Ebay and Distance Selling Regulations

Fleabite

Hi

Has anyone ever contacted Ebay and successfully got a seller to refund the postage costs/other deductions to a buyer on a cancelled order?

I purchased a Buy It Now item from a registered business Ebayer.

However, it was not suitable for my purpose and I cancelled the purchase within 7 days of delivery and asked to return the item. However, their terms and conditions are that if you return an item which was sent post free they would deduct 25% when making the refund. When I read this I thought 'okay' but a colleague told me that this contravened the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs) and this is correct as the DSRs clearly state that the refund should be a full refund and include the cost of delivery and that no deduction should be made for restocking or administration.

This seller’s T & Cs also state that the buyer isresponsible for the postage in sending the item back, which is allowed in the DSRs and I fully accept this responsibility.

What I can’t get through to the seller is that their terms and conditions CANNOT override your statutory rights regarding refunds, they can only enhance them. They insist they are entitled to charge this 25%. As we had obviouly reached a stalemate, I left it that I would return the item (which I have) and if they deduct 25% I will then consider my options.

Luckily, the sum I am talking about is only £5, but I feel if I just lie back and let them deduct this, they will never see any need to comply with the regulations. I certainly would have accepted this charge if I hadn't been advised this wasn't legal.

So back to my original question, has anyone ever taken this matter up with Ebay (or Paypal as this is who I paid through) and got a favourable result? Alternatively, has anyone taken another route eg made a small claims court claim?

Many thanks for any help.

FB

QuackQuackOops

As a matter of interest did you send the item back by recorded delivery?

If you did not use recorded the seller might claim that they have not received the item back.

If you did use recorded and he does not refund you in full then open a dispute and escalate it as soon as you can. Ebay will ask for the "tracking number" (it isnt a tracking number in the UK but thats what Ebay call it). Once the tracking number has been entered, then you will receive your full refund even if the seller has refused to accept it.

You are perfectly correct in that Ebay T&Cs are in addition to DSRs, not instead of.

bylromarha

Had the opposite experience with ebay.

I returned an item. Seller refused to refund my postage as his T+C said he wouldn't. I bugged the seller, quoting DSRs. Seller contacted ebay for clarification and ebay, he claimed, said he didn't have to. Gave me a ebay reference and the web address of the ebay web page he was given during the live chat.

I still bugged and finally got my £3 postage back as a goodwill gesture.

Bet bit was I put as feedback "seller t+c illegal due to no understanding of DSRs" and ebay pulled it on sellers request!!!!! I then got an abusive email from the seller!!!!!

Awful - ebay think they are above UK law by backing sellers like this.

RFW

It's not just sellers on Ebay
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19910561

For the OP, if you claim from Ebay or Paypal they will/can refund all the money you initially paid.

If it's a bigger seller you can also report them to Trading Standards/OFT, if they get a few complaints against them then things will change.

I think the problem is that it doesn't happen too often and that it will rarely be a large amount of money so no one complains (either to Ebay or any external bodies). The more complaints that are made the more chance things will start to change.

As a seller, I really don't understand the restocking fees, it is a pain getting items returned and can be costly but if it's handled well you can keep a customer, get them to buy something else and recommend the good service to their friends and family.

I will refer any sellers to one of the most successful online retailers from the US, Zappos, who offer a free return on shoes. Their customers often send for a few pairs at a time and only keep one or two. There's even a book been written about how they got so big so quick.