eBay Unpaid Item Appeal.... How!

Gloomendoom

I recently bought two "Buy It Now" items from the same eBay seller. I changed my mind about the sale before I paid. Believing I was entitled to cancel the purchase under the distance selling regulations, I contacted the seller and told them that I no longer wanted to proceed with the purchase.

A couple of days later, I received a payment reminder from the seller so I again contacted them and again pointed out that I wished to cancel the purchase under the distance selling regulations.

To cut a long story short, I have now got two unpaid items recorded against my account.

Two questions....

1. Was I right in assuming that under the distance selling regs I could cancel before I paid for and received the item?

2. How on earth do I lodge an appeal? The eBay link to the Unpaid Item Appeal form just takes me to a "contact us" page which in turn takes me back to the page I started from. :mad:

Any advice gratefully received.

terra_ferma

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I recently bought two "Buy It Now" items from the same eBay seller. I changed my mind about the sale before I paid. Believing I was entitled to cancel the purchase under the distance selling regulations, I contacted the seller and told them that I no longer wanted to proceed with the purchase.

A couple of days later, I received a payment reminder from the seller so I again contacted them and again pointed out that I wished to cancel the purchase under the distance selling regulations.

To cut a long story short, I have now got two unpaid items recorded against my account.

Two questions....

1. Was I right in assuming that under the distance selling regs I could cancel before I paid for and received the item?

2. How on earth do I lodge an appeal? The eBay link to the Unpaid Item Appeal form just takes me to a "contact us" page which in turn takes me back to the page I started from. :mad:

Any advice gratefully received.

In case you don't know.... two strikes will prevent you from buying from a large number of sellers, as there are blocks that can be put in place.

In terms of contacting you could try live chat, or type 'currency converter' in the contact us page and it will give you to a contact number (I saw this recommended on the ebay board, worth a try)

Gloomendoom

terra_ferma wrote: »

In case you don't know.... two strikes will prevent you from buying from a large number of sellers, as there are blocks that can be put in place.

In terms of contacting you could try live chat, or type 'currency converter' in the contact us page and it will give you to a contact number (I saw this recommended on the ebay board, worth a try)

Thanks for that.

The the Office of Fair Trading website confirms that distance sellers have to allow customers a seven working day cooling off period during which they can cancel their contract.

It seems the seller is acting outside the law. The trouble is that they have, to date, ignored all my communications on the matter.

lexuslass

OMG... aren't you every eBay sellers worst nightmare!!

It's not like you were bidding on a 'wim' and got carried away winning an auction in the last few minutes or seconds..... you actually clicked the 'buy it now' button..not once..but TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy it now.. actually does mean 'buy it now'!

Could be a private seller who was having a 'clearout' - I doubt you will have any comeback then!

If you end up 'wriggling' out of it, then you totally deserve to be blocked from bidding on every single ebay item in future!!

mobile48

You need to follow the correct appeal procedure here.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/appeal-unpaid-item.html

soolin

Look at it a different way.

Yes under DSRs you have a right to cancel, and you were able to cancel without the seller persuing you at all or threatening you with anything silly. So you have the exact outcome you legally were entitled to. The law does not say that you cannot be prevented from buying again, any seller or organisation can take steps to protect themselves against potential issues.

Therefore the seller has completely within the rules claimed their own fees back for these items and by doing so has added strikes to your ebay account. Ebay is not the law, if they allow sellers to block people who change their mind then that is completely legal. If an online shop considered you a problem they would block you to, so you have no 'legal' argument against the seller or against ebay.

You have received your legal rights, and the seller and ebay are protecting themselves (which is an entirely different matter) against a potential problem buyer.

mobile48

For obvious reasons I would be surprised if the venue rules were if you cancel under DSR your activities within the venue get restricted.

If OP does send an appeal along the lines of no payment required as cancelled under Distant Selling Regulations please post the outcome here.

fred7777

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Two questions....

1. Was I right in assuming that under the distance selling regs I could cancel before I paid for and received the item?

Yes if you were buying from a business seller. You have the right to cancel but you don't have a right to use ebay and they can impose penalties if they wish.

Gloomendoom wrote: »

2. How on earth do I lodge an appeal? The eBay link to the Unpaid Item Appeal form just takes me to a "contact us" page which in turn takes me back to the page I started from. :mad:

You can't. Ebay is very specific about the grounds on which you can appeal and you don't qualify. You have unpaid items strikes because you didn't pay for an item. It's similar to taking a faulty item back to a shop under the sale of goods act, the shop has to refund you but they are under no obligation to trade with you in future.

CloudCuckooLand

Cast iron spam...

soapyjoe

You could also bear in mind, that while the seller is waiting for you to pay, he cannot readvertise the item. I've been in this situation, as a seller, several times and if you're short of cash it's not funny!!!!

If you dont intend paying, then dont buy!

Gloomendoom

lexuslass wrote: »

OMG... aren't you every eBay sellers worst nightmare!!

It's not like you were bidding on a 'wim' and got carried away winning an auction in the last few minutes or seconds..... you actually clicked the 'buy it now' button..not once..but TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy it now.. actually does mean 'buy it now'!

Could be a private seller who was having a 'clearout' - I doubt you will have any comeback then!

If you end up 'wriggling' out of it, then you totally deserve to be blocked from bidding on every single ebay item in future!!

No need to get emotional. It was a very large business seller... who should be well aware that the distance selling regulations apply to all BIN items (including those listed by private sellers having a 'clearout') as they sell online outside eBay too.

Under the law, Buy It Now does not mean Buy It Now. A purchaser has seven days to change their mind and cancel the contract should they wish to do so, for any reason.

I do take the point about eBay or the seller being well within their rights to make their own rules though.