I feel that I must report this story to you, as I have expressed a lot of skepticism about ebay in the past. It turns out that their customer service is as good as Amazon's!
I have ordered from ebay only a handful of times. I wanted to test the Van Cleef & Arpel Collection Extraordinaire perfumes, but was unable to procure manufacturer-carded samples anywhere else. I was disappointed to find that one of the vials was only half full, but I decided not to complain, because at least it meant that the seller had not filled it with water--I knew that it was authentic!
Since then, I ordered two different cellophane-wrapped Lolita Lempicka limited edition bottles and a sample pack of ten Jo Malone vials, all at excellent prices, shipped free, with no problems whatsoever.
I also ordered a bottle of Coach Iris Splash. The sprayer was not only broken, but also had liquid inside, so I opened a case alleging that the item was not as described, as it clearly was not new. Within a day, my entire purchase price was refunded.
This gave me the confidence to try again (plus now I had a Paypal credit to use). I ordered a 100ml bottle of Prada Infusion d'Iris Absolue (the only one I'm missing), which was advertised as a new tester. When it arrived, the volume seemed a bit low (maybe 2ml short), but I was ready to give the seller the benefit of the doubt--until I sprayed.
As we all know, a new, never-been-sprayed bottle requires a couple of extra pumps before it will spritz out perfume. This bottle sprayed perfume with the first press, so I knew that it had been sprayed and that the apparently short volume was due to the fact that the bottle was not in fact new.
I debated with myself about what to do. On the one hand, it was still a great deal. On the other hand, I asked myself whether I would have purchased the bottle had it been listed as "used". The answer was "
no". I decided to open a case just to put the seller on notice that people do not appreciate this sort of misrepresentation. My hope was to prevent the seller from doing the same again. What I was expecting in response to my complaint was an apology, and maybe an offer of a $5 credit.
Instead, to my shock, I received a nasty and accusatory response from the seller. Here is what it said:
Seller's message:"Sorry you weren't satisfied with the Tester. But to respond to what you wrote item has NEVER been used. I inspect all merchandise prior to deliver so the bottle was NOT missing 2ML it was the full 3.4 ML so in conclusion I BELIEVE your trying to take the perfume I sent you and exchange it with a old one you have at home. "
Needless to say, I was taken aback. However, exactly two minutes later, I received another email, this one from ebay, stating that my entire purchase price had been refunded.
My conclusion: ebay does not tolerate any nonsense whatsoever from sellers. Good work, ebay: you have earned my confidence.
I wanted to share this story because everyone should know that if there is anything wrong with their purchase, ebay clearly believes that customer is queen/king, so you can shop safely there.