
posted on April 30, 2004 10:39:26 AM new
I sold a laser printer at the beginning of March. On April 18th the buyer mailed me saying "The toner is putting blotches on the paper." I was like WTF? I told him him to go buy a new cartridge and don't even try to pass off that this is the first time he has tried to print with it. Haven't heard from him since.
and yes you are quite right about me being new to selling. i guess one just has to deal wit sh*t like that, huh? 