Ebay return postage

karenlisam

Would anyone be sold kind as to give me advice on returns postage for ebay items

I bought an elderly relative a coat stand from ebay. It took me ages to find as most of the stands were advertise as flatpack and I was after something which she would not have to put together as she has arthritis.

I found one and the listing just said it was new , gave the dimensions and had a picture of a coatstand. Bingo I thought!!!!

When it arrived then she called me upset as it was flatpack and we don't live near her to go and put it up.

I emailed the company and explained that I had specifically ordered the coatstand as the ad gave the impression to me it was "ready made" and would arrive in coat stand form rather than in many bits. No response

I started a paypal /ebay returns request under the "item not as described" category and followed the instructions given to post the item to the seller. I also checked the returns policy before sending but it just read "returns accepted"

Two weeks went by and today I rec'd an email from paypal telling me I had four days to either mark the case as resolved or escalate it to a claim

I emailed the seller out of courtesy and also let them know that I had paid £10 in return postage. Again no personal response but I did get an ebay email at lunchtime telling me the seller had authorised the return refund.

I emailed them again and asked them about the return postage and rec'd an email back saying they will not be refunding the return postage

Is this fair and legal? The item was not what I wanted or in my view what was described so why should I have paid £10 costs for nothing ?They must have accepted it was " not as described" to issue the refund surely

It was an ebay business seller rather than private if that makes any difference

Thanks
Karen

vicshippers

I'm afraid to say that if it didn't state 'flatpack' or 'assembled' they could argue that the ad was not misleading - and so they are not responsible for the return shipping. If in doubt (especially over a key piece of info) ask before you buy. They can't be liable for how people may interprate an ad.

With an item such as a coat stand (I take it you mean the ones that stand 5 feet high from the floor as opposed to hooks on a plank) it's extremely rare to get an assembled one delivered as it would be massively expensive to ship in comparison to a flatpack.

karenlisam

thanks. I just assumed as everyone else listed it as flat pack then theirs wasn't!!

Never mind- live and learn