Advice requested

So disappointed with the IDC people.  Everything has now resolved "in my favor" but really, it was a poor resolution for all of us, and all because the IDC was just so reluctant to respond.

So here is a summary of what has happened:

May 13 - I received the doll, when I took her out of the box that night, her hand fell apart. The auction listing says the doll would ship insured, so I emailed IDC immediately:



No response.

Same day, I located the artist on facebook- who said she'd send me a new hand, but since she hadn't shipped the doll, I would need to cover the cost of shipping 

May 16 -  I emailed IDC again:

IDC did not respond.  


May 23rd- I open a claim on ebay- requesting only the cost of shipping a new hand, advising that i had been unable to establish contact with the seller, but that the cost of shipping a new hand should probably be covered under the shipping insurance.  I attached pictures. 

May 27th - No response from IDC so I click the button for asking ebay to intervene.  Meanwhile- I have been in contact with the artist, who is SUPER sweet. She has been looking into postage cost and finding a box to mail the hand in so it won't break. After reading my introduction to her dolls on this forum, she also volunteered to send me a COA! I think that it was simply a mistake it hadn't been included. 

May 31st- ebay advises they are putting the case "on hold" for five days- and that the seller has been advised they should EITHER issue return shipping or a label to return the doll. 
    At this point- if they had simply issued the cost of shipping the hand, the dispute would be closed.  But that is not what happened. 


June 1st - IDC messages


Meanwhile- the artist has asked would I be willing to paypal her the approx $44 for shipping of the hand and COA.  Of course I told her I would be happy to if IDC did not cover it.

I also responded the same day (June 1st) to IDC:

Alas, no further response from IDC

June 3rd the artist messages me-  she has not heard from the IDC people. She advises that the total for shipping was actually $47 and if I could paypal this to her she'd mail the hand.  Of course I paypaled her immediately.

I then send another message to IDC:


IDC responds:

June 9th- I got the hand in the mail.  I sent IDC another message:


June 11th  -  ebay says they've made a "final decision" and the dispute is closed.  But instead of refunding the $47 I have been asking for- they say they will refund the entire price of the doll to my paypal.  Nothing showed up in paypal so I didn't think it had gone through yet. (It was late on Friday night).
I figured once the payment went through, I would probably hear IDC - and I'd see if they would be willing to accept the refund I had received less the $47 shipping for the new hand.

Earlier this week I checked paypal- and no refund.  But then I checked my credit cards, and sure enough- the refund had been posted- directly to the credit card.

June 17th IDC finally emails me:


What a terrible resolution. Also, what about the hand that the artist sent me?  I emailed them asking if they want the hand since I would not have a use for it if they are taking the doll back.  I have not yet tried to fix the broken one. If they are asking for the doll back to resell, I assume they will need the hand.  If they just need the doll for their insurance claim, I assume they will not.

I don't know what else to do.  This entire process has left me feeling quite bitter. 

EDIT- NEW - I received from the IDC an email:


What? I NEVER asked ebay for a full refund. All they had to do was resolve the dispute with me by refunding my $47 and filing an insurance claim with DHL. OR if they preferred that I return the doll, they could have refunded the shipping or sent a label.  It was only because they did not act that Ebay triggered a refund.  IDC could have stopped it any time between May 13th and June 11th - after numerous opportunities and ebay advising what needed to happen. 

I think they are also suggesting that either I broke the doll, or the artist had broken the doll before it was mailed to me. But I did not break her. If the artist broke her, why didn't they tell me before shipping her?   

I don't think it fair that I get both the doll and a full refund. I'd be happy to send the doll back at this point.  I know that they will have received their ebay fees back since ebay issued a refund- so they could even have asked me to send the total for the doll less the $47 shipping and come out way ahead (after not having to pay ebay its 10%).  That is what I would have asked if I had been running this.  

Instead they send this message. I'm still not sure what to do. Send the total for the doll less $47?  Send the doll back?  Could it be they don't know how to open an insurance claim?  What is the point of expensive shipping with insurance if not to cover loss or breakage?

I will admit I'm not feeling very happy about this right now. I do not think the IDC has handled this at all well, and I am starting to question their integrity. 

I forgot something.... when the IDC get the damaged doll back, they can get the fully insured cost for her from DHL. That will cover their charity donation. You don't need to feel bad about anything, Galacticat.

Thanks Sutton.

So I gave the IDC guy the timeline above-
I told him I had never received any message from him on facebook. Just the few through ebay as noted. I told him I was pretty upset about the fact that I was essentially made promises and strung along- and all the while it appears IDC never intended to refund the shipping because they though it was "fair" that I pay it.  

He gave me this response:



So I guess he is saying Dynamo Camp kind of blew it and it wasn't the fault of IDC who had left it to Dynamo to manage the auction.  I am not sure what solution to propose. I told him this:



So what should I do ?  Is DHL going to show up on Monday for the doll?  Should I sent the cost of the doll, less the $47 shipping- to... who?  Dynamo? IDC? This guy?  I am starting to be suspicious of Dynamo since I feel they tried to take advantage of me. I can understand language issues and delays due to it being a charity- but really? They couldn't resolve the issue anytime sooner than 30 days?  Really?

And how to pay-  I can no longer pay through ebay since they allowed the claim to close without providing any resolution first. 

Such a mess.  Your thoughts are appreciated. What should I do now?

The Dynamo eBay definitely did a truly horrible job on this matter, although I've researched the charity and it seems legit. I think probably negligence or laziness or maybe extreme ignorance re eBay and international sales is maybe more likely than fraud. I did think $47 was pretty high but it doesn't sound like the artist has any experience at all with international shipping.

I've asked them to send me an invoice for the doll cost less $47. The IDC guy is very apologetic and thinks that would be a great solution. I guess I'll have to see what happens on Monday!

Thank you both so much for reading this wall of text and for your thoughts, you made me feel much better about it, like I'm not crazy for getting a bit upset.

Fawkes is right, you should have gotten an eBay seller prepaid DHL label. Perhaps that's what Dynamo means by a pick up on the 20th of June.  Do not pay for return shipping yourself!

If it were me, I would without wavering, only send the doll back with pre-paid DHL and without the new hand-- that is the eBay resolution and it is just! All Dynamo, or to whoever the seller account is registered to has to do, is put in a damage claim with DHL and they still get their charity money. They won't lose anything.

It seems to me that this is a game of pass the blame involving IDC/Dynamo/Artist. The answers the IDC fellow is giving you are pure polite bullshit. Dynamo Camp Italia maintains a spiffy website and they knew to ask you to close the claim with eBay, BUT, they don't know how eBay works???  

If you still want the doll, contact eBay by phone(a bit of a wait!) and get a manager on the line. Explain that the seller now agrees to resell you the doll minus 47 bucks. eBay can allow the seller to relist the item with a new price where only you can pay for the doll (not shown publicly). This is the only way I would send money again! eBay will know through your Paypal account if you rebuy the doll directly from the seller, bypassing eBay.  eBay may not like the bypass because they are in the business of getting their commission. I would not trust sending money again any other way to who knows who.

Sutton summed up the case perfectly.

Don't give more money!!!

As far far as I'm concerned, I certainly wouldn't send money to either IDC or Dynamo. If you really can't do without this particular doll, why not ask the artist a commission work? She made one doll, so maybe she can recreate her for you.

Galacticat, you would not be taking any money away from the charity. All the people involved with the sale of your doll have to do is claim damage and DHL will reimburse them the cost of the whole doll. You can't get any fairer than that. They get their charity money anyway.

Whether the charity is legit or not is not the issue, nor is whether the artist trusts the charity or not. The issue is that whoever sells through eBay better know how eBay works so that no buyer be driven to exasperation by being ignored and then given the runaround when merchandise arrives damaged-- regardless if this was a sale for charity or not!!!

eBay does not come up with resolutions, it is the seller that has to come up with a resolution in a buyer's dispute.  eBay gives a ruling depending on what the seller answers or does. If the seller does not answer or does nothing, eBay automatically rules in the buyer's favour.  It's 100% the seller's fault, through negligence, that eBay ruled you should get a total reimboursement.