Sorry this is going to be a bit long. If you have a bit of time on your hands, your input would be appreciated.
Here is what has happened. I bought an expensive porcelain bjd doll offered by the IDC (Italian Doll Convention) and Dynamo Camp on ebay- for the Dynamo Camp charity. I was pretty happy even though I had to really scramble to afford it.
So here is a summary of what has happened:
May 13 - I received the doll, who was lovely. I took her out of her box, tied on her skirt- and tumble tumble- her fingers came off. They obviously had cracked in shipping. The hands were not wrapped. Shipping was by express/inclusive (insured?) and was WILDLY expensive so I emailed the seller immediately so they could open a claim:
Hi! I received the doll today- she is so beautiful! She looked so perfect, but I am sorry to say- that when I took her out of her box, her fingers fell off! There are some pictures here:http://heartsofclay.freeforums.net/thread/832/gift-clara-fornari
What should I do? Do you think the artist has another hand ? Would it match? Was the box insured? I'm so sorry to be asking for help, should I contact the artist?
Thank you for your help-
No response.
Same day, I located the artist on facebook- who said she'd send me a new hand, but since she hadn't shipped the doll, and had donated it to IDC, I would need to cover the cost of shipping. I agreed that seemed fair.
May 16 - I emailed IDC again:
Hi again. I contacted the artist. She is willing to mail a new hand. Would you be willing to ship the hand to me for her?
IDC did not respond.
May 23rd- I open a claim on ebay- requesting only the cost of shipping a new hand, advising that i had been unable to establish contact with the seller, but that the cost of shipping a new hand should be covered under the shipping insurance. I attached pictures.
May 27th - NO response from Dynamo/IDC so I click the button for asking ebay to intervene. Meanwhile- I have been in contact with the artist, who had been looking into postage cost and finding a box to mail the hand
May 31st- ebay advises they are putting the case "on hold" for five days- and that the seller has been advised they should EITHER issue return shipping or a label to return the doll.
At this point- if they had simply issued the cost of shipping the hand, the dispute would be closed. OR they could have issued a a label if they wanted the doll back. OR they could have just sent the cost of shipping.
Instead- they message :
June 1st - IDC messages
we decide to pay the cost of shipping of the second hand. We will contact the artist personally and we will send you the hand as soon as possible."
We ask you if you can close the dispute asap!
The artist then messages me on facebook telling me the cost of shipping was $44 and would I paypay her if she shipped it. She mentioned nothing about the seller mailing the hand for her so I assume they did NOT get in touch with her.
I also responded the same day (June 1st) to IDC:
Hi there- the artist has just told me the cost of shipping is $44 and comes with insurance- if you could refund that amount i will send it to her, and close the dispute. Thanks!
Alas, no further response from IDC
June 3rd the artist messages me- She advises that the total for shipping was actually $47 and if I could paypal this to her she'd mail the hand. Again she does not mention contact from the ebay seller. Of course I paypal her immediately.
I then send another message to IDC:
The artist has not heard from you. I went ahead and paid the artist (Clara Fornari) $47 for the cost of shipping a new hand to me. If you'd like to see the receipt, let me know. If you could kindly send me the $47 I paid, that would be great. You can open an insurance claim to obtain the money back since the package was shipped insured. If you need photos to help with your claim let me know.
IDC responds:
Hi,
for Dynamo Camp is ok give you back the money. We are trying to get the money back from PayPal. We will let you know when and how asap.
But they don't.
June 9th- I got the hand in the mail. I have not received any response from the ebay seller to my prior messages. I send them another message:
I received the hand from the artist- could you please send the reimbursement for the shipping of $47? Thank you!
June 11th - ebay says they've made a "final decision" and the dispute is closed. But instead of refunding the $47 I have been asking for- they say they have refunded the entire price of the doll to my paypal. Nothing showed up in paypal so I didn't think it had gone through yet. (It was late on Friday night).
I figured once the payment went through, I would probably finally hear from the seller. Earlier this week I checked paypal- and no refund. But then I checked my credit cards, and sure enough- the refund had been posted- directly to the credit card.
June 17th The IDC emails me:
Good morning,
considering you already received back the reimbursement, on monday june 20th DHL will come to pick up the doll. All expences will be on our charge.
Please, keep the doll packed safely.
Thank you.
I can't believe they waited for 30 days, then the ebay case closure, to finally provide a real solution.
I emailed them asking if they want the hand since I would not have a use for it if they are taking the doll back. I have not yet tried to fix the broken one. If they are asking for the doll back to resell, I assume they will need the hand. I will be out $47.
If they just need the doll for their insurance claim, I assume they will not, since the doll may need to be turned over to the DHL.
Then I received from the IDC an email:
Hi dear Sarah,
I reply on behalf of the Italian doll convention.
I wrote yo on Facebook this week and didnt get any answer.
I truly would like to understand what has happening.
The doll was successfully paid and received from Dynamo Camp and as we learnt form the artist, Clara, the hand was broken accidentally during her setting up.
The Artist, we contacted after your messages about the broken hand, was open to asset you and produced a new hand for you, and asked only for the shipping cost, which I personally think it’s a fair request as the doll arrived safely protected.
Why did you requested a total refund to Dynamo Camp?
I suppose your wanted the doll and I am sure the doll was at a fair price on the Ebay auction. Moreover I remind you that all the money was for a good cause, whelping a great association.
Can you pleas explain me the reason of a total refund request?
Why can you simply pay back the doll and keep the doll as you originally did for the charity?
Sorry, I tried many times to get in contact and asked to clara also to give me informations about your situation and everything looked pretty good.
At this point , Dynamo Camp is trying to find a solution as you didnt reply to our messages.
I wait for your kind reply.
What? I NEVER asked ebay for a full refund. This mess was because they had failed to respond or resolve the situation- I truly had done everything I could.
I responded, gave the IDC guy the timeline above-
I told him I had never received any message from him on facebook and because were not "friends" on facebook- I wouldn't have been given a notice he had sent a message. Just the few through ebay as noted. I told him I was pretty upset about the fact that I was essentially made promises and strung along- and all the while it appears IDC never intended to refund the shipping because they though it was "fair" that I pay it.
He gave me this response:
Hi Sarah,
I have read all your email and of course I agree with you.
I think you are taking my email as an accuse but it was not intended to be, otherwise it was a way to understand what happened.
one important thing:
I am the chairman of Italian Doll Convention and I organized 6 edition of charity auctions. For the very first time ever, the charity association wanted to deal the shipping by itself to help me with all the heavy organization and so I never received any of your messages directly.
So it’s NOT IDC responsible for all happened to you and not replying to you.
Dynamo Camp was in charge of communication and due to their low experience with Ebay, they were not aware how to handle the procedure of your complaining and failed on different level, but it was not intentional.
With the time difference between Usa and Italy, and due to the fact Dynamo is an office, with limited operating hours, they were not able to respond always and for few days after the problem, they were not able to take action on this.
I personally called the artist, who told me that you told her the doll arrived perfectly, and this is why I told you so.
I am a well known artist and I deal with shipping and Ebay for over 16 years and I trust people all over the world. The Artist told me that the hand was broken during the dressing of her. Maybe she understood it wrong in your communication but that is why I told you we thought it was “fair”to pay the shipping, as the information I had was it was you to break it. I never understood the doll got to you broken yet and Dynamo Camp told me immediately it was offered to pay the shipping.
But as soon as we contacted the artist in Italy, by phone, you already paid her and told her you agreed to pay.
I personally had at least 5 telephone calls with Dynamo Camp to understand what was happening to your case and it looked like they were replying you offering the shipping cost. So i personally don’t feel ashamed of anything as I did my best to follow your case, even if I personally don’t know you or you never contacted me directly.
I only could tell I learnt my lesson not letting anybody else , except me, managing the whole case from start to the end.
I was out for several days after Idc to work and I was not able to help Dynamo Camp with Ebay, but we never wanted to hurt nobody.
They always told me they contacted you, so that is why I write you today and not earlier, as I never got your email address before.
On last Wednesday I ask you friendship through Facebook, as Clara (the artist) told me it was the way she was in contact with you and you accepted my friendship.
I was trying to understand what was happening and a solution, because I found strange everything.
Now you made it clear how things went and
Anyway, I think that your request of shipping cost was truly acceptable and the artist was truly nice to produce the hand with no extra cost for us.
at the moment, I don’t know how to handle the situation, as it looks like a big lack of communications back to you from Dynamo Camp.
I am truly embarrassed for their lack of communications, and I never wanted to make you feel bad but the situation was not managed by me directly.
About the doll:
the package was done by the artist and this was the very first time ever she shipped out of Italy and I think this is a lesson for her too, who was extremely nice to deal with, so I am sure Clara did her best to fix the situation. She is a great artist and I love her work, as I also havce one of her first porcelain doll too in my collection.
About the Ebay situation, Dynamo was not able to manage the situation and you are right, but at this point, the doll is fine and perfect again and I wonder what you can do for this. What is your proposal?
Please write me personally here, as I will contact Dynamo Camp on Monday (they also are in cc), and try to find a solution.
Thank you so much and once again I apologize for the inconvenience.
He seems nice and reasonable. So I guess he is saying Dynamo Camp kind of blew it and it wasn't the fault of IDC who had left it to Dynamo to manage the auction. Also he had thought the doll was broken by me. And yet...I was not sure what solution to propose. Truthfully, I feel a little more bitter and less inclined to trust Dynamo's good intentions after all of the above.
I told him this for now:
Okay Mario- thank you for your response, your explanation makes more sense.
The doll did not break while being dressed- as I told Clara, the doll arrived perfect except for her fingers. They were obviously cracked in shipping because when I lifted her out of the box, they tumbled off. It happens all the time, especially when the hands are not wrapped. I have not fixed the doll yet which is why I offered to send the new hand I received back with her. I also now have a beautiful COA Clara made that I can send.
It is easy to file an insurance claim with DHL, you just fill out the online form and send them pictures of the package and the damage. I had sent links of the damage to the ebay seller so they could do just that. I truly do not understand why they would ship the doll by expensive insured mail if they can't figure out how to file an insurance claim when a doll gets damaged.
I thought the auction was run by the IDC because the auction listing says: "DYNAMO CAMP in partnership with Italian Doll Convention is proud to introduce this Charity Auction..."
I do feel hurt and frustrated by this process and don't know how to respond to you. I do think there is some misunderstanding attributable to our languages being different, but I also think that whoever was running this action was trying to take advantage of me.
It would have been so easy to resolve this case before ebay had to step in- and all they had to do was partially refund $47 and then file an insurance claim. They even said they would do it and tried to get me to close the claim. But then they did nothing. It appears they were hoping they would get me to close the claim and then not have to do anything. I have bought and sold many dolls from Italian collectors- mostly Sybs and Kingdom Doll, but they have always been responsive and honest.
The way I was treated in this auction- honestly, makes me worry about the honest/integrity of whoever it was that ran the auction. You say it was Dynamo Camp and not IDC. Well that makes me worry about how onest Dynamo Camp is. If they are trying to take advantage of this small situation with me, how trustworthy are they as an organization and are they an organization I want to donate to? Maybe not.
I do truly wish that Dynamo or IDC had done something to resolve this at any point within the last 30 days. I can no longer pay through ebay since the case is closed due to inaction by Dynamo Camp or IDC. Whoever owns the account will receive their ebay fees back (about $83). Presumably they can still file an insurance claim, but I don't know for sure since they have waited so long.
I will ask my doll friends what to do and get back to you. This situation makes me feel very sad.
Am I being overly dramatic? Maybe. But seriously. EVEN if you are a charity- if you mail someone a doll and it is broken in transit- shouldn't you be able to file an insurance claim for it?
The IDC guy suggests that Dynamo maybe didn't get back to me because they work limited hours or something- but it has been THIRTY DAYS. I work with a lot of nonprofits and they are not this slow. A week maybe. But a month? Plus they had repeatedly promised to cover the cost of shipping the hand- but then did not. WHY? Truly was it just negligence? It feels to me like they were hoping that I'd close the case and they wouldn't have to honor their promise. Was IDC telling them not to issue the refund? It could be that too.
So what should I do now? Is DHL going to show up on Monday for the doll?
Should I sent the cost of the doll, less the $47 shipping? The seller also got their ebay fees back (way more than $47 by the way).
How do you feel about donating to a charity that seems this underhanded. Are they really using the proceeds for children? How much of the proceeds?
Also- the exchange rate has changed. Would I pay the current exchange rate? The prior? And if so, to who? Dynamo? Or IDC? This guy from IDC who is now emailing me? I will admit I am no longer feeling so trusting of the Dynamo people.
Should I just have them pick up the doll so they can get it and file their insurance claim? (If it isn't too late for that ?)
I can no longer pay through ebay since they allowed the claim to close without providing any resolution first and the auction is considered "cancelled." I guess I can send a paypal to someone, but should I?
If this was any other company I would just send the doll back on their dime. But it IS a charity. So I feel bad.
Such a mess. Your thoughts are appreciated. What should I do now? What would you do? Am I the worst person ever? Does something seem shady to you about all of this?
[moving to Trader Support since this is transaction related ~ Kiwi]
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