Actually, MeinMMO editor Jasmin just wanted to give her mother-in-law a nice gift. However, the package containing the Nintendo Switch Lite, which arrived at her, was not the gift she had hoped for.
Since I wanted to lure my mother-in-law back into gaming, I thought about giving her a Nintendo Switch Lite as a gift along with my partner. As a mobile gamer, the Switch Lite is the perfect alternative for her:
- The console is smaller and can be taken anywhere due to its lighter weight.
- The console comes in beautiful, vibrant colors.
- The operation is easier than with other handhelds.
- Since she never has to detach the Joy-Cons, she saves herself the hassle of fiddling and wiggling with the controllers on the Lite.
Therefore, I was even more pleased when I could bid on a Nintendo Switch Lite along with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the sales platform eBay. The package only cost me 120 €, which is a great bargain for the console plus a price-stable first-party title.
But as soon as I saw the shoebox in which the console was delivered, I had a bad feeling about the purchase.
The auctioned Switch had more flaws than expected
Perhaps you have experienced that there can be a certain discrepancy between “like new” and “used” with the seller. In my case, the Switch itself was fine. There were no major scratches or flaws on the case itself.
However, I noticed immediately that the screen was slowly detaching from the console at one corner. This created an air bubble at the edge that could even be seen when the console was turned on. The product description on eBay did not mention the air bubble.
I could have lived with just that. With a little glue and pressing, the air bubble could be minimized to a small spot on the edge. The mini-air bubble was then no longer in the line of sight of the screen.
Much worse, however, was: The shoebox did not leave much space next to the console for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I thought that the module might already be inserted into the console or that the seller had made a mistake and that the game needed to be installed digitally or downloaded from the eShop. No such luck.
Thus, the Switch Lite for 120 € was no longer such a great bargain as it had initially seemed. The seller first responded to my messages with “It never said that Mario Kart was included,” and then eventually stopped responding altogether. Therefore, I had no choice but to find a way to turn the situation around.
eBay buyer protection was the best solution
The eBay buyer protection applies in cases where the item is damaged or does not match the description. In my case, both applied, as the screen was damaged and Mario Kart was completely missing.
Furthermore, the seller had not contacted me again. Therefore, I wrote to buyer protection and asked how the problem could be solved. At that time, I was really annoyed and hoped that eBay would somehow find a solution to the problem.
Of course, things could have been worse for me. After all, there are stories of people who received completely different items. But especially because this was supposed to be a gift for someone close, I was therefore frustrated.
And in fact, I received a better solution than I could have ever imagined. eBay simply refunded me the entire purchase price in this case. The problem with the damaged Switch Lite was not resolved, but as mentioned, we could solve it with a little glue and pressing.
Additionally, we were able to use the money received to buy a fresh version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Ultimately, this horror purchase turned out to be a fortunate coincidence after all.
What are your worst experiences on sales platforms? Have you ever been scammed like I was? Feel free to write it in the comments!
Another player also had bad experiences on eBay. He had purchased a Steam Deck that caused problems from the start. Here, it wasn’t the seller protection that helped, but Steam itself: Player falls victim to scam when purchasing Steam Deck, help comes from an unexpected source: “The fraudster takes it, the Gabe gives it”
