I bought the machine off of ebay. The machine came Monday and as soon as I carried the box out to my car I got concerned. I took pictures of the box as I unpacked it (thank goodness I did that!) and was horrified of what I found or actually what I didn't find. There was no packing materials in the box! The seller just threw the machine in a box and shipped it.
The damage I found was the head cover fell off
The top cover came off
The light bulb exploded when I plugged the machine in and the base plate had gotten bent. See the crack?
With the base being bent I cannot open the bobbin case cover all the way.
Here is my machine and this is how the bobbin case cover is suppose to look when opened. The tension is also out of wack from the machine being dropped.
I contacted the seller and the lies and blame started coming. It was the post office's fault because they packed the machine - lie. fyi Mr. Seller the PO doesn't pack packages. It was my fault because I didn't tell the seller to put insurance on it. It was the PO's fault since they damaged it and I needed to take the box to the PO to file a claim. The machine was shipped parcel post with no insurance. I had paid enough they could have shipped it priority, but instead they pocketed the extra money. The seller said I could file a claim for $100 thru the PO. Not true. The non-existence packing would throw any claims out the window. The PO only offers automatic $50.00 insurance on priority mail and that is it - nothing on parcel post. I kept telling the seller these facts and that $100 would hardly cover the shipping to send the machine to my sewing machine repair man anyway.
The seller and I went back and forth for a day and a half over this. They continually blamed the PO and me, whereas I offered solutions. Their choice was a full refund including postage and shipping the machine back to them or a partial refund for repairs and postage. We went round and round and after I filed a case on ebay against them, the seller finally offered the partial refund. I now have plenty of money to get this poor machine fixed. So here is the machine getting packed in my special double walled heavy box I have just for shipping my sewing machine. Lots of bubble wrap and foam sheets and I will add air pillows to fill the box out. Snug as a bug!
Lessons learned:
1. question the seller on how the machine is going to be packed.
2. question the seller on what shipping class are they going to use. Parcel post take longer to ship and I don't think they are all that careful with the packages. I am going to ship mine UPS so I can track it.
3. Shake the box before you accept delivery. If you hear rattling that should not be there, you could have a problem. Since this was an non-returnable item on ebay I would have no choice but accept it and deal with it the way I did. The transaction was covered by eBay's buyer protection plan so one way or another I would not lose my money.
4. Take pictures as you unbox the item whether you hear rattling or not. I believe these saved me on this transaction. What caused the problem was obvious.
5. contact the seller stating only facts and try to keep emotion out of it. I did use the words shocked to see there was no packing and disappointed that the machine was damaged. State your case clearly and stick to your guns if you believe the problem is not your fault. In my case, the seller was a bully and would not take any responsibility. I called ebay and they said it is the seller's responsibility to ship the item that was described. If it wasn't damaged when you bought it, the item should not be damaged when you take possession of it.
6. File a case if you have to if the seller is not offering any solution. The seller did not offer me any solution and just kept handing out more blame in all their communications. I offered solutions - full or partial refund. It wasn't too long after I filed the case that the seller came back and offered me a partial refund for the dollar amount I requested.
I have bought many things on ebay - everything from a cast iron bathtub to thread. I have only had two problem with the items I purchased, the machine being number two, and in both cases I won because I documented the issues carefully.
I am ready to put this all behind me and get excited about having a second machine.
2 comments:
What a nighmare. Glad you eventually got satisfaction.
Whoa! I am so sorry you had that terrible experience. What a jerk. I used to ship a lot of greater swiss mt dog items to a specialized community of dog owners. Only had one problem with a buyer. I always packed the items well and had them sign for it, and she claimed she did not receive the items and that she purchased more expensive things than she did. It was decided in my favor thank goodness. She had a history of doing similar things with other sellers.
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