lionio05... did you file a dispute with ebay... they almost alway side with the buyer and you would get your money back and probably get to keep the bike. If it is not to late to do that I would... it all sound fishy... I've had a few fedex claims and they have never been denied if you have the proper documentation such as photos of the damage, repair estimate, and photo of the damaged shipping box. If there was no damage to the shipping box... It is likely that the fork was damaged prior to shipping... which means your item was not as described by the seller. Sorry for the headache. Good luck finding a fork.
here is what your sell wrote... in response to your feedback... ">>> Note on feedback: After 13 years with eBay and many (many) hundreds of bikes (and bike components) sold, I have sadly received my first-ever negative feedback, which is baffling to me in this instance. (While the buyer claimed his bike’s fork was damaged in shipping, the shipper quickly denied the claim, citing puzzling actions by the buyer in the days following delivery. Still, I felt some obligation to help, offering to refund $100 (or roughly a third of the bike's cost) to the buyer to cover buying/installing a new fork. This seemed to go over well with the buyer -- he promptly accepted the $100 offer -- but as soon as the refund went through, he then left me negative feedback.) Again, I don’t get it, but please don’t let this one disgruntled buyer prevent you from bidding on this bike. If you have any questions or concerns about this Trek, or how I would ship it, or anything at all, please simply e-mail me, and I’ll e-mail you back as soon as possible. Or if you’d prefer to talk to me in person instead, simply let me know that, and I’ll call you when I can (or I'll e-mail you with my cell number so you can call me). Thanks for listening … Brent."