item from "smoke free home" smells of cigarette smoke

[MamaChris]

what can we do? bought for only £1, with £2.40 postage, but item not as described, can smell the smoke even through the washing powder. seller has 100% positive feedback, so wasn't expecting any trouble.

disappointed, but is there any point trying to get a full refund, or should we just leave negative feedback and be done with it? know it's only cheap, but don't want it smelling as it does, plus it's the principle of the thing, really!

[frogs]

It's not on to give negative feedback without giving the seller a chance to rectify the situation, imo.

I've just sold a pair of non-new kids trousers, described them very accurately, and the buyer has just left feedback (albeit positive overall) saying they were a bit worn. That annoys me, tbh -- I say v. clearly in my despatch email for people to contact me before leaving feedback if they're not happy with the item. If she'd said she wasn't happy, I'd have given her a refund.

For the price you're talking about, I'd probably just shrug and put the item in the washing machine, and leave positive but rather non-committal feedback. Otherwise email her and complain. Some kinds of plastic wrapping can smell a bit like smoke, so might it be the packaging you're smelling?

[peanutbutterkid]

Frogs, what would you do if buyer contacted you about the worn trousers?

Would you --
give her a partial refund without seeing them yourself?
give her a full refund, if she sent item back, including all the postage costs?
give her a a partial refund, if she sent the item back, but deducting all postal costs (you are entirely in your rights to do this according to many Ebayers).

I don't want to have the grief of trying to persuade a seller to give me a refund, including ALL postage costs, including whatever it costs for me to send something back to them. That's why I would leave feedback like the buyer you had (but am I wrong?, would most Ebay sellers nowadays refund everything plus extra costs, even on a low value item)

[peanutbutterkid]

oops. , need a ??? before that last )

[frogs]

I'd give her a full refund once she'd sent the item back, minus the postage costs. I'd only do a full refund + postage costs if there was some fault that I hadn't noticed.

I'm pretty paranoid about my feedback, so it's worth it to me to keep the punters happy. If she was happy with the item, as I'm guessing she was, I think it's a bit churlish to leave adverse comments in the feedback.

[MamaChris]

but what if your buyer was not happy with the item? this smells of smoke even though it clearly has been washed, and still has dirty marks that didn't come out. It's a present for my baby, and was described as "in excellent condition, from a smoke free home". The postage cost more than the item. Having been looking forward to this, I now can't use it because it wasn't as described.

I accept it is better to approach the seller directly before leaving feedback, but can't imagine they'd refund my purchase price, postage, and postage to return it. And otherwise, what's the point?

I don't expect there's any solution here, and it's a small thing, I know. Just sounding off.

[MsPontipine]

Hi there - If I were you I would contact the seller to see what she is willing to do to rectify this - chances are she may be perfectly reasonable and just refund you in full without asking you to return it first as it's obvious that nobody's going to gain in that case except for Royal Mail.

If she gets arsey neg her, then she'll deserve it but you've given her a reasonable chance first.

I've complained about stuff I've bought - one replaced without asking for return of original and another refunded before I even posted the return and the last she refunded no prob and asked me to bin it. There are decent sellers - although she should never have sent it in the first place :-)

[blueshoes]

Agree with other posters that you should contact the seller. I purchased a low value pair of trousers that had defects missed by the seller. I emailed the seller and described the defects but said I was still prepared to accept the item as there wasn't a huge amount involved. The seller refunded me a 50% discount off the winning price, saying she genuinely did not see the defects.

I have mostly (touch wood) have had good experiences with sellers. All offered refunds without too much fuss.

[MrsMagooo]

Regardless of the value I would contact the seller before leaving feedback of any sort.

At least give the seller a chance before negging.

I sold a little girls Next outfit & described the two maarks that I could see, the buyer contacted me after recieving the item stating she'd found another mark I hadn't mentioned & in her opinion the top was only fit the bin. I hadn't seen this mark but as she was upset I apologised & refunded half her winning bid for her & she was chuffed to bits & left positive.

I think that's the other issue on Ebay - one persons idea of 'good used condition' can be another persons idea of 'poor only fit for the bin condition'

[sarah573]

Have you washed the item? I've had a couple of 'smokey' bits in the past and the smell washes straight out. Being smoke free is only an issue for me if its something you can't stick in the machine.

I agree with what other people have said, you need to contact her before you leave any bad feedback. Even leaving a bad comment but as positive is not on without giving the seller chance to rectify it first.