Distance Selling and Refunds

prettypeach_2

I recently bought something online, when I got it I saw that it was extremely flimsy and bad quality (and vastly overpriced when I checked other sellers afterwards!).
I informed the seller that I was cancelling the order straightaway and they insisted that they would refund only the item price, not the postage charge that I originally paid.
They are breaking the law according to the distance selling regs and stuck to their guns despite being reminded of this and despite the site they operate from having a section devoted to explaining the regulations to buyers.
They've been reported to Trading Standards, it's clear I'm not the first buyer to be treated like this by the seller but hopefully I'll now be the last!
Know your rights with regards to distance selling folks, if you're entitled to a refund, you're entitled to a full refund.

unholyangel

Depends. Where did you buy it from? Was it a commercial or private sale?

DSR's dont apply to private sellers nor do they apply to auction sites like ebay - unless it was a buy it now transaction for example.

cyberbob

If it was ebay or you paid via paypal you will be able to get a full refund of your original payment (including original postage). As it sounds like the item was poor quality so not as described so open a dispute if you paid this way (do a paypal one if it was ebay as that is quicker than an ebay dispute). You will have to pay tracked return postage though.

fthl

interestingly, there is some academic debate about whether ebay really is an auction site and therefore falls outside of the dsrs. I believe that the German courts, looking at their equivalent law (based on the same eu regs) said that the dsrs did apply. Not really helping, the OP, but hey, worth knowing that there is some debate about the issue.

unholyangel

fthl wrote: »

interestingly, there is some academic debate about whether ebay really is an auction site and therefore falls outside of the dsrs. I believe that the German courts, looking at their equivalent law (based on the same eu regs) said that the dsrs did apply. Not really helping, the OP, but hey, worth knowing that there is some debate about the issue.

At present buy it now items are covered by the DSR providing they were a trader and not a private seller.

But auctions arent.

prettypeach_2

Yes, it was Ebay, it was BIN, it was a business seller and I've checked all my facts or else I wouldn't have started this thread.
Cyberbob, I decided to go down the Trading Standards route straightaway.
I've emailed the seller again to ask that they refund the postage as a 2nd refund.
I would like to open a Paypal case but they seem to have made it so that if your case doesn't fit certain headings, you end up in an endless loop where you keep getting asked multiple choice questions without ever being able to email Paypal/open a case/get anything done.
I've opened cases before but luckily they fitted the options - never received item etc - so I was able to do so.
Ebay has gone the same way, it's impossible to email them about anything now - try it - and I refuse to pay to phone them, I did once and they were carp.
I could be missing something about the Paypal system but it seems a lot of people are having similar problems.

gordikin

Why didn't you say it was an ebay purchase in the first place? Are you playing games here?

fthl

unholyangel wrote: »

At present buy it now items are covered by the DSR providing they were a trader and not a private seller.

But auctions arent.

That is the debate - a german court has said that ebay isn't a true auction and so they are caught. It is quite interesting really, no real conclusion for the uk though. Seems it turns on the true definition of an auction, and that the mechanisms of an ebay auction don't apply.

prettypeach_2

gordikin wrote: »

Why didn't you say it was an ebay purchase in the first place? Are you playing games here?

I have no idea what on earth you're talking about.

gordikin

prettypeach wrote: »

I have no idea what on earth you're talking about.

I asked you why you didn't say it was an ebay purchase...what was difficult to understand about that? 'I bought something online' is incredibly vague. Give us more detail please/link to item?

prettypeach_2

gordikin wrote: »

I asked you why you didn't say it was an ebay purchase...what was difficult to understand about that? 'I bought something online' is incredibly vague. Give us more detail please/link to item?

Why??
I don't understand what further info to the initial post you require, or 'proof' of something by the sounds of your posts.
The point was that sellers/trader wherever sometimes are chancers and try to break the law to retain postage when refunding (the law is perhaps a bit unfair to them in that regard but it's the law.)
I caught a trader doing it and reported them. Simple.