UniversalGadgets01/eBay - Returning Faulty Phone

gmad_2

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice, and clarification of my rights. I bought a phone from Universal Gadgets (universalgadgets01 / universalgadgets.co.uk) on eBay, which turned out to be faulty. I contacted them by email and they sent a pre-paid label, which I used to return the phone. I sent it back last Monday (28th October). I've contacted them several times now asking if they have received the phone, but they won't tell me unless I scan and send my proof of postage. They just keep replying:

"could you please send an image of the proof of postage so we may locate your item ?"

This has been going on since September, and I'm really sick of them getting me to jump through hoops when it just feels like they are stalling and trying to avoid doing anything about it. Is there any legal reason why they can't just tell me if they've received the phone? I'm not able to scan the proof of postage until after the weekend, and as far as I'm aware, the proof of postage is only useful to me if I need to claim back from the Post Office in the event of them not receiving it, which they won't tell me if they have or they haven't.

Thanks in advance for any advice

McKneff

Sending proof of postage if you are wanting a response is hardly 'jumping through hoops'

Just take a photograph and email that so you don't need to wait for a scanner.

The sooner you do it, the sooner its resolved.

They want proof of postage to prove who you are, you could be just anyone, so there request is reasonable.

Hintza

Because if you don't have a COP they might claim not to have received it back. At the very least this is cheeky of them and at the most it is potentially fraudulent!!

I disagree with McNeff on this

gmad_2

The reason that I haven't sent it yet is that my mam took the parcel to the Post Office for me, and has the proof of postage, but she's on holiday until after the weekend. I didn't think they'd need it, as it doesn't tell them anything, other than that it was posted. And if they've received the phone, which they should have by now, then the proof of postage is meaningless to them. My name and address were on the parcel as the return address.

The phone was bought in June as a gift for my girlfriend, but she didn't use it straight away as she was going to volunteer in Zimbabwe for 3 months. When she got back and tried to use it, the phone wouldn't charge past 15%. We tried charging it in on and off state, for up to 24 hours, but it still didn't charge past 15%. Looking online, I found that this could be caused by a known fault in the motherboard.

I've been trying to return this phone since September. When I first contacted them, they just kept saying that their 60 day warranty had expired. Fair enough, but my consumer rights should still be unaffected? I opened a case with eBay, and they eventually sent me a return label. There's been about 15 emails sent back and forward, so that's why it feels like I'm jumping through hoops. The last 3 emails have not responded to anything I've said, and contain a 1 line sentence asking for the proof of postage.

So that's a bit more background, hopefully it helps explain things a bit better,
Thanks again