So I bought an item of ebay. It was advertised as 'perfect near new condition' and that postage would be express postage and it would be mailed within 1 business day for next day delievery. I purchased this item to have it in time for the weekend.
Four days later the seller had not marked my item as being shipped on ebay and I did not have my item. I politely enquired when my item would be shipped to which she said she posted it 2 days after I purchased it. I asked for my postage costs to be refunded, as I didn't get my item in time for what I wanted it for and I had been charged for a express service that didnt exist. She refused*. The tracking number states it was received by Aus. Post 5 days later than what she said. So basically it was sent after I enquired when my item would arrive and after being refused my refund.
However, this isn't the real issue here. I'm not going to argue somantics over postage, I can get over it.
Over a week and a bit later I finally received my item and it was damaged and a totally different colour to what she pictured it as. It is not 'perfect near new condition.' There was also a note sent in my item saying the official packaging was given to someone else, hence why my item did not have the official packaging and was just sent in a regular parcel.
Without hesitation I filed a dispute with PayPal to which esclated to a claim. Paypal ruled in my favour and said to get my refund I need to ship it back. Which is fine.
However, the address she has given paypal is completely different to the return sender address on my parcel. The cost to send it back to this address is astronomical and I am not eligible for my shipping costs to covered, I've already enquired.
To summarise, keeping the item has more value to me than paying for it to be sent back, allowing her to re-sell it again for more money and leaving me with a petty refund after I pay for shipping.
Also worth noting that I realise that the ebay account and paypal account is the Mother of the girl who has sent the item, hence she has asked to send the item back to her address (which is why it will cost me so much), not the daughter's address that the item was originally sent from.
The Mother must not have known her daughter didn't send the item for 5 days later, and sent it in such poor condition. Or maybe she did... I can't say.
I'm considering just cutting my losses and moving on with more caution next time.
Though, the people around me say that I couldn't have known better as the photos looked perfect and she had an excellent ebay feedback percentage. They say that I deserve some sort of compensation and I'm begining to think it's only fair I get some compensation as the item has less monetary value than what I paid due to the condition it is in.
So,
What should I do? Is there a way I can change the paypal claim from a full refund to a partial refund? Is there a way paypal can seek a partial refund for me? Any advice on how I could make the mother see eye to eye?
I am really at a loss. Purchasing this item has literally been more trouble than its worth.
