Topic: Beautiful opalescent cameo - arrived in pieces :(

[Littleblackhen]

I bought this lovely cameo vase off ebay, unfortunately it has arrived in two pieces

Several questions - does anyone know how I claim compensation, it was sent royal mail first class signed for delivery?

Second, what exactly is it I have lost?  The opalescent glass glows under UV and is quite nice quality.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140269409464&_trksid=p2761.l1259

I will post more photos later for identification, of the broken pieces

[Martyn K]

1st class signed-for doesn't cover breakage to glass as a rule, but since it's a low amount it's not unknown for them to pay up anyway. Keep all packaging, if it wasn't very securely packed then don't bother with the RM just put some gentle polite pressure on the seller, it's not really enough money for the seller to risk a negative. If you paid via paypal you could escalate this to a dispute. Otherwise get a claims form from the Post Office and copy of the proof of posting from the seller, cross your fingers and prepare for a long and potentially fruitless wait.

[Pinkspoons]

As far as I know, it's only Standard Parcels and ParcelForce that don't cover breakage for antiques, collectables, glass and ceramics.

[Pip]

Nic's right - the only Royal Mail service that won't cover damage or breakage to glass and ceramics is Standard Parcels - all the other services are covered up to around £33 (ish, I can't remember the exact figure) and Special Delivery is £500.

Also, the onus on making a claim to the Royal Mail is with the seller, not the buyer.  If I were you I'd tell the seller about the damage and see what they say.  If they try to shirk their responsibilities just escalate it to a claim via PayPal (assuming you paid by PayPal of course) and then leave appropriate feedback.

[TxSilver]

I hope the seller will take care of it. Most will. Give them a few days to respond before getting concerned. Going through PayPal for resolution is good, but I wouldn't file for a refund through them unless you have to. I don't know about overseas shipping, but for same-country claims PayPal requires the package be sent back to the seller. It can be mighty expensive. If you used a credit card, it is easier and cheaper to just do a chargeback through them. I hope you won't have to do this and that the seller will get back to you quickly.

Anita

[Martyn K]

I stand corrected, 1st class does cover glass, etc. as Pip and Nic say. Thankfully I have'nt had cause to file a claim for a few years so I'm a bit rusty on the rules.

[bungie60]

Royal mail site put it in your favourites takes some trawling through. Always useful for reference and to see if sellers are over charging for postage. Always ask what service they will be using and weight of item plus packaging, as they say bubble wrap it, box it, bubble wrap it again, then box it again. Ask them to pack this way for you when you have made a purchase, at the end of the day it is your property once paid for and they should treat it as such. Used to work for royal mail seen some horror wrapping, glass in brown paper e,t,c believe me. Good luck with claim by the way it is up to seller to claim if i remember rightly, so if he reimburses you its up to him if he claims. Good luck Mark
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=77300736&mediaId=80000739#72800834

[Martyn K]

by the way it is up to seller to claim if i remember rightly, so if he reimburses you its up to him if he claims.

Either sender or reciever can file a claim, for example if an item had been paid for by cheque/postal order and the seller were not to issue a refund the buyer can still make a claim as long as they can obtain a proof of posting, etc.

[Pinkspoons]

Having had *far* too much experience of parcels going missing or getting damaged over the last few years, I know that either the sender or the recipient can make a claim when things go awry - but whoever does it also needs the original proof of posting to enclose with the claim form, so most logically it's the seller that instigates the claim.

If the seller is playing fair, neither of you will have to cough up the cost of sending the parcel back to sender - Royl Mail will provide an address and code to stick on the front of the parcel for their inspection, and this can be sent by either party.

Edit: Ah, Martyn beat me to it. 

[aa]

Can't tell from the image, but if nobody recognises it, there is always the possibility that the two pieces may not have started life together.

Was it a clean break?