Unreasonable seller

knightstyle

I don't know what to do next. I bought a refurbished printer from a top rated seller with 100% feedback. It didn't work so after contacting them I sent it back having purchased and installed ink cartridges. The seller now says there is nothing wrong with it and expects me to pay him to return it to me!
I feel aggrieved, having spent £14.50 to get it to them and now they want another £5.90 before they will return it. I am also worried it still will not work when I get it.
I have told them that I will pay half the £14.50 it cost me to return it to them but I expect them to return it, working, plus the half of my postage.
I bought it on 05/11/2010 what should I do now?
If I go to a dispute should I go Ebay or Paypal resolution center?

Crowqueen

That's stupid, unfair and possibly against the law if they are a business seller (which TRSs usually are).

Did you return it tracked? If so, you could open a not-as-described case against them. You should still be in time to open a dispute.

Don't pay anything - they should give you a refund or a replacement.

knightstyle

Thanks, that is what I thought, have sent them a message, waiting for a reply but will open a dispute if I have to.

knightstyle

Well they have come straight back saying the printer will be returned tomorrow at no cost to me. But no refund towards my cost of returning it to them when it didn't work! So if it arrives and is OK I am still £14.50 down. Worried now what I can do if it still does not work!

bris

It may have been that you set it up wrong and there really was nothing wrong with it. If this is the case then you don't have a complaint. The only problem now is it's your word against their's.

Hammyman

If someone sends something back to me that isn't actually faulty and is down to their incompetence, they can either pay a 20% restocking fee if they don't want it or return postage and it sits with me until they've paid it. There's no way in hell I am going to fork out my hard earned to refund them the cost of returning it just because they can't read a manual.

timbo58

a restocking fee is illegal btw.
best call it an admin fee if I were you!

terra_ferma

timbo58 wrote: »

a restocking fee is illegal btw.
best call it an admin fee if I were you!

you can call it whatever you like it, but you still have to refund the whole amount....

Crowqueen

Admin fees are illegal - the wording of the law is that you refund the entire original payment plus return postage if applicable, as the customer has a right to an unconditional return on certain items (business items sold at a fixed price). It says nothing about what it's called, only that you must refund the entire amount without deductions.

Terms must explicitly state that return postage is not payable on items that are not faulty, so if your terms do not say that, better update them to do so as if they are in any way out of line with what the DSRs permit you to say, you are held to very strict standards.

For a private seller the buyer can easily get a return through Paypal so charging an admin fee is daft and likely to precipitate a dispute.

suited-aces

Hammyman wrote: »

If someone sends something back to me that isn't actually faulty and is down to their incompetence, they can either pay a 20% restocking fee if they don't want it or return postage and it sits with me until they've paid it. There's no way in hell I am going to fork out my hard earned to refund them the cost of returning it just because they can't read a manual.

good luck with that

knightstyle

Ok just to clarify, the printer when it arrived would not switch on, following the manufacturers instructions I unplugged from the mains and tried again, after several goes it came on. I then switched it off for about 10 days and when I pressed the on button it would not switch on again and in spite of trying several times it refused to switch on. So nothing to do with my not setting it up properly.
The seller says he tested it following my sending it back and it works OK. Next step will be to check it when it gets back to me and if it still does not work I will take a video and contact the seller again.
Still do not know what to do about the return postage though, feel pretty miffed about it.