help - item bought, faulty, buyer says on holiday so post back next month!

tenof26

hey all

another bad ebay experience :-( so advice needed before i muff it all up.

bought a laptop hard drive (seller said fully tested and working) on ebay on the 9th of july, payed 12th, (i was away so dad payed via cheque alas :-() took awhile to clear then a lifeime to arrive

when it did, i put it in, and it came up with a smart hard drive failing warning, which means although it works, its likelt to die at any time
contacted seller on 2nd saying it wasnt fully working.

dad was annoyed as hes got so many broken items so started a dispute straight away, with very poor english saying the drive is a dud

jus got a responce saying the seller is away, and he wants me to send the item AFTER the 29th of AUGUST ! ive never done an ebay claim before (just done a paypal one, but they are different?), but is it safe to just wait ? or will the dipute close? or as tie goes on will he just drag it out till after the time im allowed to send it back?

he also goes on to state the drive can#t faulty as he tested it before he left (although i suspect in an external caddy as he was ofeering it for sale too in the auction, so as it didnt boot wouldnt display the bios smart warning, so it would seem ok as it works, just its going to die soon)

he also says im not adhering to ebay spirit by raising a dispute :-/
(i didnt personally, but i also know that sometimes it taskes a dispute to get a responce from people)

anyhow, help! advice, anything? :-s

frivolous_fay

Normally speaking it best to contact the seller, then give them time to respond, before opening a dispute. It's in your interests to keep on good terms with the seller - particularly as you paid by cheque. (A non-paypal dispute will cost you £15 out of your refund, if the seller doesn't cooperate)

So yes, I'd say your dad was a bit hasty. But DON'T close the dispute now you have it open.

Someone else will know the time limits on claiming, so I don't know if the delay factor could be a problem or not. If he's going to be away, it's not unreasonable to ask you to send the HD later - if it's valuable and needs signing for he won't be able to sign, and it may be returned to sender - ditto if it won't fit through his postbox.

soolin

I'm sorry I have never done an ebay claim so I don't know about time limits. However I would echo the previous post and say do not close the dispute as I'm sure like paypal ones it cannot be reopened later.