Recently, I have gone through a very trying experience with a seller on EBay in dealing with a rather expensive purchase I made that was damaged in shipping. The package was insured, but unknown to me at the time, the insurance which I paid for as part of the shipping cost was purchased and made payable to the seller, and not to me as the buyer. The seller has already been paid in full by me BEFORE the package is even shipped, so stands to suffer no loss in the transaction what so ever.
To clarify for you: What this means is that UPS sends the seller the insurance payment for the merchandise and in turn expects you to relinquish the merchandise to them with NO COMPENSATION in your hands for your merchandise and NO GUARANTEE that you will be reimbursed for either your merchandise nor the money that you already paid for it. Remember, the seller gets the insurance payment, not you! This makes NO SENSE! The seller has already been paid for the merchandise when you bought it, and the only one who has suffered a loss is YOU, the buyer!
Think about this... if you paid a large amount of money to someone on EBay for merchandise, and you do not know this person except for your dealings on EBay, would YOU be inclined to give up the only collateral you had on the HOPES that the seller will actually send you the insurance payment? Even though that MONTHS had passed since the purchase while you are trying to deal with UPS on the claim, and you have NO recourse nor hopes of recouping your payment from EBay or PayPal either one? REMEMBER, you gave up the merchandise, so you're standing there empty handed with NOTHING! UPS refuses to talk to you about the claim because you're NOT the insured party.
To make matters even worse, the seller refuses to allow you to return the merchandise to them for credit to your account even though they have already been advised by UPS that they WOULD BE PAID for it. What are you going to do now? As it currently stands, all you have for your money is a damaged package. Once you release that, you have NOTHING!
ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE IT UP? Think seriously about it!
There are many honest sellers on EBay, and this is not intended to reflect badly on them! HOWEVER, there are also those on EBay who would take advantage of just such a situation to be paid twice for their merchandise and leave you stuck out in the cold. You know,... I was born,... but not yesterday!
You should also be aware that if the insurance is not purchased in YOUR name, UPS WILL NOT even discuss the claim with you, even though YOU paid for BOTH the merchandise and the insurance! Believe me on this, I know from experience!
I have learned from dealing with UPS on this claim that the seller has the option to purchase the insurance in the BUYERS name, and thereby having the payment sent directly to the buyer. In this case, the seller has no further obligations to you, the buyer, since you will be able to directly deal with UPS yourself. My suggestions to you is that IF you buy something from an EBay seller that is of a high value and is insured, you REQUEST from the seller UP FRONT BEFORE YOU PAY that the insurance be purchased IN YOUR NAME to prevent yourself from being put in a similar situation!
In closing- remember the old saying... LET THE BUYER BEWARE!
Note: Yes, this is based on actual experiences and is NOT made up! |
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