How long do I have to hold a collection only item for?

miss-piggin

I sold an item 5 months ago, the item was paid for by paypal within hours of it finishing, but I commented at the time to hubby that buyer was a very long way from us, at the time he asked for our name/address and phone number - which I provided, then it went quiet and to be honest I forgot all about it, then 2 months later we got a message he was coming to fetch it - he stated it would be late when he got here as he has a long way to come, so we said okay and he hubby waited up till 1am and no show, no message no nothing, so I left it again, then last week he gets in touch wants to come and collect now it's been 5 months, what should I do is he entitled to a refund? I have not stopped him collecting he just hasn't bothered and I am not a storage facitlity.

SuzieH

refund him and tell him you have sold it elsewhere

iieee

Refund and relist.

miss-piggin

we are up to our eyes in debt it was £50 so I haven't got it to refund, but when we had to move last month it got damaged so it is no longer available for the buyer, and we are not in a position to refund. That's why I am so stuck and I don't know if I can just refuse after such a long time.

lisawood78

Hello neighbour.

It is a tricky one for sure.
I don't think there is a great deal they can do about it after this amount of time (although Paypal are known to be a bit of a law unto themselves with time limits these days) and they have messed you about for a long time.

But i'd be peeved if I was the buyed and had no item and no refund (but again they shouldn't have left it so long)

So i'm not sure what i'd do tbh!

Sorry op, not much use I know.

trukdiver

miss-piggin wrote: »

I sold an item 5 months ago, the item was paid for by paypal within hours of it finishing, but I commented at the time to hubby that buyer was a very long way from us, at the time he asked for our name/address and phone number - which I provided, then it went quiet and to be honest I forgot all about it, then 2 months later we got a message he was coming to fetch it - he stated it would be late when he got here as he has a long way to come, so we said okay and he hubby waited up till 1am and no show, no message no nothing, so I left it again, then last week he gets in touch wants to come and collect now it's been 5 months, what should I do is he entitled to a refund? I have not stopped him collecting he just hasn't bothered and I am not a storage facitlity.

If I bid for something that is for collection, I always check first that the times I can collect are convenient for the seller! The buyer hasn't behaved reasonably. They didn't contact for a couple of months and then didn't turn up! Now they expect to turn up and collect it at their convenience? Most cleaners, repairers etc will sell unclaimed items after a period but I don't know how long you have to wiat! Sorry, not a lot of help either!

punkpink

Just out of interest why did you accept paypal on a collection item anyway? Had the buyer collected he/she could have filed an INR case through paypal and you would have lost the £50 anyway and the item

pitkin2020

To be honest you should have given a time limit months ago, especially as you were moving. I would have used the moving date as the final deadline, if its not collected it will be disposed of.

There are several ways you could resolve it, time limit for collection, refund, storage cost/disposal I suppose it would depend on the reasons to why the buyer has taken so long and what agreements were made at the end of the auction. The only real problem is you do have a duty of care for the item whilst its still in your possession but how long is acceptable, couple that with paypal doing as they please they may issue refund either from your account (making you -£50) or they may refund from their own pot just to keep the buyer happy.

I held onto a surfboard for one guy for 4 months but we agreed before he bought so it wasn't an issue.

kiwi_fruit

While the buyer obviously shouldn't have left it for so long(maybe he thought you wouldn't mind?) I think to tell him now he can't collect AND can't have the refund would be really wrong.

hermum

Morally to keep the money is wrong.

Inner_Zone

miss-piggin wrote: »

then last week he gets in touch wants to come and collect now it's been 5 months,

miss-piggin wrote: »

but when we had to move last month it got damaged so it is no longer available for the buyer,

You should have given the buyer a deadline to collect. But now you are saying it's damaged. Have you told the buyer?

Morally you should now refund as it's damaged and you did not pursue the buyer to collect.