Misdescribed item but don't want to return it - compensation of some kind?

justjohn

theres nothing wrong with a partial refund.....BUT you have to be fair.

And i think its not fair to force the issue in this instance.

Taadaa

Yes sadly vintage dresses are rarely in excellent condition. So it shouldn't have been described as such..is she a dealer? Perhaps she failed to check every inch of it.

Crowqueen

I would expect a new dress described to be in excellent condition to be pristine, but I would not expect the same standard of a 60 year-old one, bought for £20.

I'd expect it to be in the condition stated in the listing - nothing more, nothing less. If it's simply a mistake, then a positive and maybe a 3 for description (since it's not as described) would be fair. A neutral may be overdoing it if they have not been rude when told what was going on. But people have to learn somehow that it's not OK to 'expect' buyers to 'expect' certain things when you have led them to believe it's in good condition, even for its age.

That's not fair selling, and the buyer only ever has the description to go on - so to say one thing and expect a buyer to expect another, is not ethical when you have all the power in your hands over what you say to encourage buyers to buy.

Also - sellers get scammed - but so do buyers. It's unfair to suggest OP should have to put up with what's been sent out simply because someone else has had a dishonest buyer. The seller is in the driving seat - they have the responsibilities when listing - so should be held accountable for mistakes made.

QuackQuackOops

Spooz wrote: »

I'm not expecting any money back - I made that clear in my message to the seller. I want to keep the dress and am happy for her to keep my money. However, I know how damaging negative feedback is to a seller and so I am reluctant to give it as she is being helpful, but I do want to make it clear that the item was not as described and that this is not acceptable for future listings. I just don't know how to do it.

You cheeky so and so.
Basically you are giving a veiled threat of a neg if she doesnt give you some sort of compensation!
Either the dress is SNAD and you can send it back or it isnt SNAD so then theres nothing to worry about.

Decide which it is and then either return it or shut up.

Crowqueen

No need to misinterpret it. OP has said that the title of this thread is slightly misleading because they thought better of it while writing the post.

I don't think OP has said to the seller that they will give a neg.

And they haven't asked for anything in return. They're simply asking for the seller's input on something which was not as described. Which is fair enough - because they paid for something which was dirty. Not very fair in the first place - if you pay for something, and it arrived dirty, would you not feel the same way? I get fed up with the number of times sellers here intimate a buyer should put up with a dirty dress just because some people are scammers. It really wouldn't 'wash' anywhere else on the internet, or in an offline shop, or at a car boot sale (no-one would buy something unwashed!) - so why should eBay be a special case? Nonetheless, OP is not asking for a refund without return, or a partial, or whatever - they simply wanted to make the seller aware they had possibly overlooked something - because they didn't want to leave a neg.

If the dress is worth a neg or a neutral or a positive or whatever, then the buyer has a right to leave whatever feedback they see fit - and they are not committing feedback extortion even by saying it to the seller.

esmy

As a seller this sort of thing annoys me. My only neg as a seller was from a chancer who was politely offered a full refund plus postage if she wasn't happy. She chose to keep the item and left negative feedback - and has done this several times over. Needless to say she is now blocked.

If you had bought the item in a shop or by conventional mail order you would take or send it back. I never offer partial refunds but if the problem is genuine (often it isn't) then I'll offer a full refund, including return postage, on receipt of the item in the condition it was sold in ie without broken zips that weren't broken before etc.

As a buyer I'd return something that wasn't exactly as I wanted or expected and leave feedback on the return process or resell it.

prowla

Neutral feedback is appropriate.
I recently bought a Japanese CD at a good price but it turned out to be a fake copy; I decided to keep it anyway and left neutral, ie. Not what I got but I'm not going to get too upset about it.
People do seem to get awfully hung up about feedback though.

Strapped

Sorry, OP reads like a chancer to me too.

nicky200991_2

I'm also a seller and i think Spootz has a very fair point. The item listed should be described accurately and age shouldn't come in to it a 'excellent condition' primark dress should be in just as good condition as a 'excellent condition' vintage dress. It would have been easy for the seller to state that there were a few imperfections with the dress and even shown photos so the buyer new exactly what they were receiving. I think partial refund would be the fairest thing to do in this case and if thats not offered then i would give her a neutral as the item was not as stated.
Hope you get a good outcome!

Gleek

In the odd times I've bought something and there's been something wrong with it but I haven't wanted to send it back (ie it was fixable) I take detailed pictures of the problem and send it to the seller.

It has happened rarely I'll admit but I once had a skirt where the lining was badly ripped (but obviously that's hidden on the inside) and some of the design on it was damaged a bit - but it was described as new.

I took pictures of both parts and sent it and the seller refunded half back (admittedly it was only £8 inc postage) without me even asking for a refund - more than fair IMO as it took just 10 mins to mend it and the damaged design bit was only noticeable when you looked for it.

Perhaps you could take pictures of each bit and send them to her to show that you're not just trying it on?