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)

OK, well you're protected by the various consumer laws then which is A Good Thing.

Looking around google (mainly the complaints are about TNT), seems the likely outcome is that the courier will refuse to pay out, citing the signature as acceptance that the goods were OK. But if you push them, and put the claim in writing with the threat of small claims court etc. you should get it settled.

The notion that a signature absolves them of responsibility is largely unenforceable (under consumer law) as their would be a myriad of requirements on them to make it reasonable (allowing reasonable time to inspect the goods, actually telling you what you're signing (doesn't mention that shit on the handhelds they all use now) etc.).

 

Plus plenty of other points too I imagine, like the person signing for it not being the person it's addressed to. I'm sure I've also seen from some couriers the POD you sign saying something like you can't sign for it as being not inspected.

you make some good points, how happy would a delivery driver be to wait about while you unpacked everything and checked it all over?

also, what Ant said, anyone can sign, even a neighbour, that's unlikely to be binding

<<
Terms requiring that the goods are accepted as satisfactory on
delivery, or imposing unreasonable conditions on their return.

Consumers have a right to a reasonable opportunity to examine goods
and reject them if faulty. In the case of complex goods, a reasonable
opportunity to examine means a chance to try the goods out.

Consumers cannot legally be deprived of this right by being required to
sign 'satisfaction' notes on delivery, or by being required to return
goods in a way that may not be possible – for example, in disposable
packaging that they are likely to discard after opening. 
>>


From page 19 of this: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284426/oft311.pdf

I'd consider a lathe to be 'complex goods', so he'd also have to wait while you turned a few table legs :D

This story has 'buyer's scam' writ large all over it. He wants a free lathe. May even be a fence who takes orders for stuff. Seems pretty fucking confident to both sign for it AND submit photos of obvious damage. Nope, this is a scam.

Here you have to note visible damage to the package when you sign, if you expect to collect anything. Otherwise the shipping co. just says it wasn't packed correctly (which is often true). Wet? Torn open? Fuggedaboutit.

well, if that's the case he has been planning it for a long time, there is no indication anywhere in his eBay feedback that he has tried anything dodgy with anyone else

and, I don't see what he could gain by smashing it up

He may have one with broken parts he intends to swap in from yours? It fell over in a wet basement? I dunno. just smells real fishy.