Bought from Taobao, received damaged pony

[MidnightMocha]

So, it was my first time buying a pony through TaoBao using TaoBaoNow. I had no problem with the entire affair, until I got my pony today. I got a G4 Adult Luna, and her plastic wings are bent and breaking at the tips! This is really upsetting because I waited FOREVER for her, she was really well packaged, so I suspect she came from the factory like this.

I understand that when you buy a prototype, you risk it looking funny, but straight up damaged? I didn't sign on for that.

Does anyone know how to go about complaining about this, using TaoBaoNow?

Moving this over to Trader Support for you. Snork Maiden, WYP Mod

[zannid]

I've never use TaoBoaNow but I have used other foreign shopping services before. From my experience services will try and check to make sure an item isn't damaged before it gets shipped to you, but for the most part if it's the item you asked for and doesn't have any largely noticeable flaws, they just repackage it and ship it to you. It's a rather 'buyer beware' as the shopping service did the services you paid for. Some will try and talk to the original seller for you but most of the time it's a final sale and the service can't do much for you. :/ They might offer you a refund on the cost of their services, though.

From my understanding while some of the ponies that get sold on TaoBoa are prototypes, a high amount of chinese sellers sell what are factory rejects. They're supposed to be destroyed but workers on the line often sneak them home and sell them. Then they'll use a stock photo or an image of a non-damaged pony and then turn around and ship you one with damage or defects.

There may even be bootlegs that have been made with prototype or older molds that were supposed to be destroyed but instead someone found it and used it to make toys. In that case you'd be dealing with completely unofficial merch with lower quality materials and probably even more errors because molds are only meant to be used so many times to keep quality control up.

Edit: Even if they can't get you a refund, I would certainly let them know of your experience. Some services keep a blacklist of sellers they have gotten complaints for.

[MidnightMocha]

Yeah, I do realize that, but I mean I really think that TaoBaoNow would have inspected it before sending it to me. They seem like they're big on customer service and being a good middleman agent. I don't know. The flaws are not really acceptable for a collector, they'r highly visible and the tips of the wings are close to coming off.

I mean, she will be released here eventually so I'm nt SUPER concerned, just disappointed.

[Galactica]

I would just contact your agent- my Taobao agent has been super sweet and helpful- but of course I haven't had an item yet I have wanted to return-

I guess the concern is that is it worth it to return it if you have to pay for shipping to the agent and then to the seller- just to get a replacement or refund of the purchase price?  Probably not-

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Sadly, it's pretty par for the course when you choose to shop from the "grey market" like Taobao.     None of these ponies are prototypes.  They are either factory rejects or a production line that didn't make it. 

Even if you were buying prototypes, most of them have flaws as they were the first test through the machine.  So expecting "collector quality" from OOAK MLP items is going to be disappointing. 

[hathorcat]

I can completely understand your disappointment - nothing worse than waiting on a pony and then being let down when it arrives.

When using any kind of middle agent, including Taobaonow, you should ask them to supply you with a photograph of the product when it arrives with them at their offices. Taobaonow I know have no problem doing this and in fact use it as a selling tool; they will happily provide you with such images on request. Its much easier to reject an item and ask for a replacement at this stage than once the product has been shipped to you.

It is incredibly frustrating but it is always a possibility when using a site and third party agents unfortunately. You could certainly contact them through the order which should still be open on your Taobaonow account. But unless the item was damaged in transit and they could perhaps claim against EMS there is little to be done. The price to return such items [as you have to factor in return all the way to the supplier] is prohibitive.

As others have said, I would remember that the majority of the ponies which are listed on Taobao are reject items - therefore it is highly likely that you will encounter issues with them sometimes. If you are looking for high quality collectors items, you would perhaps be best using fellow collectors elsewhere in the world to help you track down a pony to the standard you wish.