The Fake Ted Williams Nightmare

[TyrusRCobb]

So my first post here was asking for help authenticating a Williams autograph. Everyone was great in showing me all of the countless reasons why the ball was an absolute fake. I've returned the ball and the seller is now claiming that the ball was damaged in transit and as such is refusing to issue a refund. I've forwarded e-mails to ebay wherein he states that a refund would be issued once he received the ball. In my mind there is nothing stopping the seller from damaging the fake ball. Furthermore, can I be held responsible if USPS did indeed damage the ball? The purchase was through ebay and a case has been opened. I also provided theNet54 thread link wherein the ball was discussed to ebay. Do I stand a chance of being refunded? Has anyone been in this situation? Any advice for the newbie? As always, thank you all for your help.
Adam Phillips

[Big Dave]

Did you insure the ball for the return trip? If not, the USPS will not be able to help you in that regard. How did you package it? More then likely it is a false claim by the seller, Put the seller's name in this thread so others will be warned about this person.

[TyrusRCobb]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Did you insure the ball for the return trip? If not, the USPS will not be able to help you in that regard. How did you package it? More then likely it is a false claim by the seller, Put the seller's name in this thread so others will be warned about this person.

Thanks Dave, the sellers ebay name is mkutz-2012. He goes by the name Mikey Kutz and he's based out of Florida. The ball is insured for 100.00. I placed the ball snugly in a padded USPS envelope. This envelope was then placed in a larger, padded USPS Express Mail envelope. Am I not protected under ebay's Buyer Protection Plan? He did not provide me with specific instructions regarding return shipping. If my research is correct, it is stated that the seller is required to explicitly state the method of return shipping to be used. No such statement existed.

[David Atkatz]

When returning an item you must have proof that it was delivered. In the future, only ship via a method that supplies tracking information.

[thecatspajamas]

Adam,
As long as you have proof that the ball was delivered back to the seller which can be checked online by eBay (i.e. a tracking number, where it shows "Delivered" as the last statement), and have provided that tracking number to eBay, you will eventually get your money back. Ebay won't care about the transcripts of the e-mails you have exchanged, the links go Net54 discussions of the ball, or really any reasonable proof that the signature was fake. They side with the buyer in cases like these 99.9% of the time as long as the buyer gets the item back to the seller and can show that it was delivered with that tracking number verifiable online.

That's not to say that it is a quick process, or that the seller will be happy with the result (he'll wind up eating the initial shipping costs too, but not return shipping). Just keep a cool head and ride it out.

If he wants to talk damages as far as the return shipping is concerned, and you insured it with USPS, work that out after the eBay claim is done (can't recall if you would have to file or he would, but it may have required him to open the package in the presence of a postal worker to prove damage anyway. Been a long time since I've gone down that road, and I just don't recall). I don't think eBay will want to get in the middle of an insurance claim. And if you think eBay is slow on claims, just wait until you start in with the USPS...

[TyrusRCobb]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Adam,
As long as you have proof that the ball was delivered back to the seller which can be checked online by eBay (i.e. a tracking number, where it shows "Delivered" as the last statement), and have provided that tracking number to eBay, you will eventually get your money back. Ebay won't care about the transcripts of the e-mails you have exchanged, the links go Net54 discussions of the ball, or really any reasonable proof that the signature was fake. They side with the buyer in cases like these 99.9% of the time as long as the buyer gets the item back to the seller and can show that it was delivered with that tracking number verifiable online.

That's not to say that it is a quick process, or that the seller will be happy with the result (he'll wind up eating the initial shipping costs too, but not return shipping). Just keep a cool head and ride it out.

If he wants to talk damages as far as the return shipping is concerned, and you insured it with USPS, work that out after the eBay claim is done (can't recall if you would have to file or he would, but it may have required him to open the package in the presence of a postal worker to prove damage anyway. Been a long time since I've gone down that road, and I just don't recall). I don't think eBay will want to get in the middle of an insurance claim. And if you think eBay is slow on claims, just wait until you start in with the USPS...

Ebay said that the issue would be resolved in 72hrs. If I am indeed going to be given a refund is it the case that the refund will be slow in coming? That would not be cool as I could use those funds to purchase other balls!