Felt like I got tricked from a seller on here...

Not sure if this post is ok or not but felt like I should see what everyone thinks and let it be known to watch out for members name "Thomas M. Cetkowski Sr.". If there's anything in this post that needs to be deleted please do.

Question: When buying parts from a seller online do you assume their will be insurance on that item when it is shipped? Would you assume that sense the seller did not ask you to pay more for insurance or even state that insurance would be extra that insurance would be included in the shipping? How about buying a very fragile part?


The story:

Was in need of a nice set of quarter belt trim for a 52 chevy sedan. Turns out these are very hard to find and very hard to find any in good shape. Found a lot on ebay for around $75 that were in good condition but did not fit my 2 door sedan. So I posted on here asking if anyone had a set. Had a reply back from Tom stating he had a nice conditioned set. He took some pictures and told me there was a dimple in one spot on both of them. He was wanting over $200 for these plus shipping. I thought this was pretty high as I saw they were cheaper on ebay yet not the ones I needed. Decided hell I'll splurge on these sense they are hard to find and the pictures look great and he said they would fit and that he does not sell low quality parts! He said shipping will be $15 and said he has shipped a lot of these before which made me feel good. Thought he knew how to ship them. He shipped them right out to me. Had him ship them to my business. After a few days the mail man dropped off a package up from for me. Walked up to get it and saw a long piece that had bubble rap covering it with a $5.68 total postage sticker on them. I was like there's no way in hell he shipped those in that bubble rap. Well he did. Before taking them out of the bubble rap I told one of my employees I was amazed that they were in one piece he agreed and said he could not believe someone would ship them this way.

So took off the bubble rap and they both had a huge dent/bend in them! Sent a e-mail to Tom making sure he had insurance on them. He stated that no one on ebay or the hamb adds insurance on parts unless the customer ask them to. I was like ummmm did not know this and why did you not tell me insurance was not include as I would have been willing to pay for it? Told him I really did not want to pay that much for the parts to begin with but did because of the nice quality of them. So why would I not want insurance?

I own a business that does over 20,000 orders a year. 80% of our orders are internet orders which we ship out UPS and USPS. We insure each and every package. I believing there was a problem with these trim piece before he shipped them and did not want me to add insurance.

I also checked the guys history on here. He maybe has one post that is not trying to sell a part. All of his history is replying back to a post where someone is selling something. It's sad to see people using this site to make a profit and not contribute to it.

Lesson learned: Always make sure insurance is included!

 

Again I learned a lesson. Should always make sure sellers here on Hamb and ebay insure the parts if they are fragile even though I think the seller has a obligation to let it be known it does not include insurance.

 

Can't help you but you know what Assume means. But individuals don't usually add insurance unless you ask for it and pay the extra for it.

I'd say he is pretty lax in the way he packages stuff though as I usually use a florescent bulb box, long round cardboard tube or pvc tube to ship items like that. I've seen passengers go though the airport with 500.00 fly rods in Pvc tubes with a bit of padding without a worry before and the stuff is pretty inexpensive.

 

I never assume Insurance is included, and never insure a part unless the buyer requests it. Just my two cents.

 

insurance doesn't do any good if the seller does not pack the item correctly.

how did you pay? file a claim with paypal or your credit card if you paid that way. it is the seller responsibility to pack well enough for the item to arrive in one piece

 

Same.

 

It's the Seller's responsibility to package the item well enough to survive shipping, and furthermore the Seller's risk that the item actually gets delivered in good condition to the buyer. The Seller sent the item to you and bears the risk of shipping damage until you inspect and accept delivery of the item. The buyer isn't responsible for purchasing shipping insurance, that's the seller's problem. You are within your rights to send it back for a full refund.

For those that might argue my points, think of it this way: you order a new television and it gets delivered with a broken picture screen. Whose problem is it?

 

I would say he is responsible to reimburse you for the cost of the parts. The way he shipped them it was reasonable to assume that they would be bent or damaged before they got to you. No one with any brains would ship a chrome strip in just bubble wrap. I have always shipped them in a solid tube, and never had one bent or damaged. I would get a hold of him and demand my money back. Shipping expensive parts like that is just irresponsible!

 

I use Fedex, insurance is always included. For what its worth insurance would of been worthless in this situation, parts were not packed well enough to prevent damage. You knew it right away when you saw the package and the shipper will have the same opinion. I have shipped many trim pieces and not had one damaged yet, do it right or dont do it at all.