eBay item never received - Ordered in April. Seller refused to help.

mattyprice4004

Hi there, just a quickie - I think I'm correct in what I think but wanted to double check.

Basically, in April my partner ordered an item through eBay. It never arrived, and after some to and fro emails we've established it could have been delivered to a block of flats up the road.

The item was left with someone who signed the package with a fake signature (something along the lines of greenhorsey) and despite us attempting to contact them, they wouldn't co operate.

We're Flat 2 number 12, and DPD say it went to Flat 2 number 2. Yes our address was correct in eBay.

We did chase afterwards, launched an eBay case but as they had a tracking number eBay sided with them. It seemed to hit a dead end in May.

My question is, I've now picked the issue up and I'm trying to resolve it. I've sent them a message this morning, but given we have a full copy of the DPD tracking information saying it was delivered to an incorrect address with a fake signature, we should be entitled to a refund or replacement, yes?

I'm fully prepared to take it to Small Claims if needed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

wealdroam

Firstly, give the seller time to respond.
As you realise, it is the seller's responsibility to get the stuff to you, and if his courier lets him down then he needs to resolve it.

After a week or so without a response, or if a negative response is received, it is probably time for a Letter Before Action.

Don't bother with email, write a real letter.

State the problem succinctly.
Tell them what you expect to happen... e.g. send you a refund of £xx.xx.
Tell them when you expect this to happen... e.g. within 14 days.
Tell them what will happen if they don't do this... you will start court action to recover your money.

Send it recorded delivery.
Google letter before action for many samples if you like.

Have a look at Money Claim Online while you are waiting for a response.

Edited to add:
How did you pay?
If by Paypal, is your address in Paypal also correct?

Mindless_Clone

Liability would lie with whomever put the wrong address on the parcel (if it was your seller that's them). Either way, your contract was with your seller, not the delivery company so you claim from them and they, if necessary, claim from the delivery company.

I'm surprised ebay sided with them, even with the tracking information uploaded, given the delivery company have admitted delivering to the wrong address. Did you actually speak to customer services or manage the case wholly through the resolution centre? It's probably too late for them to do anything now but might be worth a long shot to save you the hassle of chasing it through courts etc. Pop over to the ebay boards and ask on there as there's some very knowledgable people there who could advise you if it's worth looking at this option first.

If not, do as wealdroam advises.

visidigi

Ordered in April...stopped trying to resolve in May, disputed in September...

Unfortunately I don't rate your chances...

mattyprice4004

Thanks all, will bear it in mind.

visidigi wrote: »

Ordered in April...stopped trying to resolve in May, disputed in September...

Unfortunately I don't rate your chances...

That's the issue - the timescale. We kind of just gave up as the seller wasn't doing anything to resolve, and had other issues to deal with.

Now I have the time to bring it up again - I don't think 4 months is that unreasonable, but of course it'd depend how a court would see it.

visidigi

okay, if we leave the timings aside for a second...

How much was the item worth that you ordered?

Was it bought from a registered business or a private seller?

mattyprice4004

£30 from a proper business, with an eBay shop etc. Paid for by PayPal.

visidigi

Well PayPal is gone, they won't be interested.

£30 is pretty much not worth the effort - you would probably have to take the company to Small Claims to resolve - just because you have the time to pursue now versus the beginning of the year doesn't make it any more likely to resolve.

I think you've personally left it too long to be viable to claim.

terra_ferma

Mindless_Clone wrote: »

Liability would lie with whomever put the wrong address on the parcel (if it was your seller that's them). Either way, your contract was with your seller, not the delivery company so you claim from them and they, if necessary, claim from the delivery company.

I'm surprised ebay sided with them, even with the tracking information uploaded, given the delivery company have admitted delivering to the wrong address. Did you actually speak to customer services or manage the case wholly through the resolution centre? It's probably too late for them to do anything now but might be worth a long shot to save you the hassle of chasing it through courts etc. Pop over to the ebay boards and ask on there as there's some very knowledgable people there who could advise you if it's worth looking at this option first.

If not, do as wealdroam advises.

It sounds like either ebay or paypal made a mistake in making the decision, or the address given on paypal was wrong.
The buyer should only win a case if they have proof of delivery to the address given on paypal, although that could have easily been overlooked if the address is similar.

If the address given was wrong, it's hardly the seller's fault, although under DSR your friend would have had the right to cancel the order and get a refund (in real life a bit complicated to get a retailer to refund you for something you cannot return).

Would your friend win a small claims case if they gave the wrong address? Maybe someone here knows about similar cases?

visidigi

terra_ferma wrote: »

It sounds like either ebay or paypal made a mistake in making the decision, or the address given on paypal was wrong.
The buyer should only win a case if they have proof of delivery to the address given on paypal, although that could have easily been overlooked if the address is similar.

If the address given was wrong, it's hardly the seller's fault, although under DSR your friend would have had the right to cancel the order and get a refund (in real life a bit complicated to get a retailer to refund you for something you cannot return).

Would your friend win a small claims case if they gave the wrong address? Maybe someone here knows about similar cases?

Why is the courier not listed as a possible blame aspect? If the label is right and the courier delivered to the wrong address then I suspect thats why eBay sided with the seller...

arcon5

visidigi wrote: »

Well PayPal is gone, they won't be interested.

£30 is pretty much not worth the effort - you would probably have to take the company to Small Claims to resolve - just because you have the time to pursue now versus the beginning of the year doesn't make it any more likely to resolve.

I think you've personally left it too long to be viable to claim.

If this was a case of not received and only now reporting it as not received, then i'd agree. However, it was reported as lost within a reasonable time so I don't agree op doesn't have a viable claim.