A brush with a Brian Rix-type farce

I use eBay quite a lot and rarely have any issues with it, but I have to relate this, with hindsight, quite ridiculous story. I know some folks really despise eBay but I’ve never fathomed why.

 

A few weeks back I ordered a set of 10 small modelling paint brushes, but only one of the set arrived through my letter box a few days later. I contacted the seller to tell them what had happened and that the packaging was intact so the other 9 brushes could not have fallen out. I even told them which of the individually numbered brushes I actually received. Of course, I asked them to send me the other 9 brushes.

The response was simply that what was dispatched to me was what I ordered. I pointed out in return that what I ordered was 10 paint brushes but only one had arrived. I got no further response.

So what next? A grumble to eBay which a few days later ended up with them telling me that the seller had informed them that I’d got what I ordered so no refund was due to me.

I appealed, pointing out, again, that I only received 1 of the 10 paint brushes, that I didn’t want a refund, I just wanted the seller to send me the other 9.

eBay then came back to me saying I was due a refund (what I’d specifically NOT asked for) and that I’d soon get a pre-paid return address label to send the one paint brush I actually held back! By my calculations I then had no paint brushes at all!

The label arrived and the single brush was despatched back to the seller. But why did the seller want a single brush back, when they could have spent the postage sending me the other 9 brushes? It’s been a brush with a mad, mad world, but at least I got a refund for the 10 paint brushes that I've now had to order from another eBay seller..

*****

For the youngsters amongst you Brian Rix was an actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage. I think he’d be proud of my little farce.