Ebay woes, what to do?

[mul-ta]

I recently bought a few ponies (listed separately) from a newish ebay seller with less than perfect feedback. I already had issues with shipping - they sent me an invoice with an outrageous amount of added "seller charges" (basically doubling the amount due) that made me freak out. However, it turned out that they had simply misunderstood invoicing, I apologized for having suspected them and helped them to correct the mistake (!). They mailed my stuff out and immediately gave me positive feedback.

So far, so good. The ponies arrive, and behold - one of them, described as being in "lovely condition," has had a rather visible hair trim that was neither mentioned in the description nor shown in the photo. I messaged the seller on the 21st and have not received an answer.

I know I took a risk buying from a newbie seller who apparently is not a pony expert and, on top of everything, doesn't seem to have totally mastered ebay, but on the other hand I wouldn't like them to get away with vague descriptions and ponies not as described. A return for a refund would leave me on the negative, but should I nonetheless open a case to see what the seller suggests? I wanted to deal with them peacefully because they seem to mean well, but their lack of communication is not leaving me much choice.

[bluerose9978]

If they are not returning communication, honestly, I would open a case. That way, if you can get things resolved, you will still can leave positive feedback and feel OK about the whole transaction and be helping a newbie seller out in the long run.

[Artemesia's Garden]

My understanding is that opening a case is not such a big deal any more - for example if you want to return an item it's standard to do this by opening 'a case'. I don't mind if people use the facilities as long as their communications stay polite. But that's just me.

[mul-ta]

Thank you both for your opinions, I guess I'll be leaving positive for the other ponies and open a case on the one with the haircut. It won't be financially viable to return the pony, which sort of sucks because I imagine all I can do is to see if the seller would like to offer me a partial refund and I'm afraid of coming off as yet another buyer trying to get a "deal" by suspicious methods. I'll take a photo and hope for the best...

[Sarahlacewing]

I know I took a risk buying from a newbie seller who apparently is not a pony expert and, on top of everything, doesn't seem to have totally mastered ebay, but on the other hand I wouldn't like them to get away with vague descriptions and ponies not as described.

Can we see the listing to get a better idea of what we are talking about?  If this person knows nothing about ponies they probably didn't realize the hair was cut.  If they did they probably didn't realize it can negatively effect the value of a pony. In addition, what sort of questions did you ask this seller?  You said above the descriptions were vague and you knew you were taking a risk buying from them, so I just want to make sure you weren't intentionally mislead by this person.

[mul-ta]

^ Sure - here it is. As for questions, I asked none - I found the listing a little too late for that and thought it not worth the trouble... Looking at their other ponies like Bright Eyes with a "2 tone mane unfaded" it just might have been a good idea. Thankfully the other ponies I received were okay.

Her mane has been trimmed diagonally, the strands on her forehead being about 1 cm shorter than the ones at the bottom. To me it is obvious, but due to the pony's pose and how the hair falls I think it's actually possible for a non-pony person to consider it normal. Judging by the shipping/invoice issue, I doubt they're trying to scam, they seem genuinely ignorant.

[Sarahlacewing]

That's good.  I think the important part here is how much is the pony worth?  The total for this pony was 4.33 with free shipping correct?  Does the haircut negatively effect the value such that the pony is not worth that amount.  How much could you expect to pay for this pony with a hair trim including shipping? 

Those are the kinds of questions I would consider in a return.  Since you knew it was a gamble- if you chose to gamble and lost, but still got your money's worth I don't see how a partial refund is warranted.  Otherwise, I'd message them and let them know that the hair cut makes the pony worth less than that, and you wouldn't have bought it if you had known.  Then, seeing if they will compensate you for the difference in the value of the pony caused by the trim.  That would be valid and not at all suspicious.

But remember they don't have to.  They can simply offer a return. 

Just my opinion though.

[mul-ta]

Thanks, that's the sort of advice I was looking for. I didn't get free shipping (I'm in Finland), but it sure was cheap and as we both have stated I took a conscious risk. Problem is I have already messaged the seller about the issue but have not received a reply of any kind. While I don't think it's justified to flat out ask for a refund, I think they could have handled this better.

[Ringlets]

I agree with you that they could definitely have handled this better - especially as they started off by having good communication and they sorted out the initial probelm with shipping  ^^    Looking at the pony and the price you paid, its still a good deal, even with the haircut , so i wouldnt open a case for a full refund/return. You could resell the pony and get your money back if you decided you would like a better one, and it would definitely cost you more than its worth to send it back to the seller. The seller is not obliged to give you a partial refund even if you open a case, and probably doesnt want to since the item didnt sell for much.  Possibly the seller is not communicating with you anymore because of this.  that doesnt excuse them of course.  They have sold quite a few ponies ,but I dont think they are a collector (the prices were very cheap!) so its possible they missed the haircut since it wasnt a bad one. But they should at least have responded back and acknowledged your concerns and their mistake.
As I said, I dont think its worth opening a case on them. Maybe try sending them a message one more time but if they still dont answer I would leave honest feedback and give them a lower star rating.