Bought through Ebay - Goods Faulty - Wont Give Refund

stgermans

Firstly sorry if these seems long, but I am not getting very far with Ebay or the Seller.

Can anyone PLEASE HELP ME FURTHER!

I am writing to you directly to advise you of a serious problem I have incurred while purchasing an item from an Ebay seller. We have been saving for quite a while to be able to have our bathroom and toilet refurnished. I spent many many hours looking for the best buys, but not forgetting the quality comes first then price. Eventually we found 6 suppliers via ebay to purchase our goods from.

We had several quotes from professional carpenters, to which we finally selected the right one to do the refurnishment. However, we were also going on holiday to France on Monday 4th July until Thursday 14th July. And we were given a date from our fitter to start work on Monday 18th July 2011, basically 3 days after we return from our annual holiday. So we decided to order all the items prior to us going on holiday to make sure that everything was here ready to be fitted.

One of the items we purchased was a Heated Towel Rail Radiator 1450 x 600 Flat Chrome New – Chrome £64.99 + £7.99 delivery = £72.98 Bought and Paid instantly via paypal on 23/6/2011, item no 160434248620. Their returns policy states the following “Return policy We are sure you we will be delighted with your product(s) from Home Valley. However, should you not be 100% satisfied then we are happy to offer you a full refund of the item only on the basis that you return it to us within 7 working days of receiving it. Please note that returned items must be in an unused condition and include all packaging.

Please be assured that when the item arrived on 28th June 2011, my husband and I both thoroughly checked this in a laying down position. We were looking face down on the item and was deemed fit for use. We then re packaged the item and stored it in a safe place.

We went on holiday (copy of booking form attached as proof) work commenced on 18/7/11. When our fitter finally got to the stage of installing the radiator it was removed from the box he fixed the brackets to the wall and mounted the radiator to the brackets (it was not connected to the valves and plumbing). When he looked up he noticed that 2 of the bars the light was bouncing in a different direction. Face on it could not be seen, but from the side profile it was very visible that 2 of the bars were badly bent. He immediately alerted me I went to inspect and to confirm face on wasn’t noticeable but when I went to the side it was very visible. The fitter advised that it would not be safe to use as there could be a fault internally. He removed the item and returned this back in the original box.

I then tried to contact the seller Home Valley by telephone on 01904|423417, there was no response, I tried numerous attempts to contact them with no luck, no answering service in place either. I then sent an email as copy below sent through ebay contact seller: -

Dear home_valley,

Item number: 160434248620

Hi, I have tried to phone you this morning but no reply. We purchased the above item and our Bathroom installer has fitted it to the wall, to discover that two of the bars are badly bent. Could you please respond or even phone on 07719 984449 to arrange a replacement and collection for the existing one here.

We require a replacement ASAP please has the work is due to finish on Saturday 23rd July

With no response from the seller I searched and searched and found an alternative email and contacted them via gmail account to which they responded by blackberry, stating that they were moving warehouses and were unable to help today but the no longer stocked this item and I at the contact them on Monday morning. Due to the fact they no longer stocked them my husband and I made the decision to purchased another one. To which we did and purchased from another ebay seller.

Because of this problem arising our bathroom couldn’t be completed and was delayed until the end of the following week.

From this a case was opened with Ebay and I am sure you will see all the communication that took place between me the buyer, the seller and Ebay.

I would like to point out that when I advised Ebay why it had taken so long was due to our holiday they sent me an email stating
Hello Christina,
Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Support about the head towel rail (item# 160434248620) you purchased from “home_valley” which was not as described item. I’m sorry to hear that this transaction didn’t go as expected.
I will take a note here on your account as why it took you that long to file a claim because you were away at that time so it's not a problem anymore. It's a good thing that nothing serious happened when you tested the item and would just be a risk trying to test the item since you mentioned the damage found out when fitting it but if something worse happen like a fire, eBay could only cover you the amount of the item paid thru PayPal including the postage but unfortunately, we don't cover the amount for the damaged it caused.
Hopefully, this could be rectified and that's the least that we expect from the seller but let's just wait for the outcome and if you have any questions, feel free to send us e-mail.
I realize this wasn't the answer you were looking for, but I hope I've been able to explain things clearly and I thank you in advance for your understanding.
Should you require any further help, please don’t hesitate to contact us by simply replying to this email or giving us a call on 0800 358 6551 to speak to a dedicated member of our eBay Customer Support.
8:00 am – 10:00 pm Mondays – Fridays
9:00 am – 6:00 pm Saturdays & Sundays
For faster service, please use PIN verification. To get it, please log in to your eBay account and click on “Customer Support/Help”.
Sincerely,
Leo Smyther
eBay Customer Support


Eventually I received the final decision that they went in favour of the seller.

However, I would like to point out some interesting issues here:

1. I contacted the Direct Gov Trades Description and spoke to them and explained everything in detail and under the “Sales of Goods Act 1979” the protection for the buyer is either, and interestingly on your website there is the following: -
What if the goods or services you receive are not up to scratch?
Sale of Goods Legislation
The most important piece of legislation relating to the sale of goods through eBay.co.uk is the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended).
The Act provides that wherever goods are bought they must “conform to contract”. This means that items sold through eBay by business sellers must be:
of "satisfactory quality";
"as described"; and
"fit for purpose".
Therefore goods sold by business sellers must not be inherently faulty at the time of sale, must match any description given to them and, allowing for factors like price, they must be fit for their purpose, defect free, safe and durable.
Where the seller is a private individual, the goods must be “as described”. The goods are not legally required to be of “satisfactory quality” or “fit for purpose”.
2. To confirm the goods are not to a satisfactory quality as described and fit for purpose.
3. seller’s description states a 5 year guarantee – where is my guarantee in this even working.
4. Also following the telephone conversation with Eileen from Direct Government she stated that the goods are covered for 6 months after purchase, either by REPAIR, REPLACEMENT or REFUND.

Ebay have again come back and refused any refund.

Very frustrated to say the blooming least

Davey2009

If you paid with PayPal file a SNAD significantly not as described claim with them should get a refund although you may have to pay return postage hope this helps

scheming_gypsy

Davey2009 wrote: »

If you paid with PayPal file a SNAD significantly not as described claim with them should get a refund although you may have to pay return postage hope this helps

if eBay have ruled against them can they open a case with Paypal as well? isn't it one of the other?

although for me it was a TL/DR

McKneff

Youve rattled on a bit, there is a lot or irrelevant information on there.

visidigi

stgermans wrote: »

Please be assured that when the item arrived on 28th June 2011, my husband and I both thoroughly checked this in a laying down position. We were looking face down on the item and was deemed fit for use. We then re packaged the item and stored it in a safe place.

Sorry but this is where your complaint falls down - you checked it laying down - why? when in use its mounted upright on a wall would you not prop it upright at least to check,

sorry for me, siding with the seller is fair here - the timing of return and checking was known in advance of order - your rights to return do not take account of your holiday I am afraid...

bod1467

Rights to return under DSR may be affected, but rights to return under SOGA due to the item being faulty and/or not of reasonable quality surely still apply?

visidigi

there is a duty to report any delivery damage within a reasonable amount of time. The fact the OP openly stated they examined the item and accepted its condition would be deemed as an acceptance of the goods - the problem the OP has is the weakness of the examination they performed is the true issue here.

gordikin

...what visidigi says.

Davey2009

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

if eBay have ruled against them can they open a case with Paypal as well? isn't it one of the other?

although for me it was a TL/DR

Yes the are owned by the same company but no PayPal offers its own buyer protection
E bay have in my experience as a buyer & seller one viewpoint whilst PayPal often has another, its mainy concern is customer protection
OK whatever ppls opinions are ie the buyer should have checked before etc, Im fairly confident PayPal would give a full refund & take the monies out of the sellers account

wealdroam

OP, you seem to have given up your direct communication with Home Valley rather easily.
In fact, it appears that they invited you to contact them "on Monday morning" but you didn't bother.

I would suggest renewing this contact.
As an ebay business seller, their address, phone number and email address is on the listing of everything they sell... under contact details.

somethingcorporate

Initially accepting the goods does not diminish your rights under SOGA - furniture companies have you sign a form saying you have "accepted" them when they deliver which is obviously tosh.

The delay is unfortunate but not prohibitive. You should still be able to get a remedy under SOGA so get back in touch with the seller and see what they suggest. If all else fails you may have to resort to the small claims court to resolve.