Buyer's claim: Item not as described - faulty

mark_dumpleton

Hi, was just after a bit of advice...

I sold an item on ebay as "faulty, for spares or repair". I mentioned the fault that I knew of and said that there may be other unknown faults with the item, and that as it was for sale as faulty no returns would be accepted.

6 days after the buyer received the item they emailed and started a claim with PayPal for "item not as decscribed", saying that the fault with the item meant they couldn't use it properly. They said that my auction listing was fradulent misrepresentation.

Now, I know a fair bit about law and fradulent misrepresentation means deliberately deceiving somebody with the intention of them entering into a contract.

I clearly said the item was faulty, I clearly said the item was for spares or repair only, I clearly said there may be other unknown faults.

I wrote all this to PayPal in response to the claim, and SOMEHOW they have decided in favour of the buyer?!?!

Is there anything I can do, now that the buyer has been told he can return the item for a full refund? It's an electronic item so I presume he has gone inside the item and damaged it, before realising he can't fix it and so has claimed his money back.

It was sold as faulty for heavens sakes!
It's not even a small amount of money, it's £50.

Any help at all would really be appreciated, thanks

Crowqueen

If a buyer is unhappy about the condition of the item, they can get a return through Paypal.

With Paypal and eBay you can't say "no returns", as the buyer protection states that the purchaser has a 45-day timescale in which to launch a dispute, which over-rides a seller's terms. I agree, it's a problem on faulty items, but you still can't override this protection, as it is possible - hypothetically - for someone to under-describe faults plus people buy things spares or repairs for a specific job and then find out they can't repair it because the seller hasn't given them an idea of the fault, or there are more and bigger faults than listed. Listing S/R items is a minefield in itself, since SOGA, as well as eBay and Paypal protection, covers buyers in the case of an item from a private seller being not as described. Omitting a fault would potentially make an item not as described.

The buyer is being a bit over-the-top in saying you misrepresented the item fraudulently, but that doesn't matter either way - Paypal will give them a refund if it's not as described. If you get the item back (and Paypal will get them to send it back), perhaps it's better to make sure you know exactly what is wrong with it - including the other faults of which you were unaware. I sold my faulty iPod back in September with a description of what happened when I switched it on and tried to use it, and there was no problem - I only got £17 - but I'd tested it thoroughly to make sure there wasn't a chance of reviving it or syncing it with iTunes again, partly for my own benefit (didn't want to have to buy a new one) and partly to make sure I listed every fault I possibly could so someone didn't buy it thinking they were getting a working item with a slightly dodgy computer that kept resetting itself but otherwise played what it was supposed to. I've read quite a lot of these kind of threads and didn't want to fall into the trap of not describing the faults adequately.

Also, did you put Faulty in the title and in the condition? That can sometimes make a difference to what happens and what price you get for it. You have to make listings as watertight as possible, otherwise people have a point about misrepresentation and will assume you did it deliberately. If selling S/R items, then unfortunately the list of faults has to be exhaustive, otherwise you will get problems. You also have to be realistic about buyers' expectations from a listing; unless you spell it out to some people there are always going to be problems.

I can't see your actual listing so you probably did all this, but it's just worth mentioning to be sure, and it still wouldn't realistically affect the Paypal claim, though perhaps by challenging it you may get somewhere, at least.

mark_dumpleton

I did say Faulty, Spares or Repair in the item title, description and item specifics!

here's the interesting bit:

I said that the fault was with the dial knob, that it would only work in one direction.

The buyer's claim is that the dial knob is faulty and doesn't let him select the menu functions. I'm electronically proficient so listed that fault as the only fault but to cover myself put "there may be other unmentioned faults".

The thing that is getting to me is that the buyer has been granted a refund from paypal because he said the dial knob not working properly means he cannot use the item properly - I actually said in the listing that the dial knob doesn't work, how can he say (& paypal agree) that the item is not as described?!

Crowqueen

If everything was 100% clear, you're right, I would be annoyed and unhappy too, but I don't see you've got much of a choice .

All you can really do is get the item back and resell it. As I said, I assume Paypal is making them send it back.

This seems to be a perpetual issue with spares/repair listings , so perhaps it might be wiser to take it somewhere where you can sell it to someone face-to-face and they know what they're getting before they hand over any money. Since you are good with electrics, there must be some convention or trade fair where you can offload it.

I guess I was just lucky with my iPod.

fred7777

I think you're spot on with your assumption that we tried to fix it and broke it or found he cant fix it which is why he wants his money back.

The only advice I can give is to demand the buyer returns the item to you. You don't have to refund unless the item is returned to you and there is a chance if the buyer has damaged it further that they won't want to send it back. Check the buyers feedback as well, if it's defamatory (e.g. it says you were fraudulent) you can get it removed by ebay.

Other than that get the item back refund and move on. This forum tends to be for ebay problems so doesn't give a fair impression. the vast majority of ebay transactions go smoothly with each side being satisfied even for used & faulty items.

Crowqueen

the vast majority of ebay transactions go smoothly with each side being satisfied even for used & faulty items.

Good point, and I knew what to do and what not to do when I sold my spares/repairs item, so these threads tend to act as a pointer to people with similar items to sell.

Agree 100% about getting it back, but I assume Paypal will make them return it before they hand any money over.