We bid and won on this item, paid promptly with PayPal, and item was shipped promptly .

However, when the box arrived, it was bulging on both sides and making a grating noise when moved.

We opened the package to discover the largest of the pottery canisters was broken.

It didn't really take much looking to find out why:

She had packaged a eight inch vase, in a five inch box, and not suprisingly, it got broke.

Here's the cannister alongside the box that it was shipped in. (It is turned so the broken part is on the backside - there's many more pics later on in this page. ..).

As you can see, the cannister is several inches larger than the box!

With a single layer of bubble-wrap around it, it comes to about a nine inch object being stuffed into a five inch tall box - along with a LOT of other stuff in a very small box.

The box is not even marked "Fragile" or "Breakable."  At least that may have helped.

When we contacted Michelle (AKA Designerchic72), her only response was to "feel our pain" and start insisting that she had "done an adequate job " packaging the item.

We wondered what exactly would be an "adequate" way to pack a NINE inch fragile item into a FIVE inch box - especially something made of glass.

And since the item arrived broken, we wondered what her interpretation of the word "adequate" might have been. Adequate to prevent what, if not breakage?

Honestly, we assumed that being shown the box alongside the cannister would be enough to convince her that the job was certainly not adequate.  But then again, she packed the box.  If she didn't notice the size difference when it was actually in her hands, I'm not sure what good it would do to show her pictures.

But we did anyways.  One can always hope.

As incredible as it may sound, even after looking at these pictures, in the ensuing email exchange, she continued to claim that she had (and I quote) "done an adequate job", and that "the box did NOT bulge," and that she "would NEVER send a package that looked like that...That just isn't my style..." 

We asked, if she didn't send it looking like that, then how did it get that way? 

She only continued to insist that "I do not feel that it was poor packaging. And,  "The box was in excellent condition when I handed it to the clerk!!" and  "I would have NEVER shipped you a fragile item that I did not do my part on."

We wondered how it was possibe to put a nine inch object in a five inch box without it bulging.  We're not physicists, but it seemed to us that without some kind of quantum physics, that it was impossible.

We spent $20, plus another $20 for shipping (when shipping only cost $12). Insurance is always an option on shipping, but with normal care in packaging we didn't feel like that would be necessary. It rarely is necessary.  Most people package things carefully. 

The purpose of insurance is to protect your investment against loss or theft of an expensive object, not to act as a contingency plan against poor packaging.

But just to be sure...

...we showed the pictures to our local postmaster and asked if such a package would even be insurable and it was his opinion that it likely would have been refused insurance from the beginning, or that if it slipped through, the insurance claim would likely be denied on the grounds of negligent packaging.

In the email exchange, we gave her PLENTY of warning that we were weighing the option of negative feedback. We even sent her a link to this web page (before we published it) so she could SEE the photos for herself. 

All we asked for was a refund of our actual bid amount ($20) - not even including the shipping. 

She in turn, in not so many words, told us to get knotted and continued to "stand by [her] reputation"... 

At the conclusion of that initial volley, she had the nerve to say:

I would really appreciate no feedback if you can't say something positive. I feel I have tried to work through this with you. 

Now THAT just takes the cake. The only thing you have tried to "work through" is the notion that this FIVE INCH BOX was somehow (in your universe) "adequate" to contain a NINE inch vase.

And you expect us to say nothing?

 

At this point, after reading all of your husbands notes and remarks to my emails. I am finished with the communication. Do what you feel is necessary. I still stand behind what I have said. My reputation on Ebay stands.

The box was adequate for the items. I would not have shipped it otherwise. That is not my style.

Persistent to the end.

So, I contacted her myself, one last time, and asked her direct, plain, pointed questions aimed at making sure that she understood our intentions.: 

• Are you aware that these are actual photos of your package?
  
• Are you aware that the photo shows the vase is a good several INCHES taller than the entire box it was packed in?
  
• Are you aware that the package has your handwriting on it? (In response to her suggestion that we are talking about two different packages).  
  
• "Are you aware that we intend to make this information public on our website?

And I explained, again, that she had packaged a nine inch vase in a five inch box, what did she think was gonna happen?

I asked her, in light of the photographic evidence, how she sees no cupability in this matter.  Again, what did she think was going to happen to a nine inch object crammed into a five inch box?

Getting tired of the "I did an adequate job" line, I asked her what she thinks I should do in this situation?  Maybe that would illicit some kind of response.

This she took as a "nasty, personal attack" and (supposedly) reported us to eBay, and threatened to report us to the local police - a threat I wish she would actually do.  They would give her advice that I wish she would heed: If you break something through negligence, YOU are responsible.

That's what "good faith" means.  If you make a mistake, you admit it and make ammends.

We gave up.