Who Bears The Risk of Shipping Loss

[ThankYou]

Jurisdiction

New York

Suppose an individual consumer purchases a product which the seller ships to them via a commercial carrier and then returns the product to the seller -- under the terms of the seller's guarantee -- using a shipping label/carrier that is provided to the buyer by the seller for purposes of returning the product to the seller. The return shipping is paid for by the seller.

Assuming the return carrier loses the shipment or damages the shipment, does the buyer have any liability for the losses?

I would assume not if for no other reason then that the seller provided the choice of carrier for the return, paid for it and instructed the buyer to return it according to those choices.

Is this correct?

 

[adjusterjack]

Under the circumstances you describe, I would agree that the buyer has no liability for the loss.

However, was the buyer smart enough to get, and keep, a receipt when the package was handed over to the carrier?

If not, then the the buyer might be unable to prove that the package was in the hands of the carrier.

On the other hand, if the seller is saying, "Hey, I didn't receive it, I'm not giving you back your money", then what do you do?

 

[army judge]

I can only add, a question.

How can the customer/shipper PROVE something, something being the ALLEGED returned item was ever placed into the shipping carton/container/box?

 

[mightymoose]

Just about everyone these days uses some type of tracking number.
Whether or not a package was delivered should be easy to determine.

I agree that the seller's selection and payment of the shipping puts the seller on the hook UNLESS you were specifically offered at some point to purchase shipping insurance.

If the package was delivered but there was damage then they would sort out whether or not it occurred during shipping or not. This would be based on the condition of the shipping container and adequate insulation inside the container. If not packaged properly the buyer could still be on the hook.