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eBay refunds: caution!

Brian S

pfm Member
After 100 5 star eBay transactions, my luck ran out. The first 100 were almost all audio or cycling. A few weeks ago, I purchased a Heatstore 1500 radiator from an eBay Business Dealer. It arrived very badly packed and had suffered some cosmetic damage. I reported this and was offered an £80 refund from the £270 I had paid. MISTAKE: I accepted that. Two days later I installed the heater to find it did not work. This had nothing to do with the damage already refunded. Research made it clear a repair was not practical. I informed the dealer several times and asked did he wish me to return it or scrap it. Eventually a reply put me off until he had returned from holiday. Then I received a reply stating he could not take the appliance back as I had accepted a refund. I pointed out this was blatant robbery, the refund had nothing to do with the failure to operate, and left my first ever 'negative' feedback. I took the matter up with EBay who informed me the case was closed as soon as I had accepted the refund. Pleas for human decency were ignored by the dealer. My negative feedback was removed within a couple of hours. Two hundred quid bites the dust and the dealer retains his status as being without negative feedback.
 
Ouch. It's a good eBay lesson - check an item out completely before availing yourself of any official eBay action.

Another good one is private messaging. Comport yourself as if everything you write will come under review as potentially damning evidence in a case. Because it can and it will. This is true for any private messaging, really. Internet private messaging is a huge oxymoron.
 
If you paid for it by credit card then chargeback via them, I have done this a few times now with awkward online sellers & Ebay, the credit card company was fantastic in dealings. Explain the situation & the fact you received a partial refund & why, they will act on the balance outstanding.
 
From my experience, eBay resolution operates by script. You could try to escalate it. That used to be an option. Anyway, the script in this case assumes a solved initial complaint implies any and all complaints. Which in fairness to a seller isn't a terrible assumption. In this case, the seller happens to be terrible. He also had to request the negative FB be removed.
 
If you paid for it by credit card then chargeback via them, I have done this a few times now with awkward online sellers & Ebay, the credit card company was fantastic in dealings. Explain the situation & the fact you received a partial refund & why, they will act on the balance outstanding.
Thanks for this. Unfortunately I think my PayPal payment came from my debit account. I have since changed this.
 
Total sympathy Brian, what an absolute horrible response from both the seller and EBay, wish I could help.

Get the sellers name up on here (and elsewhere), they deserve naming and shaming!

Is there any electrician’s on here who can fix this, is it definitely unrepairable?
 
Small claims court online. Takes 10 minutes to issue a summons.
I doubt he will contest it and if he does, he will end up have to travel to your local court to do so.
 
You can open up a PayPal dispute for not as described goods secondary to eBay. Just go to the transaction in PayPal and 'Report a problem'. Had to do this a few times myself for similar reasons.
 
Total sympathy Brian, what an absolute horrible response from both the seller and EBay, wish I could help.

Get the sellers name up on here (and elsewhere), they deserve naming and shaming!

Is there any electrician’s on here who can fix this, is it definitely unrepairable?
 
I have no reluctance to name the seller. All eBay correspondence is still on my eBay account.

Deleted messages are visible to Ebay staff, just as they are with most messaging software. I would wager what you delete here is visible in the same way. That's why I edit to an ellipsis what I delete. There could be versioning on posts now, who knows. Wouldn't surprise me with the relatively low cost of storage.
 
Thanks for this. Unfortunately I think my PayPal payment came from my debit account. I have since changed this.
I think you have to also be careful paying by CC via paypal as over a certain value, you can lose protection not gain because of the route the payment is made.
Was the item sold as new? In which case would/should all the usual consumer protections/guarantees apply?
Have you spoken to ebay in person? I have always found them very helpful and they have even refunded me at their cost in the past. Do you have the concierge service?
You might still be able to do it via the paypal claims procedure. Is it still 180 days?
It might also be worth a word with your local trading standards office. If you have a number they will often make the call.
Small claims is viable.
 
Generally most CC payments through Ebay are flagged up as non covered Section 75, my credit card company have told me that if the sale is £100+ they will always consider the chargeback route through Paypal.
 
Go the Paypal complaint route, even if nothing comes of it they will freeze the value of the goods out of his account which will p*ss him off. I had someone do that to me over a postage charge. They paid for something on a BIN and my postage was UPS with insurance. After the goods arrived the smart *rse tried to complain that the postage was too high and it was cheaper with Hermes. He got nowhere with ebay but the next thing I knew was that he told Paypal that the goods never arrived! Took me ages to sort it out with Paypal even though it was an obviously fraudulent complaint. It was very irritating! If you operate a PP account on low margins like I do then you have to have more in the account than the amount "frozen" before you can use it.
 
<moderating >

Please see pfm AUP regarding using this site for consumer issues. I’ve removed content identifying a seller and will remove the thread if such behaviour continues. This is far beyond the scope of pfm.
 
<moderating >

Please see pfm AUP regarding using this site for consumer issues. I’ve removed content identifying a seller and will remove the thread if such behaviour continues. This is far beyond the scope of pfm.
OK Tony. It was recommended I named X. Sorry for violation.

Brian S
 


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