Car parts from a breaker on ebay

madmish00

Just after a bit of advice...

I have been looking for a new bonnet and front bumper for my car from some time and found a few cars listed on ebay in breaking. I emailed the sellers of 3 cars to enquire whether the parts I needed were available. Two emailed back and said they had the parts but noted damage on the bumpers. The third emailed back saying yes we have the parts and that it would be £190 for delivery and there was no mention of any damage. I would also add that I was specifically looking for the parts in black so that they did not have to be resprayed and thus queried the colour codes with the sellers. Additionally the picture showed no damage to the car and nothing was mentioned in the listing.

Anyway being foolish I bought the parts for £190 and asked for them to be delivered directly to the bodyshop where I was going to get them fitted and they arrived on Monday. The items are significantly damaged and it has been confirmed in the professional opinion of the body shop that this is due to the vehicle having been involved in a front end collision.

The bumper is badly scuffed to the right side and has an obvious and badly finished repair to the left side. There is also significant scuffing damage to the underside of the bumper. The item was well bubble wrapped on arrival and there is no way that this damage could have been caused in transit. No damage was mentioned in the item listing.

The bonnet is rippled throughout consist with a front end collision. The panel is completely warped and this is inconsisent with transit damage. There is a significant dent to the bonnet on front left side of the grill along with small dents all over. Additionally the back right corner of the bonnet is badly bent. This is the only damage which the body shop feel may have been caused in transit.


Obviously I didn't not expect showroom condition on a 10yr old car but these parts are unusable in their current condition. I emailed the seller who claimed the parts were in good condition when they left and that they shouldn't have ben signed for if damaged. The problem I now have is it is their word against mine but obviously as they weren't delivered direct to me I couldn't check them before they were signed for and they were in any even very well wrapped in bubble wrap and the damage wouldn't have been noticeable through this.

I lodged a dispute through Paypal and he has responded to say that a refund of the parts cost only will be issued if I return the parts (which would cost me approx £50 to do plus the approx £50 that it cost him to send them would end up costing me £100 for fresh air)
or that I can keep the parts and he will refund me £50 of the £190.
The parts are not in a useable condition and would cost me a few hundred to get all the damage to them repaired.

The claim is now being 'investigated' by Paypal but it says to allow to 20th April for a Resolution.

What do I do with the parts in the meantime? They are currently sat at the bodyshop.

Is there anything else I can do to get my money back? How does the Visa Chargeback thing work and would it be any use to me in this situation (I paid by Visa Debit through Paypal)

Thanks!

squeaky

Hi,

The advice on your earlier thread is good.

Parts storage? Will the bodyshop hang on to them for you? If not can you store them safely until such time as the dispute is resolved?

For the possible chargeback, see this MSE Article:-

Section 75 refunds: Free protection for ALL spending