I was a shipper/receiver many, many moons ago. One of the things I learned was to NEVER sign for a damaged package where damage is not noted. Carriers train to try to get damaged packages signed for in good condition because otherwise they are open to a claim. Even a small hole or tear can be a problem.

In Jon's case, the receiver is out of luck because by signing with no notation, he agreed that the package was in Good condition. Disputing that after the fact is suspicious and I would lend no credence to the pictures of the "damaged and wet" package. Perhaps he didn't know what he was buying or didn't ask enough questions - or he didn't like what was inside.

I don't know the why, but Jon's responsibility ended with the signature. I haven't sold on eBay here recently, but even if I was a big seller, in this case I'd take the rating hit because it sounds to me like the Buyer is playing games. It will be painful to try to make a claim, but that would be his only option were I the Seller. Sounds like Buyer's remorse.

I think the buyer is/should be the one to contact the shipper.  How does someone not notice a "badly damaged" and "wet" box?  I would be nice but firm with the buyer and make him do the leg work of getting refunded from the shipping company.

I see that differently. A buyer should deal with the seller. The seller picks the shipping company and pays them so should contact them.

I think the buyer is genuine, his feedback doesn't show any problems and he has sent me photographs of the damage and of the box

I am surprised that he signed for the box at all, it is in tatters with 2x huge holes in it

I suspect the shipping company will say "he signed it was in good condition, not our problem"

MY problem is that eBay make their own rules, where they are concerned, I am responsible for getting the goods to the buyer in good condition. They have already put a hold on the money he paid and have asked him to wait to see how I deal with the issue. As far as eBay are concerned, I have to deal with the carrier, I have to sort everything out and I have to make the buyer happy or they will step in and most likely give him back the money.

I did pay £1 extra for insurance up to £100 and the shipping company are looking into it - hopefully they'll play ball (I doubt it though)

~~~ Why would anyone sign for this ? ~~~

your version is how eBay see it :(

I find it hard to believe someone would sign for that, or that the shipping company would even attempt to deliver it like that.

I'm going to wait and see what the shipping company has to say about it, if they will pay then \o/ yay

If they say "no" (which I suspect they will) then I will be trying to pass that along, the problem I have is that eBay are known to side with buyers in almost all disputes so I could be SOoL :(

There is another possibility, eBay do occasionally do a 'no fault' refund - where they cover the losses as it's blatantly not my fault, but they don't like to piss off buyers.

Is the lathe damaged?

Usually I agree, but he signed for it in good condition.  You as the seller don't know what it looked like when he signed for it.  If the seller has to contact the shipping company then he has to guess as to what the buyer received. 

Another thing is he gave you a good rating, how does he do that if the item is in that condition?

yes, the lathe is damaged, but also about 1/2 of it is completely missing!

I don't understand how, even if a box is severely damaged,
if huge heavy bits fall out why aren't they picked up?

 

Ken, it doesn't matter what you or I think, eBay makes the rules and eBay says I have to make this right or lose the money.

I know, I've been through it with them and you're right, we have no power as sellers.  The buyer has all the power in this situation.  But you can at least contact eBay and at least point these things out.  I'd explain that the buyer gave you a good rating and signed for the delivery as "in good condition".

Jesus.

This is why I'm so nervous about selling on ebay. I always assume the buyer is going to screw me over or the item is going to arrive broken. Hassle, hassle, hassle.

I sold a bike for my brother a few years ago and the buyer was a complete cock. I ended up giving a partial refund because he hadn't looked at the high-res photos properly to notice the seat wasn't brand new.

I will be arguing my side, and I will try hard to point out that the buyer has made this MUCH worse by accepting the package etc, etc

So much is missing that it's unusable, I hope that will carry some weight with the shipping company.

Good luck!

I lost my old eBay account with a stupidly high rating because of dickbag customers.

Sold two things (one was a car, one was some car parts) and on both of them the winning bidder didn't pay and didn't make any kind of contact. They both had 100% positive feedback - but then if you actually read the feedback the comments are all negative. Turns out ebay stopped sellers leaving negative feedback for buyers - da fuck. So yeah, both buyers with a history of winning things and not paying for them. Both items had other (lower) bids, and if i'd realised the high bids were from assholes I'd have rejected them. Instead I was left with unsold items and a big bill from ebay for insertion fees.

Lost my account because I refused to pay the insertion fees (and wrote to them telling them why) on the grounds that my items failed to sell only because of ebay's decision to prevent buyers getting negative feedback and then failing to properly police member accounts. 

Did you engage the courier as a consumer or as a business?

I remember when they made this change, there was huge uproar about it but they still went ahead with it. Should be able to give Positive, Negative and Neutral to buyers and sellers. The seller has more at stake.

consumer, private not business (it was my son's tool and he's lost interest)