Q about returning item overseas when listing says it is in UK

MrsBartolozzi

I bought some earphones from Ebay last week and they arrived on Wednesday. They are faulty so I emailed the seller, and got a reply today saying to return them for a replacement. Trouble is I've had to message them again as there is no record of the return address that I can find.

In the listing it says that the item is located in the UK and I chose to buy from this seller over others so I would not have to deal with postage overseas etc. The "But" is that the emails I've received through ebay and paypal show that the seller is in China and I can't see all of the messages as my browser doesn't display the characters (either get !!!!!) or I see the characters but they mean nothing to me as I don't read Chinese.
Can I be made to return the item to China when the description says it's UK based?

NIC26

Sellers are not allowed to misrepresent their location. If the listing said UK and they are based in China this goes against ebay policy:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/item-location.html

Since you are not getting a satisfactory answer from emailing seller (script in different language). I would open a dispute claim against them and sort it out that way.

lovinituk

NIC26 wrote: »

I would open a dispute claim against them and sort it out that way.

Its probably best to phone ebay first before raising a dispute. The dispute process is automated and may actually lock the OP into being asked to return to an address in China.

It could be that they do have a UK return address. A lot of Chinese based sellers use fulfillment companies based in the UK who actually send out the products from within country.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

From the Buyer Protection terms and conditions:

"Buyers will not be required to return an item where the seller’s geographic location is different from that shown on the listing, unless the seller pays for return postage costs."

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/buyer-protection.html

I'd open a case and it's most likely that eBay will refund without you having to return. Then neg the seller once the case is closed for lying about the location.

Before doing just make sure the bit under the Buy It Now button on the listing says "Item location: .... United Kingdom" as this is what eBay should go on rather than what it says on the seller's feedback page.

MrsBartolozzi

Thanks for the replies.
I had a reply from the seller today saying that I've to return them to an address in China. (no surprise there then!)
I gave ebay a call and was advised to message the seller back saying that ebay advised me to tell them that because the item was described as being in the UK I need to be able to return it to a UK address. We'll see what happens. I also seem to have opened some sort of "case" while I was attempting to find a phone number but this was a bit useless. It just said I was to try to sort things out with the seller first, and next week they will get involved if things haven't sorted out by then. Ah well this'll teach DS2 about buying cheap earphones on ebay.

spacemanc

So what happened in the end?

I'm in a similar position - I bought £50 of LED lights from a listing that said 'Item location: Kent, UK'. I also only ever search UK listings and also the picture said 'UK Stock'. They were delivered by Royal Mail and had been posted in the UK.

All the 20 lights failed (they dimmed to 20% brightness), no doubt due to not being suitable for the UK. I went through all the resolution centre stuff and a final decision was due for today. I've just got an e-mail from ebay support asking me to send them back to an address in China via tracked postage! The cost of this would be around £40!

I checked the sellers page (They're not a business seller despite massive sales) and on the feed back page it says 'Location: China'

Ebays protection policy says:

"Buyers won't be required to return an item where the seller’s geographic location is different from that shown on the listing (in violation of eBay policies), unless the seller pays for return postage."

Notice the wording? It says Sellers location has to be different, not the Item location. If ebay class the feedback page as part of the listing, then technically I have to return the item at my expense. But if the listing page is defined as the pages concerning the item, then the only address shown there is Kent, UK and therefore I should only have to return the item to a UK address. Apparently lots of Chinese traders use relatives in the UK as 'middlemen' to get around ebays policies.

I'll be ringing ebay up shortly so it should be an interesting conversation. I'll be much more careful who I buy off in future! Ebay should stop these deceptive location practices. I don't imagine that very much import tax and income tax is paid on all these sales!

Mindless_Clone

It would be interesting to see what they tell you at Ebay Towers. I would think if you had set it to UK Search only, then regardless of the listing details, it's been misrepresented somewhere at a fundemental level and, ebay at least have some responsibility to not make you send it all the way back to China.

lovinituk

To spacemanc

Sounds like an individual in China using the services of a fulfilment or dropshipping company based in the UK (probably also owned by someone in China!).

Phone ebay (don't use live chat or email) and explain the situation. I would very surprised if they don't take your side. At the very least you should only have to return it to the UK fulfilment address.

spacemanc

In the end after a lot of calls and messing around, the seller didn't provide a UK address and ebay found in my favour. Full refund and no return of goods required.