Ethical Dilemma

[Jesper]

I had ordered a carbon fiber handlebar back in March, and It finally arrived mid June. I received emails from the company that if I had not received it by a certain time that I could apply for a refund which I did after waiting a couple weeks past their expected delivery date. I received the refund in May and assumed that the order was cancelled, and thus forgot about it until I got the part in the mail this week. Now I have a part that I did not pay for (was approx. $75) which was received about 3 months from the time of the order. I am wondering if I should pay for the item or return it at the sellers expense. I found to have a flaw not caused by shipping so it was not what I would have paid for if I was informed it was aesthetically damaged (wondered if that was why it was about 50% cheaper for a new bar than other advertised prices. I would have to contact the company again to determine if they would pay for the return shipping since they refunded my shipping costs already. I tend to think that they will take the loss and not want to deal with another charge to return ship the item, especially one that is already damaged from the warehouse. The bar is a Cinelli RAM Mike Giant design edition.

Please feel free to weigh in on the matter; I'll be pondering for a week before I decide what to do regarding this issue.

   

[Zviedrs]

Hi Jesper. What did you decide?
As I have experience selling on Amazon and various e-commerce platforms, I (as a buyer) try to empathize with sellers and consider their effort too. Nevertheless, in such a case "taking the loss" would be a reasonable choice from their side. I recently encountered a customer whose package got stuck in the customs. I did the effort of calling the customs, spending a considerable amount of time explaining the situation, and finding the solution. Meanwhile, the customer filed an A-Z complaint, (of course) got the refund because Amazon always favors the buyer, and after a couple of days got the two items worth $60. I'm still waiting for a 1* review from that customer for full 'experience'

It's positive that your seller kept communicating and did it transparently.

[Jesper]

@Zviedrs; after inspecting the bar more I found that the graphics transfer was not top notch with missing areas of the image.
I am trying 2 avenues:
1) contact seller and show images of the discrepancies as well as informing them of the excessive delivery time. I will offer to pay 50% total (part and shipping), and let that be that,
or
2) ship the item back at sellers expense.

If seller does not respond, or does not agree to either option then I believe it will be kept and no more will be done about it.
I feel bad for the seller due to the shipping problem which is something that they really can't control, but it is their responsibility to ensure that they are sending out quality parts, or are informing buyers that they are getting possible "irregular" items that may not be 100% perfect.

One problem is being able to contact the seller since there is no direct email address or phone number, and the contact options are generic programmed responses to your query. The emails I received from the seller regarding the shipping status were all automated and did not allow for a return reply except as an automated response to a their automated options for return/refund of the item. I never directly communicated with anyone.

Let us see what develops.

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

What was the flaw if you don't mind me asking? I have a lot of people scam me out of items.

They will buy it, despite the description clearly stating flaws or imperfections; or them not asking additional questions towards their needs; or despite the item itself being intended for someone with very specific wants or needs.

If it's not what you wanted, how could you have ordered it in the first place?

If you kept it, you should pay for it by contacting them, buying another from their store, and then having them not ship another out.

[Jesper]

(12-27-2021, 10:58 PM)ReapThaWhirlwind Wrote:  What was the flaw if you don't mind me asking? I have a lot of people scam me out of items.

They will buy it, despite the description clearly stating flaws or imperfections; or them not asking additional questions towards their needs; or despite the item itself being intended for someone with very specific wants or needs.

If it's not what you wanted, how could you have ordered it in the first place?

If you kept it, you should pay for it by contacting them, buying another from their store, and then having them not ship another out.

"after inspecting the bar more I found that the graphics transfer was not top notch with missing areas of the image."

This was a brand new item with no mention of any flaws be they functional or aesthetic. Yes, I did want it; that is why I ordered it, but it wasn't supposed to be imperfect since it was a new item in original packaging, and not described as anything but. The flaws were in the printing of the design, and they were not a result of any shipping issue (rubbed off by chafing, etc.), but were just poorly transcribed in a few places. The issue was settled with a discount (40% off and no shipping charge) partly due to the long shipping time (written in the seller's policy, they contacted me first regarding delayed receipt and refund) and the print flaws (also noted in the seller's policy since it did not match the description as a new item in packaging without damage). I have since done more business with that company without any issues. I hand painted the design where it was flawed; not perfect, but I doubt anyone but myself would be able to tell the difference. It did not make sense to return the bar since I knew I could still use it; but by principle I should have gotten what I paid for and initially I did not. Issue solved; case closed!

I guess I should show the bike it ended up on just to demonstrate the fact that it serves its purpose without any real detractions related aesthetics or value. Unfortunately, the bike is at my northern home (won't be there 'til March/April); 1980s Tommasini Prestige: black frame/fork with white decals, white saddle, white Modolo brakeset, white LOOK pedals, black Galli crankset; and of course the white & black bar. Folks think it's a pretty nice bike with the modern bar; not one of my usual period rebuilds. I am impressed with the feel of the carbon bar since I have not used carbon on any other build at this time, but I do have another carbon bar waiting in the wings for use on an early 90s alloy lugged carbon Colnago Carbitubo that has been delayed for lack of wheels.