Problems with cel is missing, what should I do?

[Kata]

Not sure if this is a right section, if not please move it.

In over 11 years of collecting I never had this kind of problem so I am not sure if I should ask person to get my money back, just go and do a paypal dispute or let it go, since he says that he can't get money back from the PO and he insists he had the cel inside of the package.

I need advice of what to do.

I bid on a couple auctions a while ago, won both and waited for the package to arrive. Both were from the same seller, who is in Europe. Which the package arrived finally yesterday, but only ONE cel was inside of it and not two.

The seller insists he sent both in the same package. All I know is that there aren't two cels in it, plus not to mention the cel came packaged without a cel bag, just stuffed inside of a what I would call it floppy box with inside some bubble wrap and the box could of been bend at any time, but thankfully didn't get bend, but has several dents in it. But believe me I had a hard time getting the cel out since it was "stuffed" inside of that thin box that was full of bubble wrap which made the cel bend in several directions. I still don't know how that cel was stuffed inside of that box since it's oversized. >_<
The cel that did arrive has lots of scratches and a couple of dents, which wasn't mentioned on the auction itself that it was in this shape. That itself isn't what bothers me most though. It's not as bad as I seen before, even though that one dent bothers me a tad now looking at it, which was caused due to bending of the cel. It's not on the picture the seller had up so it might happened on the way here to me. But again that's not what bothers me most with all this.



The cel that is MISSING is what's bothering me the most. I want the cel or my Money back, I explained to him that one of the cels is missing, he insisted that the cel was in it and then all he said "The package insurance pays only if the whole package gets lost. Sorry." So basically he already says he wont give me my money back for the one cel that is missing.

Please help with what I should do!

Thank you!


Here are a couple pics of the package and the cel that was inside of the package:

[kathpatty]

Go after him with any means possible.
Go after him just for the packing and careless way he treated that cel
I say BOO to him. The cel cannot have been taken so he did not send it to you

[Cordelia]

Did you pay via credit card thru' paypal? If yes, get a charge back quick. If not, open a paypal/ ebay dispute. Shoddy packers can't be trusted
How did you ship by? EMS? There is a certain European country with notoriously corrupt postal service. Still, you should not have to pay for what you didn't get.

[Kata]

Go after him with any means possible.
Go after him just for the packing and careless way he treated that cel
I say BOO to him. The cel cannot have been taken so he did not send it to you

I contacted him again and I guess I see what he says. It's just odd how he also said that it must of been opened and taken. I personally never heard of the PO opening and taking out things. I have of customs opening packages but all items always arrived.

He has 100% feedback on eBay, and he did send one of the cels, but the way he said in the last e-mail he sounded like he wasn't going to refund me for the missing cel.

When I first got the package I didn't even think that the cel was packed that way until I opened it and had a really hard time to get the cel out. I was very careful and slowly working my way to the cel until I got it out. I didn't understand that it didn't even have cel bag to protect it especially for the way it was packed. I gotten cels without cel bags, but they were packed nicely and flat so soon as they arrived I bagged them, but this was very odd for me to see.

[Kata]

Did you pay via credit card thru' paypal? If yes, get a charge back quick. If not, open a paypal/ ebay dispute. Shoddy packers can't be trusted
How did you ship by? EMS? There is a certain European country with notoriously corrupt postal service. Still, you should not have to pay for what you didn't get.

He used DHL and not EMS, which was his way of shipping the item. It also came on a ship it seems since it taken so long and when I had contacted him a while ago he said that's where it was at that time. He wasn't to bad with communication during the wait and during the auctions, it's just now the problem with that missing cel.

I paid via paypal but not via CC.

I e-mailed him once more and waiting on his response, if I wont hear back in the next 24 to 48 hours or he says he wont reimburse me I guess I should do a ebay/payal dispute. I never done one so not sure exactly how to do it.

[sensei]

When I've gotten items that had been physically opened by US Customs, there is a sticker to that effect on the side that was opened, then resealed. From what I can see in the photos, the package was examined under x-ray to see if there were bomb parts or enriched uranium inside, but not actually opened in transit. Unless your country has a different system, that means the shipper did not send you the other cel.

Even with reputable US shippers, I've gotten one cel in a shipment that belonged to another collector, and she got the cel I won. It happens. But when it happens, insist on your rights. No cel, no money.

[cutiebunny]

If your package is selected for inspection at a mail facility in the US by US Customs and Border Protection, then your item will have a notice. If it has been x-rayed, then you'll have a sticker on your box that will inform you that the item was put under the machine. If your box has been opened by US Customs and Border Protection, it will be sealed with a neon green packaging tape. The tape states "Examined by US Customs and Border Protection" all over it. Regardless of whatever mail service was used(DHL or regular postal service), your item will have this on it if it was examined by US Customs and Border Protection in any way.

If an item was seized by US Customs and Border Protection, there will be a note inside stating what was seized and the section of law it was seized under.

Did the box look like it had been opened during its transit? If not, your seller didn't include the cel. Either way, if you paid for insurance, the seller is responsible to get all your items to you or offer you a refund.

File a claim with Paypal ASAP. It is up to the seller to prove to you that they sent both items.

[zerospace]

I would agree with cutiebunny -- file the PayPal claim and let him prove he shipped both items.

Perhaps he believes that he DID ship both, and somehow forgot the 2nd item, and now just thinks you're trying to get a more out of him. I might go so far as to ask him to please double check that he doesn't still have the other cel. But as CB said, it's up to him to prove he sent both.

Good luck -- I do hope the seller makes things right one way or the other. I guess sometimes the best way to get the attention your situation deserves is to actually file that claim.

[Kata]

When I've gotten items that had been physically opened by US Customs, there is a sticker to that effect on the side that was opened, then resealed. From what I can see in the photos, the package was examined under x-ray to see if there were bomb parts or enriched uranium inside, but not actually opened in transit. Unless your country has a different system, that means the shipper did not send you the other cel.

Even with reputable US shippers, I've gotten one cel in a shipment that belonged to another collector, and she got the cel I won. It happens. But when it happens, insist on your rights. No cel, no money.

See I didn't even know about that sticker thing with customs. I'm in the US but the package came from Europe.

I had it happen that I received a cel that belonged to another person and I went and shipped it to the person that it belonged to. I have no problem with that.

It's just weird that one cel made it and not the other.

[Kata]

If your package is selected for inspection at a mail facility in the US by US Customs and Border Protection, then your item will have a notice. If it has been x-rayed, then you'll have a sticker on your box that will inform you that the item was put under the machine. If your box has been opened by US Customs and Border Protection, it will be sealed with a neon green packaging tape. The tape states "Examined by US Customs and Border Protection" all over it. Regardless of whatever mail service was used(DHL or regular postal service), your item will have this on it if it was examined by US Customs and Border Protection in any way.

If an item was seized by US Customs and Border Protection, there will be a note inside stating what was seized and the section of law it was seized under.

Did the box look like it had been opened during its transit? If not, your seller didn't include the cel. Either way, if you paid for insurance, the seller is responsible to get all your items to you or offer you a refund.

File a claim with Paypal ASAP. It is up to the seller to prove to you that they sent both items.

You right all I see is that one sticker. I don't see any neon green package tape or any kind of other sticker or note within the package. All that was inside was what it shows in picture, bubblewrap and cel/bg.

The package has tape all around it. I can't tell if it was opened or not.

I went a ahead and did a paypal dispute. I don't know what I am suppose to do next since this is new to me.

What the seller said was he assured that he sent both within the package. Then asked if the package had any other damage or scratches, which sure it had due to it being not stable packed, but nothing that shows that it was opened. And I sent him another note he replied with that he remembers exactly that he packed both cels and that the package obviously been opened on the way. I hadn't even shown him pictures at that time. Then he said sorry that he can't do anything about it and that the package was insured but that pays only for the whole package being lost. along with a sorry. I sent him after that another message through ebay and then a e-mail with pictures of the package and cel. I haven't heard anything back yet.

[Kata]

I would agree with cutiebunny -- file the PayPal claim and let him prove he shipped both items.

Perhaps he believes that he DID ship both, and somehow forgot the 2nd item, and now just thinks you're trying to get a more out of him. I might go so far as to ask him to please double check that he doesn't still have the other cel. But as CB said, it's up to him to prove he sent both.

Good luck -- I do hope the seller makes things right one way or the other. I guess sometimes the best way to get the attention your situation deserves is to actually file that claim.

I did a paypal dispute. How do I do a claim? Is that same?

I mentioned above to cutiebunny with reply about what he said, that he remembers packing both and that the package obviously was opened, which is odd for somebody to say that didn't even see a picture of the package.

I also went and talked to the PO asking about what I can do with theft and they gave me a form. Right now I'm going to be in contact with seller, if that wont work out then I do that theft thing that the PO told me about.

[cutiebunny]

It's the same thing. If I recall correctly, when you file with Paypal, it asks you what is wrong(ie. wrong item, item description different from what was received, etc.) and you give them the reason.

If you purchased the items through E-bay, you can also file a dispute through them as well.

Just a heads up - my experience with Paypal and their dispute service is that it is slow. The one instance that I was involved in(as the seller) took about 2 months to complete. Paypal will want all documentation including your pictures, so make sure you keep everything until a decision has been rendered. Keep the box, keep the packaging and take some better pictures of the one cel that you did receive so that you can show Paypal that there was significant damage to the one cel that you did receive and that this damage was not stated in the auction listing.

Due to the issues I've had with buyers and Paypal, when I sell an item, I take several pictures of the item prior to sending it. That way, I can show that these items were a certain condition when they left.

[Belldandy16]

Id contact DHL and ask them their policy. you never know if this guy doesnt actually know the policy himself or not. Like with the post office, if an item is damaged in transit theyll pay for it.
Contact DHL and ask them.

good luck with your dispute!

[Moop]

One of the primary reasons I stopped using PayPal whenever possible was the result of a situation similar to yours. I ordered several items from an online store, and when I received the box, two of them were missing. The store didn't answer any emails, so I opened a dispute - and PayPal's final word was:

Our investigation into your claim is complete. As stated in our User
Agreement, the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods. It
does not apply to complaints about the attributes or quality of goods
received. Therefore, we are unable to reverse this transaction or issue a
refund.

In other words, a box was shipped, so they were happy. What kind of buyer protection is that? I don't want to be a total purveyor of doom, though; perhaps their policy has changed since this happened to me a few months ago...? But to protect yourself, I would tackle the problem from every avenue that is open to you - i.e., eBay, your credit card company if you paid with one, and definitely the PO, which frowns heavily on mail fraud.

At any rate, I wish you the best of luck! It can really leave an unpleasant pall on one's feeling about collecting when something like this happens.

[JWR]

I would also open an ebay case (paypal & ebay claims are not the same) File it as "Item recieved not as described" and expalin you paid for 2 cels (give auction numbers) seller claims they shipped both auctions in same box only 1 item was found inside box.