ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colour

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pbb99
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ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colour

Post by pbb99 » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:43 pm

hey everyone,

So I finally put a set on ebay that I'm never going to get around to building. I got a bit concerned when someone with only 3 feedback bid at the last minute to win, but all I could do was ship it with tracking and insurance. Sure enough, it's delivered to day and not long after I get the following message:

"Hello,

I received my item today, on the 29th of Febuary 2016. I opened the package and began building, but I realised that this piece:

http://img.brickowl.com/files/image_cac ... 25-101.jpg

was missing and replaced by a different colour:

http://img.brickowl.com/files/image_cac ... 425-14.jpg

This product was described as "new" but as I've discovered today this wasn't the case. Whether this product has been ever been opened or not does little to ease my dissatisfaction."

Any suggestions on how best to handle this? If I received an item with this issue, I'd just contact Lego for a replacement piece. I've been on ebay forever but am relatively new to selling, so I'd like to resolve this without a chargeback or negative feedback!

thanks!

hushed
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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by hushed » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:40 pm

What set is it? Have you confirmed they are not mistaken? Maybe the colors were printed poorly on that manual, or they simply put the wrong part, in the wrong spot?

Did you check the seals before you sold it? Would you say 100% the seals had not been tampered with? While the glued seams can be opened with a heat gun, it is very difficult to put them back without being noticeable.

If they just need that one part, I pull one from my collection, drop it in a baggie in an envelope and mail it to them for 48 cents.

pbb99
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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by pbb99 » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:54 pm

Set is 7261 Clone Turbo Tank. I haven't yet confirmed anything with him about the part, decided to consult with the community before I contact him, since his low feedback score has me suspicious.

Definitely checked the seals, they were solid, and I took pictures of them to document it. He didn't say the seals were broken or bags were open, just that he is disputing my claim that the set is new.

So far it sounds like it's just one part, which would be trivial to order online from Lego customer service, they have a whole tool for ordering a missing part. That's why I'm worried about how this transaction is going to go. If the situation was reversed, I'd just request the missing part from Lego customer service and be on my way.

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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by StClair » Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:42 pm

I would do the same as as hushed suggests. I've sold on ebay for a long time and stress about customers complaining. I've had customers throw away capes because they are in the separate white packaging. They said they thought it was "packaging". So I've sent them replacements.

You do want to satisfy the customer but there are some that will push things to the limit. I would like to suggest that you ask them what would make them happy... but that could get expensive for you if this is a difficult person. I'm thinking offer to ship them the part (if you have a replacement) and see how they respond.

Customers can be ridiculous. I once had someone contact me to say that they received an empty mailer envelope. That I forgot to put the minifigure inside. On average I sell 1-3 minifigures per week so I do everything myself and am not overwhelmed with things. I definitely would have noticed if the mailer envelope was empty when sealing it up and writing the shipping info on the envelope. I assured the customer that I would mail them a replacement but asked if it looked as if the envelope had been opened when it arrived (wondering if I need to use more tape to seal them). Customer replied with... "I'm not sure. My husband and son ordered about 15 minifigures from various people so we aren't sure." ??? Geez... could it be that they opened all of these and my minfigure was lost in their home? I bit my lip and shipped a replacement.

pbb99
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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by pbb99 » Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:35 pm

Looks like I found the problem. According to this link:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=7261-1

it would appear that the transparent blue radiator grille parts (2412b) that are shown in the instructions have been replaced with medium opaque blue ones as shown in the Alternate Items list at the bottom of the page. I explained this to him, hopefully it solves the issue. Thanks for the replies so far, this being my first Lego sale on ebay, was alarming to have happen so soon.

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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by melsig » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:19 am

I hate when stuff like this happens. Hopefully your explanation will be enough, but if not, I agree with hushed - just mail them the part. It's definitely worth it in the long run to preserve your feedback rating, especially if you intend to continue selling.

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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by stevebuscemi » Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:47 pm

I always wonder if people are this stupid, or they just know they can get away with anything they want on Amazon and eBay. I honestly, hope people are just greedy scumbags vs. being just really really stupid.

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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by MrVEP » Thu Mar 03, 2016 4:48 pm

Glad you found a solution.

Welcome to the world of Lego sales at eBay. It can be a bumpy road sometimes.
I have had this problem before and I had to ship parts from my own sets just to avert a conflict.

I miss the days when seller were protected by eBay. Now it seems that any eBay buyer can just do whatever and get away with it; with us seller getting the short end of the stick.

What I do is check the seal very carefully and put a number with permanent marker on each one and take a photo. That way I know it has been inspected and recorded. I know it's tedious work but it's necessary.

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Re: ebay - buyer of a sealed set claims piece is wrong colou

Post by Valy » Tue May 03, 2016 12:19 pm

I had a somewhat similar thing happen on Ebay. I sold a GE that I had purchased new from Lego. I received an email from the buyer that that manuals were for a Star Wars set and demanded that I make it right. This is a retired set so you can imagine the cost of new manuals (she at first said she couldn't use the online directions but changed her mind that if I credited her $40 she could use them) I did call Lego and a CS told me that it would be impossible for this to happen since the set was a modular and the manuals she claimed were for Star Wars. I explained this to the buyer and to Ebay and Paypal to no avail. Ebay and Paypal both told me that I had to let her return the item and I had to cover ALL shipping plus receive back a now used set. Ebay said that since the box shows a manual you are expected to send that. So I get the set back instead of crediting her. Turns out, she never opened the manuals; still sealed. She was looking at the back of a manual with an ad for Star Wars. You are right, it can be a bumpy road on eBay. And, after all of these years of buying and selling and having great feedback found out it doesn't mean a thing unless you are the buyer.

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