!*&^"!!! Ebay!

[Gern]

A wee cautionary tale folks.


Back at the start of May, I bought a home 'phone via ebay. It arrived on 8th May but didn't work. I mailed the supplier and he offered to help fix the problem so I wrote back describing the issues. No answer so I emailed on 20th asking again and on 21st stating I was not happy and wanted to return the 'phone. He emailed back on 24th saying he was sorry but I could return the 'phone for a full refund (less return postage of course).


I sent it tracked and he signed for it on 2nd June. Still no refund so I chased him again on 12th June. No answer so I tried to open a dispute with ebay tonight. Their reply? You're outside the 30 day limit so we can't do anything.


Anyone who has dealt with ebay knows their first recommendation if you have a dispute is to sort it with the seller. "That's what I tried to do!" says I. Yes, but you should still open a dispute. "But my dispute didn't arise until 21st as the seller had offered to help sort the problem, so I'm within 30 days of the dispute arising" Your original purchase was on 8th so you're outside the 30 day limit! "But the seller promised a refund on 24th so there was still no dispute at all until the refund didn't arrive, so I'm within the 30 days of the dispute arising." You should still have opened a dispute within 30 days.


I got fed up of talking to the robot at the end of the phone. He was kind enough to point me in the right direction to close my account before I hung up on him.


So, guys. Anything you buy that has working parts, do you think you should automatically open a dispute within 30 days just in case it goes wrong - say a couple of weeks after you've bought it and before the seller messes you around until eBay's "Statute of Limitations" is up?


I used Paypal and they have a dispute system. So off I went tonight and raised a dispute and asked the seller for my refund again. Paypal's set answer? Wait for 20 days then get back in touch with us if the seller has not responded! 'ere we go again - but this time I'll be back to them on Monday!


PS As my ebay account is now closed, I'll be offering all my kits for sale on here. Keep your eyes peeled as my teaching contract finishes early next month so I'll be back on the dole and selling stuff to get eating money.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Dave, hopefully you're not too out of pocket.


Thus far I've been lucky with eBay. Any problems I've had have been resolved easily. A while back I bought an Airfix Tomahawk which was warped to hell, but the seller refunded me immediately & didn't want the kit sent back.


My advice in situations like this would be to do everything you've done, but make a note to open a dispute on the 29th day if it's not sorted by then. Popping a reminder in your phone calendar is a useful way of remembering


Fingers crossed that you get a refund.

[John]

Once you open a dispute with PayPal you can escalate it straight away, and as for refunding the postage if he's a business seller he has to refund your whole purchase price including postage and his returns policy should state who is responsible for the return postage. 

[Gern]

I didn't want to open a dispute without giving the seller a chance to put things right. Like Patrick, I've had some problems previously but I've always managed to sort them out directly with the seller, and to be honest my experience has been that sellers are only too pleased to sort things so they don't get bad feedback. I've given sellers excellent feedback sometimes based solely on how they have sorted out problems with their product. But this is what you sometimes get for trying to be a nice guy!


Surprise, surprise! I closed my account last night and this afternoon received a mail from ebay saying they'd opened a dispute!


John: The seller had agreed to refund my original cost including postage, (which was why I didn't open a dispute - I thought I'd sorted it) but not the cost of the return post. Most of the online sellers I've dealt with have the same policy.