should i be angry??

[Sam]

If the man knew the items were not meant for him, why did he go ahead and open them, and then give them to his son?

The right thing to do would have been for him to say to your gf "Hey, I think these aren't mine, I didn't buy them, perhaps there's some mistake and you should hang onto them."

As a matter of principle, don't touch what's not yours. The fact that they are sought after figures makes it that much harder to put up with what's happened.

I don't think you're crying over nothing. I'd get angry too if I were you.

[Mr Ed]

You have every right to be pissed off.

Your GF's colleague must be a serious loser clearly they dont respect your property with your name on it.

This goes to show how doing the right thing and helping people out can seriously bite you.

Although, I am a bit puzzled, I thought when you buy stuff on EBAY, they confirm the address with you?

[griffin]

Unfortunately, if it was addressed to him, he would have opened it up, and once realising that it wasn't something he bought, he would either keep it or return it to the sender (if the sender didn't nominate that it was to be abandoned if undeliverable, as it could have incurred a cost to send it back). If there was no indication as to who bought the item, and IF he actually asked the post office about returning it but found it would cost him money to do so (once it was opened), he may have been stuck with it (if there was no contact email for the seller in the package).

If it happened to me, and something arrived with my name on it without any contact email or any idea who bought it, I would ask the post office if it can be returned free, and if not, I would hold it for a few months to see if anyone I knew mentioned it or contacted me about it. After that, there's not really anything to do... and I wouldn't just throw it out.
It's unfortunate that these vintage Gen1 toys have ended up in the hands of kids, further shrinking the pool of mint or good condition figures, but at least if he exhausted all options, the toys went to 'a good home' instead of just being discarded in the trash.

As for the GF... she should have changed the settings back, if being allowed to use someone else's account (yours).

[Doubledealer]

Ray Tango (re: colleague): When this is over, we have to pay Jabba the Hutt here a visit.
Gabriel Cash: I'll bring the chainsaw.
Ray Tango: I'll bring the beer.

[GoktimusPrime]

Aaaarrrgghhh... I can't believe those toys got given to a kid under those circumstances. That's SpasticPower-Core-Combiner!!

I don't play with my TF's and dont even transform them and if I do its once and are left on display.

Aww, but Transformers are heaps fun to play with!! Which reminds me, I got a floor full of G1 Headmasters to pack up (I was playing with them earlier this arvo) before going on my road trip tomorrow morning. Then I gotta choose a toy to bring with me... hrmm...

[griffin]

Aaaarrrgghhh... I can't believe those toys got given to a kid under those circumstances. That's SpasticPower-Core-Combiner!!

But they're toys... and he's probably like most normal people and just sees that, without knowing that they are vintage toys that should only be 'played with' by Adults. It's like those people who give away toys and stuff to charity stores or have a garage sale - it's just another toy to them. As such, they went to the most likely candidate for toys - kids. Not surprising really.

[Tober]

In my opinion, blame falls on whoever was responsible for changing the address and not changing it back afterwards. If this usage of your account happened with your consent, then you should have checked.

I can't quite figure out how it ended up at your colleagues address if you paid for it. Sellers ship to the address on the PayPal statement. Was your eBay account linked to your 'friend's' PayPal details? Or did you pay via direct debit thus using the eBay listed name and address..?

As for the colleague, a bit difficult to gauge. Maybe he thought it was a Christmas present for his kid from an uncle or wife's friend he didn't know. Not many people outside of TF collectors know that a 25+ year old toy is valuable if in a good condition.

If the kid likes it and takes good care of it maybe you can take some solace in that. But, yeah, I'd be pissed about it too.

----------

It's not 'mail fraud' if the package is addressed to the recipient. It's not really theft if he thinks it's a gift for his kid.

[GoktimusPrime]

But they're toys... and he's probably like most normal people and just sees that, without knowing that they are vintage toys that should only be 'played with' by Adults. It's like those people who give away toys and stuff to charity stores or have a garage sale - it's just another toy to them. As such, they went to the most likely candidate for toys - kids. Not surprising really.

Maybe he didn't even know they were vintage toys -- assuming this guy's totally ignorant about Transformers and they were in near mint enough condition that one might think that they're just regular toys. But if something doesn't belong to you, why would you give it away to other people (be it children or adults)? But then again, I suppose if I received a package with my name on it, I would assume that it was intended for me unless there was a note attached to it saying otherwise (or if I were told beforehand to expect a package on someone else's behalf).

[primatives]

I can't quite figure out how it ended up at your colleagues address if you paid for it. Sellers ship to the address on the PayPal statement. Was your eBay account linked to your 'friend's' PayPal details? Or did you pay via direct debit thus using the eBay listed name and address..?

That's quite confusing because I used my paypal account and that address is still the same so I dont know how the other adddress ended up being sent to the seller.

oh well its a waiting game now.

[jaydisc]

I can't quite figure out how it ended up at your colleagues address if you paid for it. Sellers ship to the address on the PayPal statement. Was your eBay account linked to your 'friend's' PayPal details? Or did you pay via direct debit thus using the eBay listed name and address..?

My partner had a similar situation. She only had her new addresses in PayPal, but somehow something got shipped to her old address. The old address was still in her eBay address book, and while she made the right choice at PayPal checkout, the wrong choice was still sent to the seller, who wrongfully acted on it. Perhaps you can PayPal dispute it. That would suck for the seller though.