Seller offering to refund by cheque and not including postage

EllaBeagle

Hi

I bought a bundle of 3 clothing items from ebay. Received them yesterday and they are absolutely appalling. The dress I received was obviously well used, it was full of bobbles, hairs and bits of stray cotton and the hem had come undone in places. It was completely unwearable. As were the other two tops. One of them had white shiny marks where the colour had faded. They were good enough for the bin basically and there was no wear in them at all.

Seller has agreed to give me a refund but by cheque??????? Never had that before its always been by paypal. And only for the cost of the items not the postage. Am I right in thinking that I should be refunded for the postage aswell as it wasn't my fault the items weren't as described?

They have said I can sell the clothes on or give them to a charity shop so they don't have to refund me extra postage for sending the items back but they will be going in the bin they aren't fit for a charity shop :eek:

Any advice would be much appreciated.

theonlywayisup

EllaBeagle wrote: »

Hi

I bought a bundle of 3 clothing items from ebay. Received them yesterday and they are absolutely appalling. The dress I received was obviously well used, it was full of bobbles, hairs and bits of stray cotton and the hem had come undone in places. It was completely unwearable. As were the other two tops. One of them had white shiny marks where the colour had faded. They were good enough for the bin basically and there was no wear in them at all.

Seller has agreed to give me a refund but by cheque??????? Never had that before its always been by paypal. And only for the cost of the items not the postage. Am I right in thinking that I should be refunded for the postage aswell as it wasn't my fault the items weren't as described?

They have said I can sell the clothes on or give them to a charity shop so they don't have to refund me extra postage for sending the items back but they will be going in the bin they aren't fit for a charity shop :eek:

Any advice would be much appreciated.

They are silly for suggesting a cheque.

You are entitled to your full original payment back if the item is SNAD (significantly not as described). And your options are either an Ebay or Paypal dispute, if you think the seller won't refund in full.

Paypal disputes are very rigid and usually better to opt for in this instance. Ebay disputes tend to take longer but you *may* be lucky and they might refund or reimburse you for the returns postage. It's a bit of a lottery.

I would give the seller one last chance and then open a dispute.

You will have to return the items, at your expense via a tracked method, so it may be best to use one of the cheap couriers.

If you opt for an Ebay dispute, add into the dispute that the seller is refusing to reimburse you for returns postage.

Then wait for instruction on the case.

Crowqueen

I would politely make a counter offer for your entire payment back.

As for cheque vs Paypal, if you want to compromise, then the seller is the one at risk - you could start a dispute to get two sets of money back. If you think you are honest and won't do that, and could bank a cheque without problems, then it might be easier to sort this out amicably. But you should not be out of pocket for the postage, at least - and the way to enforce that, unfortunately, is through launching a dispute through eBay/Paypal (with eBay you stand a better chance of getting reimbursed for the return postage) and returning the items.

EllaBeagle

Thanks both!

I have explained to the seller that the items are in bad condition, said I would prefer a refund through paypal and also expect a full refund.

I have received a message back saying:

My offer remains at ????, I will not refund postage as you can't fault the Royal Mail, and you have received the items. I also specified that I would not offer refunds in my listing.

Nowhere in my description did I actually state the wear of the clothing, merely what they looked like on, as you didn't enquire about the items further I had no opportunity to describe the items wrongly to you. I think you are being exceptionally unfair to expect items to be of brand new quality when labelled as "used" is your own error in judgement.

I have replied saying that yes, the condition of the items were NOT described in the listing HOWEVER when a 'used' item is listed on ebay, the buyer expects it to have some sort of wear left in it otherwise it shouldn't be listed on ebay in the first place. Likewise, a seller listing a 'used' item should be sure that the item is in a usable condition and if not, explain why. I never expected the items to be 'brand new'.

Also the photos didn't show the true condition as they look absolutely fine in the photos and the colours of the items are very bright. In real life they are all EXTREMELY faded and old. If I have clothes like this in my wardrobe I throw them in the bin I wouldn't dream of putting them on ebay or taking them to a charity shop.

Crowqueen

Unfortunately you will have to send them back via a Paypal dispute.

RM have nothing to do with this, the seller took your money and sent you unwearable clothes. They may be acceptable condition to them but it is surprising that some people think that sending horrid stuff to other people and keeping the money is somehow the right thing to do.

And you should be able to bid on a listing with all the information presented to you at the time - it's the seller who loses out in the end, as they will understand when they receive their dirty washing back on their front doorstep and the inevitable neg they would receive from me.

Sellers have to learn sometimes it's not all about them - it's also about their customer. Unfortunately sometimes it's down to the buyer to teach them this lesson.

File SNAD through Paypal if you definitely want to take the postage hit but want a quicker and more straightforward resolution, or through eBay if you want a more nuanced view of the situation and a possible postage credit, but a less definite outcome (although you will probably get your money back in some form) - it's up to you.

Either way, let us know what happens.

George_Michael

Open a paypal dispute and when you win, make sure that you send the clothing back by recorded delivery.
All you will need is to be able to show proof of delivery or attempted delivery so if your seller refuses to accept the package from the postie you should still get your refund (initial price and original P&P).

Sometimes when sellers refuse to sign for returned goods Paypal have not refunded, but all it usually takes is a phone call to point out what has happened.

Then leave a well worded neg for your seller.

EllaBeagle

Just opened a case and received this from the seller:

You filed that the "item you received was not as described". Your complaint was about something which had not been described by me, but assumed by yourself, you then tried to pressure me into giving you a full refund by threatening my feedback rating.

Despite clearly stating in my listing a "no refunds" returns policy I still offered ???? refund, which you have chosen to decline.

I am sorry for your disappointment. I hope the resolution centre can provide some clear guidelines.

Am I right that the items received were not as described because they were listed as USED. They items were actually DAMAGED considering they would need restitching and de-bobbling. Also the fact they were full of dog hairs, shiny patches, faded! :mad:

I never threatened them with negative feedback, I simply stated that if it wasn't sorted I would have no option but to open a case and leave negative feedback. Now being accused of feedback extortion! :mad:

theonlywayisup

EllaBeagle wrote: »

I never threatened them with negative feedback, I simply stated that if it wasn't sorted I would have no option but to open a case and leave negative feedback. Now being accused of feedback extortion! :mad:

What case did you open Paypal or Ebay? You should NOT have mentioned feedback and it could be construed that you are borderline for extortion.

lovinituk

You should have accepted the offer. To win a dispute you will have to send them back at your cost and you won't be able to get that back from the seller. So that will put you in the same financial position as if you had accepted their original refund (probably slightly worse because you will have to send back recorded)!! Now you've got the hassle of the case and having to post back.

It sucks, I know, but you should have cut your losses for an easier life and left negative feedback.

EllaBeagle

theonlywayisup wrote: »

What case did you open Paypal or Ebay? You should NOT have mentioned feedback and it could be construed that you are borderline for extortion.

Hi it was through ebay. How is it extortion? Its inevitable that if the seller is being unfair, has knowingly sent good that are in awful condition and refused to make a full refund that bad feedback is going to be left. I didn't come across as threatening I was stating facts. Its leaving bad feedback, not threatening someone with physical violence?

EllaBeagle

lovinituk wrote: »

You should have accepted the offer. To win a dispute you will have to send them back at your cost and you won't be able to get that back from the seller. So that will put you in the same financial position as if you had accepted their original refund (probably slightly worse because you will have to send back recorded)!! Now you've got the hassle of the case and having to post back.

It sucks, I know, but you should have cut your losses for an easier life and left negative feedback.

In the past, if a customer hasn't been happy I have refunded them fully AND given them double the postage so they can send it back to me. If I have been unhappy with an item the seller has done this for me too. Why should I accept a partial refund? I have offered to send them back but they don't want them!