DH sold speakers buyer says faulty

rebeccauk

Hi All

Last week my DH sold a pair of floorstanding speakers for £70 on ebay. We have had them for 9 years and 4 years ago my husband's amp broke which meant that we could no longer use the speakers without buying a new amp or paying for it to be replaired. This is by-the-by but basically means we sold the speakers without being able to test them but as far as we knew 4 years ago they were in full working (and pristine) condition having never really been used much at all.

My husband listed them as having been in full working order the last time they were used and sold them and paid for courier to the buyer. The buyer then contacted him this Friday and said initially he thought all was ok with the speakers but he has now found that the sound from them 'distorts' at any volume.

We just don't know where to go from here as neither of us has ever sold an item for as much as £70 I just sells trinkets and bits and have never received a problem from a buyer. What would you say is the next step? My DH is at the moment saying he just can't understand why the sound is distorting and won't give a refund and as he barely sells on ebay anyway he will stand the neg feedback (he has only said this to me and not yet responded to the buyer). I fear that the buyer may open a dispute and then where would this leave us?

I'm incredibly confused about where we should go from here and have been up half the night worrying.

Rebecca

amcluesent

Seems to me that you wanted to maximise the sale price and so took a chance by describing the items as in full working order. In reality, they were untested. Buyer should win a SNAD easily (assumed paid by Paypal).

rebeccauk

It wasn't about price. We're simply having a clear out and £70 really was a fraction of the price that they are worth anyway. As fairly inexperienced sellers it simply didn't occur to either of us to state in the listing (which was fairly low on detail altogether I have to admit) that we hadn't been able to test the speakers. Lesson learned and when selling a larger item in future I will make sure we state if the item hasn't been used for a while. As youi say the buyer may win a dispute but how can we try and resolve this? Do we just let it go to dispute or offer a peace-offering? I just have no idea on the options open now.

blue_monkey_2

You will have to ask him to send them back to you and you will have to refund his postage charges.

It is all very standing firm and saying 'no refund' but Paypal will tell him to return them to you, if you do not give him the money back then they will - whether you have agreed to a return or note.

If you have withdrawn the money they will take it from your bank account, if you do not have it in your bank account and cannot pay then eventually they will send the debt collectors in.

It really is not worth it if the buyer has paid by Paypal.

And if they did not pay by Paypal they can also take you to small claims court as you stated they were in full working order but they are not and you will then be liable to pay his court fees of £30 too.

Seriously not worth the hassle.

And if you sell like that again make sure you test it first.

ETA: If you are sure they are faulty then give him a FULL refund including the postage to retun them to you (you can do this via an additional Paypal payment to him). He would not have paid for postage had you stated they were faulty in the listing.

If you think he may be pulling a fast one to get them for free then ask him to return them to you and refund him in full, and his postage charges to get them to you, this way you can check them for yourself and if they are in working order you have your speakers back and can sell them on again.

I'd go for the 2nd option if they are worth so much as this way you can be assured that you've not been ripped off and given away your speakers. You can usually tell if this will happen as someone will ask for a 'discount'. What would they want with some cheap speakers that distort the sound. So beware of this tactic and this is why I would choose the option of having them returned to you.

nutziloopz

Hi.. I do think the only way to solve this is to ask for the buyer to send them back and if it is right what they are saying you will be more than happy to offer refund... as otherwise if the buyer opens a dispute and you are found to be at fault, paypal with then issue the buyer with a refund that will either come out of your paypal balance or put you at a negative balance.. if unpaid will leave you in debt and ebay account shut down, not only that you wont receive the speakers back!!

I dont know any of this for certain but I am sure this is roughly how it works.. I hope you get it sorted soon

nutziloopz

blue_monkey wrote: »

You will have to ask him to send them back to you and you will have to refund his postage charges.

It is all very standing firm and saying 'no refund' but Paypal will tell him to return them to you, if you do not give him the money back then they will - whether you have agreed to a return or note.

If you have withdrawn the money they will take it from your bank account, if you do not have it in your bank account and cannot pay then eventually they will send the debt collectors in.

It really is not worth it if the buyer has paid by Paypal.

And if they did not pay by Paypal they can also take you to small claims court as you stated they were in full working order but they are not and you will then be liable to pay his court fees of £30 too.

Seriously not worth the hassle.

And if you sell like that again make sure you test it first.

ETA: If you are sure they are faulty then give him a FULL refund including the postage to retun them to you (you can do this via an additional Paypal payment to him). He would not have paid for postage had you stated they were faulty in the listing.

If you think he may be pulling a fast one to get them for free then ask him to return them to you and refund him in full, and his postage charges to get them to you, this way you can check them for yourself and if they are in working order you have your speakers back and can sell them on again.

I'd go for the 2nd option if they are worth so much as this way you can be assured that you've not been ripped off and given away your speakers. You can usually tell if this will happen as someone will ask for a 'discount'. What would they want with some cheap speakers that distort the sound. So beware of this tactic and this is why I would choose the option of having them returned to you.

lol.. you seemed to have got there first!!! My laptop so slow I lose the thread!!! :mad:

DaveAshton

nutziloopz wrote: »

as otherwise if the buyer opens a dispute and you are found to be at fault, paypal with then issue the buyer with a refund that will either come out of your paypal balance or put you at a negative balance.. if unpaid will leave you in debt and ebay account shut down, not only that you wont receive the speakers back!!

I dont know any of this for certain but I am sure this is roughly how it works.. I hope you get it sorted soon

They will if the buyer wants their money back. Paypal won't refund until the buyer puts tracking info in proving they've returned the speakers.

Also, your ebay account won't get closed (especially for such a small amount, in the grand scheme of things), it'll just mean that and money received by that account will pay off the debt, and not be available for withdrawal.

nutziloopz

I sold a gucci bag on ebay it went for £40.. they opened a dispute saying nt as described etc.. which was rubbish I had a great account 100% feedback etc.. but paypal found in their favour as I hadn't replied in the time scale.. I never received the bag back never had any mention of it being sent back and never even found out what she was saying was wrong with it!!
So it happened to me so it could happen again!!! Oh n my account was suspended due to not paying the fees!! :T So she kept the bag got a refund and ruined my account... now starting from scratch again!!

cyberbob

nutziloopz wrote: »

I sold a gucci bag on ebay it went for £40.. they opened a dispute saying nt as described etc.. which was rubbish I had a great account 100% feedback etc.. but paypal found in their favour as I hadn't replied in the time scale.. I never received the bag back never had any mention of it being sent back and never even found out what she was saying was wrong with it!!
!

You wouldn't have received the handbag back if the buyer could prove it was fake (a letter from a supplier) so that probably why you didn't get that back. That is the only time paypal will not ask for the item to be returned.

custardy

nutziloopz wrote: »

I sold a gucci bag on ebay it went for £40.. they opened a dispute saying nt as described etc.. which was rubbish I had a great account 100% feedback etc.. but paypal found in their favour as I hadn't replied in the time scale.. I never received the bag back never had any mention of it being sent back and never even found out what she was saying was wrong with it!!
So it happened to me so it could happen again!!! Oh n my account was suspended due to not paying the fees!! :T So she kept the bag got a refund and ruined my account... now starting from scratch again!!

well if you dont respond to a dispute then the buyer will win regardless
if you dont pay your fee's your eBay account gets closed
you didnt test the speakers so couldnt list them as known working so should have listed as untested

jazabelle

nutziloopz wrote: »

but paypal found in their favour as I hadn't replied in the time scale..

Why didn't you respond? They couldn't hear your side of it, if you didn't give one...