Returned Faulty Item Lost In Post

Bugsco

Hello we are after some advice about a new tablet we bought on ebay on a buy it now from a business seller.

I bought the tablet for Christmas for my lady, in the new year she found that it froze on a certain game and now and again the internet. We contacted the seller and after doing resets and he tried to rectify this by getting doing resets and things but the problem persisted.

He then asked us to send it back and he will have a look at it. We sent it back costing us £9.05 for special delivery and he looked at it and said he couldn't find a problem but sent us another tablet of the same make and model.

The one we got back was awful, it still froze on the game my lady played (I am guessing probably a firmware problem), the quality when viewing films was awful (which was fine on the first one we had) and worst of all there were pressure points in the middle of the screen from a couple of internal parts. These pressure points distorted the screen and would show even at the lightest touch,even of holding from the just the sides. You could even select thinks on screen from the back via these points.

I sent the seller a message via ebay but he basically said all tablets do this and this is normal! So I took a video of all the faults posted them on ebay and sent him the link. To cut a long short after a lot of arguing I ended up uploading a video of the pressure marks happening to a file upload site so he could view them in better quality. This is where we got somewhere.

He sent me this email:

Hi,
Yes I can see the pressure points which seem to centre around the middle of the screen. Please return the tablet for repair to:

e-digitech
******
Wolverhampton
******

Only send the tablet and not any accessories or charger. You can use 2nd Class recorded service and I should have it in 3 days normally.

I replied:

Right thank you, are you saying this shouldn't happen?
I can get it sent today if this sortable.

Seller replied:

Hi,
All tablets do this to a degree but looks like a spacer maybe missing between the LCD panel and the circuit board. Should be a simple fix. You can use second class post with recorded so save on postage costs. On receiving i will get my technician to repair your tablet immediately and get it working as it should.
Sorry about all the hassle.
Regards

Send me the tracking number once posted.

We posted that day second class recorded on the 20/3/12 and it looks like it's gone missing or stolen in the post as the tracking code just gets this message 'Posted on 20/03/12 and is being progressed through our network for delivery.'

We contacted the seller asking him what he would do if it didn't turn up, and he said there was nothing he could do. When I asked that didn't he think he was responsible as the item was faulty and return postage was his responsibility he replied:

Yes I said it looks like a spacer may be missing. Emphasis on "looks like". Then again also look like you are pressing the tablet from the back. Also rapidly shaking the tablet to induce the pressure marks. I mean no one uses the tablet shaking it do they? (we were just gently moving it around to show how easy the pressure marks appear)

So a complete change of tune now it's gone missing :mad:


My questions are:

Should I be able to get my money back?
If I have to send him a letter threatening court action what consumer law should I point out to him that apply's in this case?
Do you have any other advise?

Thank you in advance Bugsco

Forwandert

If you sent the item I'm pretty sure its not the companies fault if its been lost in transit. You need to contact RM asap and try and find out what's happened to your item. Although you should possibly have spent a little more on returning by better means.

I was going to say you could possibly throw a little blame for not sending special delivery etc but in the companies messages he says "you can" send second class not send second class.

meer53

Why would the seller be responsible for return postage if you posted it back ? I could understand if they had organised the postage but they didn't. You need to claim through RM. Did you make sure the insurance would cover the cost of the item ? Why are you thinking of threatening court action ? It's not his fault it's been lost in transit.

Bugsco

meer53 wrote: »

Why would the seller be responsible for return postage if you posted it back ? I could understand if they had organised the postage but they didn't. You need to claim through RM. Did you make sure the insurance would cover the cost of the item ? Why are you thinking of threatening court action ? It's not his fault it's been lost in transit.

The item was faulty and I thought either under the sales of goods act or DSR that return postage was the responsibility of the seller. We only sent it back in the manner he said we could.

Is this not correct?

Bugsco

Forwandert wrote: »

If you sent the item I'm pretty sure its not the companies fault if its been lost in transit. You need to contact RM asap and try and find out what's happened to your item. Although you should possibly have spent a little more on returning by better means.

I was going to say you could possibly throw a little blame for not sending special delivery etc but in the companies messages he says "you can" send second class not send second class.

We were returning a faulty item, which postage is the responsibility of the seller? If Argos comes sends DHL to your door to pick up a faulty item and it goes missing would you expect a refund?

We where only doing as asked by the seller.

mattyprice4004

The COST of return postage is the responsibility of the seller, the contract for delivering the item back to him is between you and Royal Mail.

Why should he be out of pocket when the contract between you and RM has been breached, which is nothing to do with him?

If he doesn't get it back, you're snookered. You need to deal with RM.

System

Bugsco wrote: »

We were returning a faulty item, which postage is the responsibility of the seller? If Argos comes sends DHL to your door to pick up a faulty item and it goes missing would you expect a refund?

We where only doing as asked by the seller.

This return would be organised by Argos so they would be DHL's customer. Therefore if the return went missing Argos would be responsible for claiming from DHL and I would expect Argos to refund me.

In your scenario you organised the return yourself so the contract is between you and Royal Mail. The seller can't contact Royal Mail and ask for compensation as they have had no dealing with them. Its therefore completely your responsibility if the item becomes lost in the post.

Its annoying but I suspect there is little you can do except claim the derisary compensation that Royal Mail will pay

Bugsco

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

The COST of return postage is the responsibility of the seller, the contract for delivering the item back to him is between you and Royal Mail.

Why should he be out of pocket when the contract between you and RM has been breached, which is nothing to do with him?

If he doesn't get it back, you're snookered. You need to deal with RM.

It was his chosen method to receive a faulty item back not mine, no other options were given. It's got a lot to do with him surely if that is the way he states he wants to receive back his faulty goods?

Bugsco

goater78 wrote: »

This return would be organised by Argos so they would be DHL's customer. Therefore if the return went missing Argos would be responsible for claiming from DHL and I would expect Argos to refund me.

In your scenario you organised the return yourself so the contract is between you and Royal Mail. The seller can't contact Royal Mail and ask for compensation as they have had no dealing with them. Its therefore completely your responsibility if the item becomes lost in the post.

Its annoying but I suspect there is little you can do except claim the derisary compensation that Royal Mail will pay

We organised the return for the seller by his chosen method as instructed and it's still us that takes the hit?

Forwandert

Bugsco wrote: »

We organised the return for the seller by his chosen method as instructed and it's still us that takes the hit?

He never told you to post that way just "you can" as in a suggestion. If he had arranged collection you would have been covered. As it is you sent it and you need to contact RM to chase it up. It may still be in the system somewhere so you have a chance of getting it back (to return to the seller via better means than the first time)

Bugsco

Forwandert wrote: »

He never told you to post that way just "you can" as in a suggestion. If he had arranged collection you would have been covered. As it is you sent it and you need to contact RM to chase it up. It may still be in the system somewhere so you have a chance of getting it back (to return to the seller via better means than the first time)

Not what I wanted to hear but thanks for your input.