Sent the wrong thing. What's fair?

pimento

If someone ordered a vinyl LP from the US (cost more than the CD version) and they were sent the CD by mistake, what would be fair for sorting out the mistake?

The buyer got stung £13 for VAT and and outrageous £8 PO handling charge (not the seller's fault but may be pertinent if the vinyl is sent it's safe to assume the buy will be hit with the same charge again).

Would the buyer be expected to pay postage to return the CD to the seller in the US?

frugal_mike

pimento wrote: »

If someone ordered a vinyl LP from the US (cost more than the CD version) and they were sent the CD by mistake, what would be fair for sorting out the mistake?

The buyer got stung £13 for VAT and and outrageous £8 PO handling charge (not the seller's fault but may be pertinent if the vinyl is sent it's safe to assume the buy will be hit with the same charge again).

Would the buyer be expected to pay postage to return the CD to the seller in the US?

If this had happened when ordering under UK jurisdiction then there would be no obligation on the consumer to return the goods, just an obligation to make the goods available to the seller to collect at the sellers own cost. I have no idea what the laws in the US are, and I assume it's those laws that govern the situation you describe. Perhaps someone else will know the answer.

pimento

Buyer paid with PayPal. Could it be argued that the CD sent was significantly not as described?

frugal_mike

pimento wrote: »

Buyer paid with PayPal. Could it be argued that the CD sent was significantly not as described?

Well in that case then yes, I'd say something described as an LP would be significantly not as described if it was in fact a CD. However I don't think Paypal will force the seller to pay for return postage, and they won't refund your money until you supply tracking information to show the item is back with the seller. And they also won't refund the taxes and handling fees since they weren't part of the Paypal transaction.

The ebay board will probably know more about how Paypal works though.

pimento

OK thanks. The buyer (my son) has sent the seller an email explaining the mistake and he's waiting for a reply. I hope he can sort it out easily.

unholyangel

Were the charges correct? In other words, did the goods cost less than maximum value before you need to pay?

I ask as I had something similar years ago with retailer marking full RRP in dollars on package - instead of value in £.

Managed to get everything except RM fee back by sending off proof of purchase price.

shaun_from_Africa

unholyangel wrote: »

I ask as I had something similar years ago with retailer marking full RRP in dollars on package - instead of value in £.

In which case it was RM/HMCE who screwed up and not your seller.
When exporting goods from the US, the sender is required to state the value of those goods in $US and not in the currency paid.

unholyangel

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

In which case it was RM/HMCE who screwed up and not your seller.
When exporting goods from the US, the sender is required to state the value of those goods in $US and not in the currency paid.

Eh yes but no. There was more than one mistake, but it was the retailers mistake that was the source.

The full RRP wasn't the price I paid.

pimento

The package was marked at being worth $40US and the buyer was charged £2.94 plus an £8 handling charge. This is what was paid.

The LP vinyl version was more expensive than the CD and it is the vinyl version that the buyer bought, not the CD which was received.