Ebay buyer changed their mind but has opened item/broken seal

Legacy_user

I sold an Xbox 360 and I'm registered as a business seller. The buyer says hes opened it but then changed his mind (:mad:) and says he hasn't played it.


Do I have to provide a full refund or can I tell him I can't help since he has opened the box and broken the seal.

steven0121

How long has the buyer had it? As it was unopened I assume you dont have any way of determining if the console has been tampered with? Do you use any security markers etc?

System

He has opened it and broken the seal but hasn't used it.
Still, this has knocked off some value.

ohblimey

We've had similar situation, the product was in tamper evident containers which, once opened, are un-saleable. The customer admitted they tried it but decided it was not the right stuff for their project.

Ebay sided with the buyer

steven0121

How long ago was the sale date?

Crowqueen

berbastrike wrote: »

I sold an Xbox 360 and I'm registered as a business seller. The buyer says hes opened it but then changed his mind (:mad:) and says he hasn't played it.


Do I have to provide a full refund or can I tell him I can't help since he has opened the box and broken the seal.

If it was sold as a BIN your buyer has an unconditional right to return - not dependent on your ability to resell the item.

See the OFT Distance Selling Hub for more information but your buyer does have legal rights when buying from you as a business, and for something like an Xbox might be prepared to enforce them through the small claims court.

Chances are it might not apply to you, but with the Distance Selling Regulations, buyers get a long period to change their mind if the seller's terms are not 100% legal, so you must watch your back with this sort of thing as you could be giving away more than you think you are if even one word is out of place.

Nine_Lives

I struggle to see how this is much different to my sisters case with her iPhone - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3798873

She bought an item "new" ... your buyer bought their item "unopened"
Her item became scratched on the rear making it different from how it was when it was sold .... your buyer opened their item, making it different from how it was when it was sold.

Her seller is refusing a refund or exchange due to this & MSEers say this is correct .... you're wanting to avoid having to refund & MSEers are telling you this is incorrect.


Unless i'm missing something, here's 2 very similar cases with 2 opposite answers.

Sorry to jump on your thread, but from what i understand, one side surely is wrong?
That said, i'm willing to admit i may have understood wrongly. If so i'll hold my hands up, but i'm struggling to see a difference between the 2 cases.

Crowqueen

Items bought that are covered by the DSRs can be opened and inspected. The object of the Distance Selling Regulations are to allow buyers to do this, which they would be able to do when buying in a shop. Buyers have 7 days from the day of receipt to reject the goods - a so-called change-of-mind return - without anything being substantially wrong with the item. As far as I understand the situation, the buyer has to take 'reasonable care' of the item - the seller can claim for the item being damaged or anything like that - but the seller cannot insist that seals are unopened or unbroken, unless the items are software or e.g. media items such as DVDs or CDs. As stated, this is part of the buyer having a chance to examine the item itself.

Furthermore not all retailers are fully compliant with the DSRs, so they may advise differently depending on their knowledge or implementation of the law as it stands. Also, here, it probably depends on who you get answering the question.

Your question is a SOGA question and your retailer should really fix the fault if it was there at the time of purchase.

Everything that starts with "You can't expect..." IMO is usually suspect as people are working off their own assumptions about what they would do (one of the favourites seems to be 'You wouldn't expect Boots/Smiths/PC World/Toys'R'Us to take back a defective item x days after receipt' - oh yes they would - plus extra laws apply to online sales that don't govern offline sales where the buyer sees what they are getting) rather than what the law states. However, enforcing the law usually in this case means taking out a small claim with the courts or quoting chapter and verse at the shop.

If it is an iPhone you might be better off taking it to Apple and seeing what they can do. It may still be under warranty and they have superb customer service which goes above and beyond the law at times.

Notmyrealname

As above. If it was sold on BIN they have the right to inspect it and return it if they don't want it under DSR. If you sold it as an auction, the DSR doesn't apply and they can go whistle.

Sorry, the DSR is just one of the downsides to being in business selling on the internet.