Ebay Problem - Buyer says DVD Burner doesn't work

[Yzzim]

So I just sold a DVD Burner on Ebay. The guy paid with Paypal very promptly but did not pay for insurance. I shipped the package out via USPS Priority Mail (w/o Insurance) and now the guy says the DVD Burner doesn't work. It worked just fine when it left here, in fact the drive is only 2-3 months old.

I feel bad for the guy, but if he didn't purchase insurance I feel that it's his own problem. I have the following message posted in every single one of my auctions:

Insurance is an additional $2.00. I am not responsible for any damage or lost packages that happens during shipping if Insurance is not purchased.

I let him know that he didn't purchase insurance and he states that I would have to prove that something happened during shipping in order to get the insurance money.

He wants to send the drive back to me and I told him I would consider that, and told him to package everything up in the original packaging. Well, he just responded and said that he no longer has the original packaging that came with the drive (the way I shipped it) but he'll package it up as best he can.

What should I do? Who's in the wrong here and who's gonna be out the money?

Cliff notes:
1. Ebay'er buys DVD Burner, doesn't purchase Insurance
2. Recieves DVD Burner, says it doesn't work
3. Throws away original packaging (way I shipped)
4. Wants to return DVD Burner in own packaging
5. Asks for refund after DVD Burner is recieved


Auction Link

UPDATED:

I called the buyer (in Canada, paying for international charges :roll: ) and I told him that he should go through Samsung for any type of warranty as the cost for him to ship the burner to me, then me to ship it to samsung, then ship it back to him (get that?) would be a waste if he could just do it himself. I told him I would back him up 100% and if Samsung gave him any problems to just let me know.

We'll see what happens. He does sound like a nice, honest person. I asked him about flashing the firmware and how the symptoms the dvd burner is having sound like a bad firmware flash and he said "Oh well my friend and I didn't get to that point yet" I didn't push him on it further as I didn't want him to fall into a defensive position everytime I communicate with him.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I don't see why you keep saying the fact that he didn't purchase insurance = negating seller responsibility for the item working, assuming the damage was during transit.

Otherwise you are responsible as the seller for making sure the item is working as described in the auction.

 

[chowmein]

thats what you said on your 10,000 post?

 

[Injury]

Option 1: "Drive was verified in working order before it left. Sorry about your luck. Consider purchasing the insurance next time.

Option 2: "I will accept the drive back and check its status. If it is determined to be a problem not caused by me, I will not issue a refund. Consider purchasing insurance next time."

Option 3: "Send the drive back and I will issue a refund less shipping. Because I'm that nice of a guy. Consider purchasing insurance next time."

 

[MrScott81]

Originally posted by: chowmein
thats what you said on your 10,000 post?

yeah, are you blind?

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
I don't see why you keep saying the fact that he didn't purchase insurance = negating seller responsibility for the item working, assuming the damage was during transit.

Otherwise you are responsible as the seller for making sure the item is working as described in the auction.

I know that when the DVD Burner left here it worked.

When it arrived at his house it didn't work.

Something had to have happened during shipping or while he was trying to install it. Being able to see the boxes might help, but he threw them away.

 

[dethman]

sounds like if the drive was non functioning and it wasn't from obvious shipping damage, insurance has no role here.

i don't know about the packaging issue though, why would he throw away the original box?

 

[spacelord]

If you sold the product "In Original Packaging" listed on your Ebay listing, I'd say he's not returning the full deal. If in fact he's just a dumbazz that can't get it to work, now you are stuck without the nice packaging to sell it again.

 

[CRXican]

It cracks me up how cheap sellers can be when it comes to shipping. I insure all of my packages at no extra cost for my safety. I don't mind paying $10-$12 dollars for shipping, this isn't a business for me.

 

[MrScott81]

This is why for items like this I always make insurance required.

 

[Reel]

It would have cost you a couple bucks to insure it. I think I am going to start requiring insurance on any auction I make from now on. Some people buy it, some don't. I feel better paying the couple of bucks and covering my ass rather than taking the risk.

Can you prove that it worked before? It could be an incompatibility on his machine or he could be a moron. I'd say offer that you will take it back and refund him the full purchase price minus 10% or whatever for losing the box. If you find it not working, you will refund the shipping too. However, if it is working, he has to pay shipping both ways and that 10% for losing the box. This is just my suggestion thinking about what a large company might do.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: spacelord
If you sold the product "In Original Packaging" listed on your Ebay listing, I'd say he's not returning the full deal. If in fact he's just a dumbazz that can't get it to work, now you are stuck without the nice packaging to sell it again.

I didn't state the dvd burner was sold "in original packaging"

I just don't like how he threw the shipping boxes away before he had time to check and see if the drive worked.

 

[Pciber]

Originally posted by: spacelord
If in fact he's just a dumbazz that can't get it to work

I'm wondering about this. How does he say its "not working" ? is it detected by the bios? does it read cds fine, but not burn dvds?

maybe the guy just has two master drives plugged into 1 ide chain, or maybe he duct-taped it to the top of his computer and hoped it would magically work.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
I don't see why you keep saying the fact that he didn't purchase insurance = negating seller responsibility for the item working, assuming the damage was during transit.

Otherwise you are responsible as the seller for making sure the item is working as described in the auction.

I know that when the DVD Burner left here it worked.

When it arrived at his house it didn't work.

Something had to have happened during shipping or while he was trying to install it. Being able to see the boxes might help, but he threw them away.

How did you pack it? A lot of it can be blamed on how it's packed. Any item you ship as a seller should be able to make it from point A to B in one piece, working. I've shipped delicate things like CD/DVD drives, XBox's, hard drives, computers, etc. You can't just put the blame on the shipping company and say "oh well they had to have damaged it".

In addition - did the buyer say what was wrong with it? Recognized in Windows? Is it set to master/slave/CS? Did you troubleshoot it to make sure the buyer wasn't a complete dumbass?

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: Pciber

Originally posted by: spacelord
If in fact he's just a dumbazz that can't get it to work

I'm wondering about this. How does he say its "not working" ? is it detected by the bios? does it read cds fine, but not burn dvds?

maybe the guy just has two master drives plugged into 1 ide chain, or maybe he duct-taped it to the top of his computer and hoped it would magically work.

that's what I'm thinking as well.

He says the dvd drive is detected by Windows but when he puts any media in the drive can't read it

Oh well, I just called ZipZoomFly and they said the drive has a 1 year manuf's warranty. So either he can wait for the new drive or I can issue him a refund.

I actually kinda miss the drive back, so maybe I'll just issue him a refund and keep the drive for myself

 

[dabuddha]

He's SOL. I always state that I'm not responsible for any damages to the merchandise if they do not purchase the insurance. If they do, I'd refund the money back as soon as I receive the drive back and then file a claim with whoever the shipping company was.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: CRXican
It cracks me up how cheap buyers can be when it comes to shipping.

Fixed.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
I don't see why you keep saying the fact that he didn't purchase insurance = negating seller responsibility for the item working, assuming the damage was during transit.

Otherwise you are responsible as the seller for making sure the item is working as described in the auction.

I know that when the DVD Burner left here it worked.

When it arrived at his house it didn't work.

Something had to have happened during shipping or while he was trying to install it. Being able to see the boxes might help, but he threw them away.

How did you pack it? A lot of it can be blamed on how it's packed. Any item you ship as a seller should be able to make it from point A to B in one piece, working. I've shipped delicate things like CD/DVD drives, XBox's, hard drives, computers, etc. You can't just put the blame on the shipping company and say "oh well they had to have damaged it".

In addition - did the buyer say what was wrong with it? Recognized in Windows? Is it set to master/slave/CS? Did you troubleshoot it to make sure the buyer wasn't a complete dumbass?

It was packed well. I have been on FS/FT about 3 years longer than you've been a member of this forum, so I have ample experience with packing drives The buyer even stated that when he recieved the drive it was packaged excellent. He said that he didn't think there would be anything wrong with the drive because it was packaged so well.

I forgot to mention in my above reply that the seller had a "computer technician" friend look at the drive and he couldn't get it working. So now the drive is probably really fvcked up.

 

[CRXican]

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: CRXican
It cracks me up how cheap buyers can be when it comes to shipping.

Fixed.

Ha, don't get me started. Buyers are most often cheap asses who want to rip you off. I know how much the damn thing is worth, don't be an idiot and offer $30 less, I can't stand that.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
He's SOL. I always state that I'm not responsible for any damages to the merchandise if they do not purchase the insurance. If they do, I'd refund the money back as soon as I receive the drive back and then file a claim with whoever the shipping company was.

Ah...finally someone that agrees with me

I don't see the need why I should have to jack my price up just to cover the buyer's own ass. If he wants to cover his ass, he can add the extra cost into the auction. I don't want to turn potential buyers away by having my shipping price more expensive than anyone other seller.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: CRXican
It cracks me up how cheap sellers can be when it comes to shipping. I insure all of my packages at no extra cost for my safety. I don't mind paying $10-$12 dollars for shipping, this isn't a business for me.

Good thing too or you'd be bankrupt in no time:laugh:

To the OP: from now on consider making insurance required and add it to the shipping cost.

Also add a blurb about "original packaging required for returns" or similar. How many stores let you return something if you threw out the box anyways??? We have an extra HP rack server sitting at work because we accidently threw out the wrong box.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: dabuddha
He's SOL. I always state that I'm not responsible for any damages to the merchandise if they do not purchase the insurance. If they do, I'd refund the money back as soon as I receive the drive back and then file a claim with whoever the shipping company was.

Ah...finally someone that agrees with me

I don't see the need why I should have to jack my price up just to cover the buyer's own ass. If he wants to cover his ass, he can add the extra cost into the auction. I don't want to turn potential buyers away by having my shipping price more expensive than anyone other seller.

Exactly. When I sell things, I tend to only charge what it costs me to ship it. Twice I've actually given some money back to the person because they overpaid. If they want insurance, they can pay for it. If not, it's no sweat off my back.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: kami333

Originally posted by: CRXican
It cracks me up how cheap sellers can be when it comes to shipping. I insure all of my packages at no extra cost for my safety. I don't mind paying $10-$12 dollars for shipping, this isn't a business for me.

Good thing too or you'd be bankrupt in no time:laugh:

To the OP: from now on consider making insurance required and add it to the shipping cost.

Also add a blurb about "original packaging required for returns" or similar. How many stores let you return something if you threw out the box anyways??? We have an extra HP rack server sitting at work because we accidently threw out the wrong box.

While I don't agree with the required insurance cost, you brought up a very good point about throwing away the box. I might bring that up to the buyer and tell him that he can deal with the Samsung warranty center because he threw away the box.

Thanks kami333!

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
I don't see why you keep saying the fact that he didn't purchase insurance = negating seller responsibility for the item working, assuming the damage was during transit.

Otherwise you are responsible as the seller for making sure the item is working as described in the auction.

I know that when the DVD Burner left here it worked.

When it arrived at his house it didn't work.

Something had to have happened during shipping or while he was trying to install it. Being able to see the boxes might help, but he threw them away.

How did you pack it? A lot of it can be blamed on how it's packed. Any item you ship as a seller should be able to make it from point A to B in one piece, working. I've shipped delicate things like CD/DVD drives, XBox's, hard drives, computers, etc. You can't just put the blame on the shipping company and say "oh well they had to have damaged it".

In addition - did the buyer say what was wrong with it? Recognized in Windows? Is it set to master/slave/CS? Did you troubleshoot it to make sure the buyer wasn't a complete dumbass?

It was packed well. I have been on FS/FT about 3 years longer than you've been a member of this forum, so I have ample experience with packing drives The buyer even stated that when he recieved the drive it was packaged excellent. He said that he didn't think there would be anything wrong with the drive because it was packaged so well.

I forgot to mention in my above reply that the seller had a "computer technician" friend look at the drive and he couldn't get it working. So now the drive is probably really fvcked up.

Um, I've been on the forums since April 2000, so you've barely been here longer than I have. At least I can't say I've had a negative from the *creator* of Heatware

And I wasn't necessarily questioning your packing, I was just making sure. Need to cover all the bases ya know?

 

[LeetViet]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Insurance is an additional $2.00. I am not responsible for any damage or lost

Insurance is for you, not for the buyer. I don't like it when sellers use insurance as a reason to not help a buyer if something goes wrong.