Advice needed for wrong item sent please.

candjsmum

Ok so I ordered a new battery for my laptop from ebay and the wrong one has been sent. After a few days tooing and froing with emails and me having to email the seller photos of my old battery compared to the new one, they have said to send it back for a refund as they do not have the battery I need. The picture advertised was the correct battery for what I needed but they sent a totally different one with different numbers on and even a different colour, (mine is silver the one sent is black). What I want to know is shall I just return the item or open up a paypal claim. Should I foot the bill for the return postage or should they be repaying me for that too.

Thanks
Nicky

UnderPressure

Well from what you say it is the seller who is at fault, you need to establish with them that you are not willing to pay for return postage and you fully expect this to refunded as well.

Here is the problem, you really need to send it back via a trackable service, recorded delivery can go wrong and not be updated properly, if this happens then the seller will claim none receipt, I would explain to them that you want it to go back to them via trackable mail or courier, you can pay for this as long as they confirm in an email they will refund this as well, or the seller can arrange for the item to be collected via a courier.

It is a bit tricky, if it were me I think I would email the seller establish a return refund then tell them you are going to open an item not as described case with ebay, purely to cover your own back as you have no wish to be left out of pocket for something that is not your fault. This way ebay are involved from the start.

Someone will come along soon with a more through answer but I "think" if you get ebay involved they can will tell you to return it for a refund, keep checking this thread for a better answer.

candjsmum

That is what I am afraid of. If I just return it they could say they have not received it or just not refund me. They have just emailed to say they will cover p+p up to £4. But I am a bit loathe to do this without involving ebay or paypal. I will see if others agree as well, thanks for taking the time to reply.

steveE2

No need to involve either ebay or paypal just yet.
Seems like you have a reasonable seller who is willing to cover return p&p,if you did open a case you would be told to return at your expense anyway.

candjsmum

I appreciate what you are saying Steve, but I am worried that they may say they do not have it even if I have returned it by a trackable method. Where would I stand then. I have just looked again at their feedback and only yesterday they had a neg to say "6 weeks and still waiting for a refund". This does worry me a bit.

Crowqueen

They should cover all the P&P, they might specify a service but I doubt they are able to dictate how much it would cost them. 'Reasonably foreseeable costs' is how it is worded; some sellers might not refund tracked postage because that is for the buyer's benefit but I doubt they could refuse any payout above a specific amount. The OFT guidelines (chapter 11 of that page) say: 'In the case of faulty goods being returned because they are not fit for purpose do not match their descriptionor are not of a satisfactory quality, the customer is entitled to claim the cost of postage from you or to request that you arrange collection of the item.'

You can always open a dispute if the item is sent back, just so long as it will show the item has been delivered to the seller or delivery has been attempted. You don't have to initiate anything in eBay or Paypal prior to doing so and it might help your case initially if you don't.

Given the neg I would not send untracked.

hiccup123

candjsmum wrote: »

I appreciate what you are saying Steve, but I am worried that they may say they do not have it even if I have returned it by a trackable method. Where would I stand then. I have just looked again at their feedback and only yesterday they had a neg to say "6 weeks and still waiting for a refund". This does worry me a bit.

refunds via cases opened against sellers don't take 6 weeks. That buyer might not have opened a case