Ebay Awful Customer Service

gunnapaul2

I bought a BMX bike off Ebay before Christmas (never again) for our son and had the bike assembled (professionally in a shop costing £30) the day before Christmas eve only to be told by the bike engineer it needs new wheels as the ones on it are buckled. I go to Paypal, request partial refund and buyer refuses and says send it back to be looked at, are you kidding me?! I've just paid £30 to get it assembled, you then want me to pay more money to get it sent back then either get a refund leaving my son with no bike or get another one sent out where I will need to pay another £30 to get assembled again?! No chance.

I escalated the case to Paypal and to no surprise they also didn't get how sending the bike back wouldn't benefit me and decided just to close the case, I emailed them asking why and explaining to them my situation and they didn't even reply to me!

So, next step I go through Ebay, I opened a case incorrectly as I put it down as not received, I phone them and they tell me to close that case, phone up and appeal the case as a 'not as described' case. I do this, I receive an email on the 24th January saying:

[FONT=Arial, Verdana]We've reviewed your concerns and have reversed the outcome of the case. Within 48 hours, payment will be credited to the PayPal account you used for the original purchase.[/FONT]

Ok fair enough I'll wait for the partial refund and leave it at that. 16th February today still no refund, no contact telling me they're still processing it, no email explaining anything, nothing. I've been phoning and speaking via the chat service every other day to find out where my refund is that I was granted 3 weeks ago, all they can tell me is it is with higher management and waiting to be processed and that they'll email them and try to get it sorted. I ask them why higher management isn't processing it and they say sorry we're having technical difficulties, lol, how much money do Ebay make per day? They've had technical difficulties for 3 weeks and still not got the problem fixed? How stupid do they think I am?!

I have a couple of address's I can complain to but I would like to know how and where I can really make a good compliant about the whole situation. I won't be treated like this by anyone, I've given my fair share of money to Ebay towards fee's and charges for using their service, I've been using the site for about 11 years and have always gone about things the right way hence 100% feedback, I do not expect to be treated like some idiot which they are doing. I really want their staff and higher management looked into, something is definitely not right, surely they cannot get away with treating customers like this?

Oliver14

For someone who has so called been using ebay and Paypal for 11 years you have a poor understanding of how it works. Paypal are unable to issue partial refunds. The only option if you win a not as described case is to return for a full refund.

The offer of a partial refund from ebay is a no fault refund (which ebay do some odd ones) you are lucky they have offered that as they usually don't. All you can do is phone ebay ask to speak to a supervisor and request th promised refund.

I am confused as to why you're blaming ebay and paypal for everything as it's mainly the sellers fault. Ebay is just a platform for sellers. Paypal have done nothing wrong and ebay have offered you a no fault refund they did not have to and the only thing they have doen wrong is be a bit slow in issuing it.

It sounds like a good job your not using ebay anymore.

gunnapaul2

Whether I'm 'lucky' to be offered a partial refund or not really is besides the point, I understand that Ebay and Paypal aren't to blame for the sellers faulty item or lack of cooperation, they are at fault however for telling me things that simply aren't true. The fact remains they have said they will grant the refund and do so within 48 hours, that was 3 weeks ago, if I hadn't kept in touch with them I doubt I would have heard anything about this again including seeing my promised refund. As for being told they're having technical difficulties, would you believe that? They could hire a team of top engineers and it would have no effect on their profits what so ever. Generally when big websites have these technical difficulties you see them resolved in a matter of hours.

gunnapaul2

16th March - still no sign of the partial refund promised 48 hours after 24th January. Keep ringing customer service, same story every time, what do I do? Surely they cannot keep getting away with these lies?

the_insider

I don't think they really 'keep getting away with lies', they told you something on the 24th Jan which was true at the time and since then they have been honest with you about the situation. Have you made a formal complaint? It sounds like you won't get anywhere if you just keep speaking to Customer Services.

wealdroam

gunnapaul2 wrote: »

16th March - still no sign of the partial refund promised 48 hours after 24th January. Keep ringing customer service, same story every time, what do I do? Surely they cannot keep getting away with these lies?

OP, write them a letter pointing out that they agreed to refund you but you are yet to see your money.

Usually I would say send them a letter before action, but with ebay and paypal being based in Luxembourg, I am not sure that that is the way to go.

Have you thought about posting on the ebay board?

pendulum

Sounds like they may have sent the "We have reversed the outcome of the case" email by mistake, because if you refused to send the item back you wouldn't normally get a refund.

squeaky

wealdroam wrote: »

OP, write them a letter pointing out that they agreed to refund you but you are yet to see your money.

Usually I would say send them a letter before action, but with ebay and paypal being based in Luxembourg, I am not sure that that is the way to go.

Have you thought about posting on the ebay board?

This does look like a question where the ebay board members will have more experience and expertise.

Just in case they can only advise the small claims court along with the letter before action - here's a link to the site that leads you through the process:-

Consumer's Board >> Read Me >> Resources:

Letter Before Action & Small Claims procedure
[FONT=Arial, Chicago]The Office of Fair Trading site which provides assistance and guidance if you are intending to take formal action in the small claims track of the County Court. Such action should only be considered when you have tried and exhausted all other means of resolving your complaint.[/FONT]Sample LBA and a whole lot more if you need it.


Good luck

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

BigRedAnt

OP, do you have a case open at the moment on EBay's resolution centre?

The Bike is subject to the Distance Selling regulations, and section 3.57 states "If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the contract, you will have to pay for their return whatever the circumstances". "you" in this case is the seller.

Here's a link to current DSR regulations:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

gunnapaul2

Ok all the above posts gives me something to work on, thanks all.

Hammyman

As a seller, there is no way in hell I will just accept a buyers word that there is damage and I would not take any action until it had been returned for me to examine. If there was a fault, I would re-imburse their postal fees. If I were selling bikes, I wouldn't be re-imbursing you for the fact you decided to pay someone to put the wheels and pedals on and turn the handlebars round because that is something you should have done yourself.