Taking a seller to court - question

techspec

£9 postage must have been via special delivery.

All the seller as to do is prove postage could have been made for around £5, and that is all you will get.

As a rule, the claim is held at the local cout of the person who files the claim. But the defendant can request it be moved to theirs.

The seller should have refunded the return postage if they made the mistake. Hope you hammered their feedback.

RFW

bris wrote: »

It's not a consumer rights issue and trading standards would see it as a civil matter. It is a contract law issue however that can be formed between two private individuals.

I can understand that with a Gumtree or a Facebook page, but as far as Ebay goes most buyers wouldn't even check if it was a private seller and if there was a difference. A lot of the time the consumer considers they have "purchased from Ebay", if there is some part where the consumer is being misled as to their rights then TS would look into it, as I said just saying you're a 'private seller' can't be enough, so lodging a complaint with TS (even if they don't investigate at that time) has to be a good idea.

LordSVS

It's not worth it. You will need all the evidence in the world (including a photo of the jacket and label), listing info etc.

IF the judge takes on the case (unlikely but hey ho) and you lose, you will be liable for the costs of the court. Expensive stuff!

Just leave negative feedback and move on. Yes I'm sure all of us would love to teach this person a lesson, but it's honestly not worth it.

Lord SVS

faerie~spangles

TBeckett100 wrote: »

I have sent her three emails giving X deadline. She has batted them away. One of the warnings was contained in the box I posted her with the jacket in.

It also amuses me that she thinks she is right and yet has ebayed off other men's clothing at the size I measure it at. Whoever she is selling for cant be a size X and a size Y.

Anyway, I will file the claim and see what happens. It would be an education for her anyway.

Obviously you are not as svelte as you claim to be.

steveE2

It's just not worth starting a claim,just leave a neg, low marks and move on.
IF you start a claim online it costs you £25
IF it ever got accepted to go to court which I doubt, you have another £25 in court time.There is no certainty that you will win these costs.
IF you won there's still no guarantee you will get any money.

astrata

Firstly £9 just about covers the cost of coffee & a muffin for two people in a cafe. Life's too short to spend time on pursuing this.

As a private seller I don't refund postage costs unless I have made a mistake. If it was a misunderstanding (eg buyer thought the item was in some way different to the listing) then if the buyer is polite I would refund, if they were rude or threatening then I would refuse.

If someone threatened court action I would dig my heels in.... I would ask for the action to be transferred to my local court and enter a defence that I had fully complied with ebay rules in that I am not obliged to offer a postage refund and enter a counter claim for the cost of my time in defending the case.

I doubt a court would spend any time on the case and the chances of winning are at best 50/50 and even if you did win the chances of getting payment are slim.

porto_bello

First, to take someone to a small claims court for £9 isn’t realistic.
Second, the evidence to support the claim is with the seller, so I can't see it being successful.
Third, the seller may put in a counter claim, for significant lost wages and expenses, i.e. a rather larger amount than the original court case.

There is (or was) a simpler answer – in cases like this, speak to eBay and explain that the cost of returning the item makes it impractical to return (assuming the item wasn’t hugely expensive).

So long as you’ve got a clean record and you’re not claiming left. right and centre, eBay may support you, resulting in you receiving a full refund without returning the item. I have pursued this line in recent months and eBay did back my case.