"end to transaction agreement" for SNAD returns?

Purdybread

Hi,

I received an item which was SNAD and faulty. The item was a power supply, I bought a branded one at a premium price but received a generic piece of cr4p. (this seems to be a regular occurrence where power supplies are concerned)

The item is also faulty, therefore I want a full refund. My first thought was "will I have to pay return postage?" so I returned to the listing to read the sellers policy. Upon reading it I noticed that it states that I must accept an "end of transaction agreement" sent from ebay before the refund can take place. I have a major concern about this for 2 reasons.

1. If I accept the agreement before refund will the seller actually send refund?

2. If I accept the agreement will I lose the ability to place feedback as the records show the transaction never took place?

The buyer implies that this is so they receive the final value fee back from ebay, and therefore they dont need to charge a restocking fee, however I wonder is this a method of keeping negative feedbacks to a minimum?

full seller policy below....

We accept returns if the product is found to be faulty or if unwanted. You must return the product within 14 days of receipt for a refund. Postage costs are non refundable however, item cost is. On receipt of any returned item, we will always ask Ebay to send you an end to transaction agreement, it is the buyers responsiblilty to accept this, once this is accepted, Ebay will refund us "the seller" the final value fee for the sale. This then ensures we do not have to charge you "the buyer" a restocking fee. If you do not accept the Ebay end to transaction agreement. A 2.50 pound fee will be taken from your refund to cover our Ebay costs and administration.

verityboo

If faulty, open a SNAD dispute. You will have to return tracked at your cost, but you will be refunded your original purchase price and original postage.

You are right to be suspicious and do not agree to cancel the transaction - their terms are rubbish and unenforceable

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

They are saying you have to accept a mutual cancellation to get a refund, which will cause them problems as the resolution centre specifically tells buyers not to agree until they've been refunded.

Their terms are illegal and technically you'd be entitled to cancel and just have them collect at their cost but enforcing this is difficult. Due to their poor terms I'd just open a SNAD, return it trackable and then neg the seller. Poor terms is one to avoid in future, I know it's pain to read each set of terms (perhaps a reason eBay should have some standard terms for business sellers) but can save in the long run. If you don't get your return postage back I'd report the experience to consumer direct, it would hopefully only take a handful of complaints for trading standards to contact the seller.

Obviously_the_best

Do not accept the cancellation, open an SNAD in PayPal not eBay

The cheapest way to send a light item fully tracked is https://www.myhermes.co.uk

techspec

Refund first then cancellation. Its Ebay rules.

Crowqueen

It's not quite eBay rules but the form the buyer has to read and agree to mentions that buyers are not advised to accept it until a refund has been paid over.

Those terms are rubbish even where change of mind returns are concerned, never mind returns on faulty goods which have a period of six months where faults have to be proved to be caused by buyer misadventure by the seller. Even after that there is a considerably longer period where a return/exchange can be effected if the buyer can show the fault was there at the time of purchase. That is under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979.

For a power supply, I'd try Amazon. I got a very good one for my Toshiba laptop last month which is working fine. Amazon also impose the same set of terms on all their sellers plus have a considerably higher standard for items like this which means that there is less chance of receiving a lemon, provided you go for one that has a reasonable price-tag. I debated paying for a £3 one but decided to go for the £10 branded item because something like an adapter is very dangerous if it goes wrong. The old one I had sparked rather worryingly - my mother luckily unplugged it before we went away over Christmas, otherwise goodness knows what might have happened.

Purdybread

Thanks for the replies guys.

After a sternly worded email (however I didnt mention his returns policy) I recieved a reply asking me to return it for a full refund plus return postage.

I dont have a problem with recieving something that is faulty, it can happen to any seller. However I do get really p**sed off when the item is misrepresented. Its not the first time this has happened to me when buying power supplies, these sellers are selling cr4p, playing on the fact that your average joe wont know the difference.

I shall be demanding the refund first, then leaving the appropiate feedback.

Wonder how many people fall for returns policy and never get to leave feedback.

soolin

I shall be demanding the refund first, then leaving the appropiate feedback.

You need to get the item back to the seller tracked first before you get the refund.

Purdybread

soolin wrote: »

You need to get the item back to the seller tracked first before you get the refund.

Yeah, thats what I meant. I dont expect a refund without returning the item. I have returned many items in the past without problem for either replacement or refund. My concern this time was the sellers returns policy and maybe losing the ability to leave feedback. Again I wouldn't necessarily always leave negative feedback for a faulty item if the after service was good, but I feel its important to state in the feedback on this item I did not get what I paid for.