I recently bought a panini toaster on Ricardo. It was received with a shattered plastic arm. I contacted the seller immediately but she claimed that the goods were packaged properly. This claim was soon contradicted by the Post, which refused to cover for the loss as no padding was used inside the cardboard box, thus failing to comply with their standards. Ricardo doesn't take any responsibility and tell me that it is purely between me and the seller. I went back to the seller with a proposal that she share half of the loss. She first suggested me go to my household insurer, which she said everyone in Switzerland have - not me though, then she refused my proposal, saying that she already spent too much time communicating to help me and the value of the goods, which is 45 francs including shipping, is fairly low and she had done nothing wrong. Now I am a bit confused whose responsibility it is and what the next step should I take.
Unfortunately, inadequate packing is one of the problems you can encounter when buying second hand goods.
All you can do is give the seller a really nasty review on Ricardo.
Can you get a spare part for the toaster?
By law it is your risk from the point it was given to the post Art. 185 Code of Obligations . However, you can argue that the seller did not fulfill its duty to sent the item in a proper way, and must pay for the damage. Art.97 Code of Obligations .
If you do not find an agreement you can bring maters to the justice of peace and see where it takes you.