Sky HD box sold on ebay- buyer says it won't record

jem16

techspec wrote: »

No i meant Sky - they have made the boxes harder to transfer so they get money selling boxes/suscriptions.

Right - I'm with you now.

This is clearly because the buyer doesn't need it anymore.

I suspect he's either just realised his mistake that he needs an extra multiroom sub to record or he genuinely doesn't realsie Sky customer service can be a bit hit and miss.

You should not have to refund - but paypal will make you. So you can't win.

No that's what my son was saying.

Just don't pay return postage.

My son has replied to him late last night, being very poilite and once again offering to help him sort it out as we feel it's a set up issue. Gave him a link to a forum discussing the same issue with a wrongly paired card. My son has made it clear that we would both be losing out by him returning the box but if he insists on returning it that he would refund the initial purchase price on receipt of the item.

We await his reply.

jem16

Avoriaz wrote: »

Frustrating though it may be, you can't force the buyer to keep it. If he returns it you will have to refund the purchase price and the original postage.

Yes we have now gathered that. Rather poor really as this is a genuine sale and the box is perfect.

You don't have to refund the return costs and, in the circumstances, I wouldn't do that voluntarily, although you risk a negative and poor stars etc.

Yes that's the trouble here. My son is doing his brother a favour but it's his account that's at risk.

All you can do is take the loss, relist it and hope the next sale goes ok.

to be honest, this puts me off eBay.

What is the buyer’s feedback record like? There is a small possibility that he will return a broken box rather than the working box that you sold, although that usually only happens with higher value items. Unfortunately, if that happens, there is nothing you can realistically do.

His feeback is 100% positive and he's been a member since 2004. He did sell a Sky+ box in May 2011 but doubt that's connected.

£41 plus £10 postage is about the going rate on Ebay for Sky+ HD 890 (500gb) models. 895 (1.5gb) models sell for a bit more.

Some went for a little more. We sold the 895 box with no problems at all.

jem16

Avoriaz wrote: »

Jem can say that to the buyer, but the latter part in bold holds no weight with Ebay or Paypal claims. It might scare off a potential scammer.

The buyer could return anything of similar size and weight and get his money back if tracking shows delivery. Neither Ebay nor Paypal have any way of knowing what the item returned is. All they look at is the tracking details.

It seems the seller has no protection and all lies with the buyer which is rather unfair.

This is probably a buyer who doesn't understand how to get the Sky+ box properly matched to his Sky card and subscription and he will return the box in the same condition it was sold.

Yes I do think that is what is happening. Either that or someone who didn't realise the box would not record unless it has a subscription (multiroom probably) attached and has now discovered that.

Jem will just have to swallow the postage loss and relist.

Would be more tempted to advertise on my work's intranet where I have just sold 2 older boxes with no hassle and more money as they were collected. Wish we'd done that with this one!

If it is working properly I would advise not refunding the return postage costs and explain politely to the buyer that the box was fully functional as advertised.

The box was fully operational, both for viewing and recording, with never any issues at all. We will attempt to go down this line.

However, hopefully, with the realisation that he will have to stump up return postage of £12 he might have another go at getting it paired if he really genuinely wants the box and it's nothing more than a pairing problem.

jem16

Jaxer wrote: »

Call me suspicious, but it seems a bit odd that he doesn't want to waste any more time in making a phone call to Sky, but does have the time to go through the hassle of re-packing and returning it to you?

That's what I find odd too. A simple phone call to Sky asking them to try re-pairing the card and checking the record features have been enabled is all it should take.

I usually find the Sky Help forum more useful in solving problems like this than the phone support. Although it can depend on who you get at the other end of the phone.

Perhaps the realisation that he will have to pay return postage might help him decide to try again.

ess0two

More than likely switch the hard drives over,you'll get the box back with a knackered HD.

jem16

ess0two wrote: »

More than likely switch the hard drives over,you'll get the box back with a knackered HD.

Possible but seems a lot of work just for a hard drive.

Avoriaz

ess0two wrote: »

More than likely switch the hard drives over,you'll get the box back with a knackered HD.

Unlikely with the current Sky+ 890 and 895 models boxes as the hard drive is buried within the guts of the box and it has to be dismantled to get at it.

The previous models had the hard drive caddy at the top, above the other electronics and it was a doddle to remove and replace the hard disk.

It is a possible disk or box swap scam but those usually target higher value and more compact and cheaper to post items such as iPhones etc.

Avoriaz

jem16 wrote: »

to be honest, this puts me off eBay.

I appreciate your frustration but most transactions on Ebay go smoothly.

You have just been a bit unlucky here.

jem16

Avoriaz wrote: »

I appreciate your frustration but most transactions on Ebay go smoothly.

You have just been a bit unlucky here.

Update as of today.

Having heard nothing from the buyer yesterday, I was beginning to think he would just post it back and await his refund without telling us.

However today he has contacted my son and has said that he spoke to another Sky rep today and the box is now working. He has apologised for the inconvenience.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he really didn't know what he was doing fully and that he just managed to get one of Sky's inept technical reps who couldn't see that it was just a pairing issue.

Part of me does wonder a little though....

Jaxer

Glad it had a tidy ending.

That's the problem with eBay, you hear (or come across) so many different scams or bad experiences that it does sometimes seem too much hassle for getting rid of clutter. One bad experience can really put you off.