wrong item received, seller now on holiday

aliby21

Hello, I wonder if you good people could advise on what I might do in this situation. I bought a laptop charger from a business seller on ebay, and I’ve been sent the wrong one – I’ve had a look at the other ones they sell and it is one of these other models, simple enough mistake to make, easily resolved I thought. I contacted the seller to let them know, and they asked me to send photos of charger, packaging, labels etc. OK, bit of a faff, but I did this. I got an auto email response to this saying they are now away for the Chinese New Year holiday until 29th January and will get back to me after this.

I really don’t want to wait this long!

Yes, I did know it was a Chinese outfit, but they were selling from the UK and are a ‘top rated seller’ so I thought I’d be ok

Can I raise a dispute that the item is not as described?
Can I return under distance selling regulations? If so, what should I do? I thought I’d picked a seller with UK contact details (of the many Chinese sellers offering this item at a similar price sent from within the UK) but now the contact address on ebay is in China so would I have to send it there? It was sent from the UK.
Or should I just cut my losses, get one elsewhere and leave negative feedback?

To be honest, it was cheap, so I am inclined to just cut my losses, buy one from Amazon and put this down to experience. It will be four times the price but I think I have learnt you can be too money saving! It has just been a bad experience all around – it took over a week to arrive, annoying as I selected them because they sent first class with quick despatch, but OK I gave them the benefit of the doubt that it is RM, but then their customer service is not, IMHO, proving very good either. And I am still without a new charger and very soon will be without a functioning laptop as the old charger is getting more and more dysfunctional!


any advice welcome

kurgon

I would just do a SNAD. The buyer knew they were going to be on holiday prior to going and should have let you know. Poor response in my opinion.
Up to you after that. Either accept an offer of replacement or buy one from Amazon. Bear in mind if you want a refund you will likely have to send the item back to them.

forgotmyname

You can file a dispute and you will win, But you will probably need to send the item back to china and
that may cost more than it actually cost you.

I bought an item for £5 or £6 including delivery, And it would cost be £14 to return it? Maybe there are cheaper ways?

Buy another if you need it ASAP, Wait for the seller to respond, Explain you have bought another as you needed it quickly.

If they are on holiday you wont get much response. Whats the point of winning a dispute and not having the outcome
that you want?


They may refund you and say keep the item, Leaving them a negative wont help you. You do that if you think they were
unreasonable.

Most chargers are universal, I use a Fujitsu charger for almost everything here. Tablet PC, Toshiba laptop, Acer as well as the Fujitsu
one of course.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If the item location shown under the Buy It Now button is the United Kingdom and the seller provides a return address to a different location, other than within the UK, then you will not have to return unless the seller covers the cost.

This is for an eBay SNAD, not a Paypal SNAD.

aliby21

Thanks everyone for replies.

[FONT=&quot]I’ve ordered one from Amazon and will ponder whether I do anything else. As I said, it was cheap, so it is not so much getting money back that is the issue, but I am pretty peeved at the way the seller has dealt with things, so I may just leave a negative rather than try and get a refund. Oh, and I will remember not to buy from dodgy Chinese sellers in future![/FONT]

forgotmyname wrote: »

Most chargers are universal, I use a Fujitsu charger for almost everything here. Tablet PC, Toshiba laptop, Acer as well as the Fujitsu
one of course.

Unfortunately the one I've been sent doesn't even fit - it has the wrong shaped connector, hexagonal rather than round

forgotmyname

Always worth being polite and telling them they sent the wrong part, Dont nake threats of negative feedback.

Most chinese sellers say they like to protect their feedback. give them 10 - 14 days and then contact them and see how
much they want to keep you happy.

Maybe a full refund and keep the item? I had one item not turn up from china and the seller refunded no quibble.
never did turn up.

kurgon

forgotmyname wrote: »

Always worth being polite and telling them they sent the wrong part, Dont nake threats of negative feedback.

Most chinese sellers say they like to protect their feedback. give them 10 - 14 days and then contact them and see how
much they want to keep you happy.

Maybe a full refund and keep the item? I had one item not turn up from china and the seller refunded no quibble.
never did turn up.

That's already been done, and to request photos etc then fo on holiday is poor service in my opinion.....

QuackQuackOops

Open a dispute in the resolution centre for item significantly not as described.
Within the dispute mention that you bought this item from a seller who indicated that they were in the UK yet the item came from China and that it is not financially viable to return the item as it would cost more to send back than the item is worth.

You will more than likely get a refund without having to return it if it was very cheap,

aliby21

kurgon wrote: »

That's already been done, and to request photos etc then fo on holiday is poor service in my opinion.....

Thanks Kurgon, that’s exactly it. I think I’ve done all I can as a buyer to be accommodating.
I’ve never left anything less than positive feedback for anyone before so this isn’t something I’d do lightly. But on the previous occasions when I’ve had a wrong item sent the seller has a) apologised and b) sent the correct item straight away – and we’ve then arranged either for me to return the item or more often (as I only really buy low value items) they’ve just said to keep it, in which case I will donate to a charity shop if possible. If the seller is helpful in resolving the issue then I leave positive feedback – I know mistakes can be made and it is how they are dealt with that is important as far as I am concerned. And with this seller I would class it as ‘badly’, certainly not the ‘excellent service’ I’d expect from a top rated seller.


Just to clarify, it is a Chinese seller (with contact address in China) but the item came from somewhere in the UK (sent by royal mail) and the location address was 'UK' - so thanks Ludovico that is useful to know with regard to returns if they were necessary.