EBay - Advice Needed

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GregE240

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Location
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Afternoon gang

Bit of a conundrum here. I'd appreciate some experience here and some advice.

Timeline:
3 weeks ago, I auctioned a Sony SKY box, as it was surplus to requirements. It worked perfectly. At the end of the auction, I duly packed it off to the winning bidder, who left me positive feedback, likewise me to him. He paid (almost instantly) via Paypal.

So far so good!


The Issue:
I now have an EBay message from the buyer, stating the following: He alleges that he has been on holiday, so whilst he unpacked the box - all complete - he did not get the chance to plug in the box, set it up etc. He now says that the box does not work, and "awaits my soonest reply."


So....am I obliged to do anything? Certainly when I sold it, it was in full working order. I packed it well, and have had no correspondence from the buyer until now.

EDIT: The return policy on the auction was 7 days. Clearly this has breached that by some margin.

Advice most welcome. My cynical side says he is trying it on, so tell him to get stuffed - he has left feedback - positive - for me and vice versa.

Thanks all
Greg
 
Last edited:
Two options:
1) Caveat Emptor - "Let the Buyer Beware"
Unless you offered a guarantee then it is simply one of those things it left you working and it reached them not working. Sorry but if you wanted a guarantee then you should have bought it new.

2) And I have used this a couple of times - Buyer returns it to you at their expense for you to examine, if it appears that they are correct you could offer them a refund, if it works OK they pay for it to be returned to them.
On both occasions I've offered this the devices in question have miraculously been restored to full function.
 
Has he explained what the problem is exactly, is it a case of not switching on or he cant view sky channels?

If its the second is he aware he will need a sky card for it to function for free view he still needs a card, i think its about £10 one off payment.
 
Hi Greg

It sounds strange after three weeks. When you sent the item, it was working, and now it is not.

I would seem like he wants a refund, but you gave no guarentees. Its your word against his, as I dont think ebay will get involved in this.

I would tell him if he had contacted you at the time, you may have considered a refund, as a goodwill gesture, but not after three weeks.

I know it difficult, but he has left feedback, and he cannot change that.:confused:
 
tell him to pi$$ off. you have "refund/return policy" for a reason.

you dont have to do anything.

HOWEVER. How did he pay?

if he paid via paypal then they can force u to give a refund....

if he submits a claim he can say that it is broken. then its up to you to offer a refund on reciept of the item back, or to disagree. but if you disagree its up to a paypal numpty to decide the fate.

any other actions can result in you being scammed out of your money and the item (if he paid via paypal).....

i would tell him no return or refund. feedback is the end of the transaction.

He has clearly broken it and is trying to get his money back. If he wanted a waranty then he should go to Comet or Curry's etc.
 
Thanks all.

I'll quote his message -

"I bought this receiver from you and it was received just before I was due to go on holiday. So I checked the contents which all looked fine and complete. This weekend I went to finally install the box and to find that it doesn't work. I await your reply."

Now....if this was me, I'd be wary of the return policy and check the damn thing before I went on holiday?? Then, if there was a problem with it, I'd have refunded him, no question.

But...this was nearly 3 weeks ago now? Feedback has been left.
 
i notice that he paid via paypal.

i would do this:

(1) email him explaining that u are sorry but quote the return policy clearly stated in the auction desc. and that no refund is offered.

(2) worst he can do is start up a paypal claim, in which case he would have to send the item back, but i would just state your return policy in the claim and let paypal decide. they (hopefully) will read ur policy and end the complaint, but they are idiots so maybe not..... if u do refund then make sure u file a NPB strike against his account as he has "not paid".

(3) add him to your blocked bidders list
 
Anbother note to consider is whose stopping him taking out any defective part that he needed for his own/previous unit and refitting the dodgy one back in your fully functional one.That way he gets his old one working foc.

Tell him to go suck eggs mate.
 
is it possible that it got damaged in transit? these boxes are notoriously fragile.

It's entirely possible that you are both right. You sent a fully working item, he received a non functioning one. It could have got dropped in transit

Maybe if the two of you got together it would be possible to claim on the Post Office's insurance
 
(2) worst he can do is start up a paypal claim, in which case he would have to send the item back, but i would just state your return policy in the claim and let paypal decide. they (hopefully) will read ur policy and end the complaint, but they are idiots so maybe not..... if u do refund then make sure u file a NPB strike against his account as he has "not paid".

You should automatically win a PayPal claim if you can provide a tracking number which can be looked up on the Internet.
 
You should automatically win a PayPal claim if you can provide a tracking number which can be looked up on the Internet.

not if he puts in a claim for "not as described". tracking number is irrelevant - its up to a guy at paypal to decide wether to issue a refund or not.

I've had this in the past and it seems 50/50 whether they allow the claim. most of the time they do, as paypal and ebay always favor the buyer as they need buyers to keep the site alive.... they dont give sh!t about sellers
 
Heres what I would do...

Co-operate with the guy and try to resolve the issue. Don't call him a liar but make the buyer aware that the item was fully tested before it was shipped. Try to resolve it as in most cases with items like these, it is a technical error made by the individual who installs the item.

I noticed that the guy has simply said "It does not work". Surely, if it geniunely did not work, he should have described the problem? Eg. "The red LED goes on but the stations are blank". Again, I would not call him a liar but ensure that the all technical areas are covered.

Then I would do as Masqueraid has suggested by offering the gentlemen to return it at his expense and all costs covered by him if the item does work. (This can backfire if the item geniunely does not work in which case it should not have been sold as fully working)...

Also make it clear that you have stated the returns policy clearly and will therefore stick by it but will help resolve the situation as a gesture of goodwill..
 
I'd go along with Masqueraid too. Strange how problems dissappear when you ask for them to send it back. Happened to me once. Worth a try.

However if there is any insurance bundled with the delivery service, you may be able to claim on that and offer him a refund.
 
I'm sorry, but if I knew it was a 1 week return policy I would have made damn sure it worked before I disapeared for 3 weeks!

Be firm & polite, but sorry, no return.
 
In my experience, as he has paid via paypal he can start a claim. They will ask him to get it examined by a reputable dealer/expert and he then submits a report to paypal. If it says the unit is faulty, they will ask you to refund him.
Problem is, any tom **** or harry could write the report for him (they say headed paper etc, but anyone could come up with soemthing that looks official). But, paypal can only take money if its in your paypal account. Make sure you withdraw any money in your paypal account before he starts anything.
At the end of the day, it sounds like a scam. The holiday thing sounds like an excuse. This happened to me when I bought a faulty product and because the seller didnt have money in their paypal account, ive never had a refund.
 
In my experience, as he has paid via paypal he can start a claim. They will ask him to get it examined by a reputable dealer/expert and he then submits a report to paypal. If it says the unit is faulty, they will ask you to refund him.
Problem is, any tom **** or harry could write the report for him (they say headed paper etc, but anyone could come up with soemthing that looks official). But, paypal can only take money if its in your paypal account. Make sure you withdraw any money in your paypal account before he starts anything.
At the end of the day, it sounds like a scam. The holiday thing sounds like an excuse. This happened to me when I bought a faulty product and because the seller didnt have money in their paypal account, ive never had a refund.

yes, this is correct but they will restrict the account if it goes into a negative balance.... make sure you have another paypal account set up and ready to use, as you will never be able to re-instate that particular paypal account unless u get the balance to 0, which will be whatever paypal refund the guy - basically the paypal account will be gone forever!
 
Tell him that you are not "Argos" and do not do a 16 day money back guarantee...:rolleyes:

IMO his trying it on.
 
Why did he leave feedback when he didn't know if it worked?

What did the fb say?
 
Unfortunately, as a selley, you can often be tied into situations like this.
The first thing that you need to worry about is that, even though +ve feedback has been left, snide comments can still be added on the follow up system.
What is the value in real terms of the item? Is it worth getting stressed out about? What is their feedback like. It could be genuine.
Scenario:You buy the box, and then a mate arranges installation 2 weeks later, you wait for a bolt, connector etc? It rains?
What I would do, is offer a refund on return of the item minus postage costs, if the buyer can provide substantial proof that he/she was on holiday.(and of course providing after testing that the item is found to be faulty)
Then attempt to make a P.O. claim, and readvertise the box as faulty/spares.
 
ive been through this as a buyer, a pond pump, sold as working, but the seller had cleaned it up so it span when tested, but when i went to install it, it ran for 30 secs and died! I had to produce reports from and independent specialist etc etc before i got my money back.

If its a small amount of money, i doubt the person will go through the process to get you to pay up if he isnt genuine because it is alot of hassle and time consuming.
 

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