Why does eBay always find for the buyer?

mschultz

About 10 months ago I sold a new Blackberry in a sealed box on eBay to a UK buyer.


All went well initially as I shipped it to him after receiving immediate payment to my Paypal account.


10 days after the buyer received the phone he contacted me to say there was a problem with some keys on the keyboard. When I questioned the buyer I was told such a long story that you wouldn't believe - he was very ill and his mother was hospitalised so that's why he took so long to test the phone. However, before this he revealed he was a dealer.


This is when the fun started as he raised a case against me to say that the item was not as described. My "defence" was a more complete version of the above with email evidence and photographs to back this up. A few days later I discovered that eBay found in favour of the buyer. He returned the phone to me and eBay took money from Paypal to reimburse him. I told ebay that the phone was returned incomplete (no charger) and damaged (by water ingress - I run an IT Support business so see this a lot with PC keyboards) but they still refunded the money.


eBay refused all my arguments and credible evidence. The have subsequently sent me in excess of 100 threatening emails requesting I repay that a shortfall of £4.99 they didn't have on account at Paypal. Somehow they don't seem to be able to process that they owe me £6.95 i.e. I owe them nothing.


I also made a complaint against the buyer for dishonestly claiming a refund and not returning the goods complete and in their original state. I then discovered that eBay refuse to tell me the outcome of my complaint. The best they can offer is to point me at the trading standards web site!!


So the way it stands at the moment is that my account has been suspended for 10 months, I have a damaged phone and the buyer has the charger. I have today demanded a call from a UK based manager. I seriously doubt ebay will contact me.


Does anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed?

RFW

mschultz wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed?

A court claim against the buyer if it is worth it.

Ebay have two options, to believe the buyer or the seller. Being a seller carries more responsibility and risk than being a buyer.

TKPeters

eBay have always maintained & always will, that they're just a marketplace & dealing with buyer/seller issues.

They're just following policy & the buyer has returned it, & eBay have refunded that buyer.
Any further complaints have to be taken up with the buyer, as eBay do not know the condition of the item prior to the seller sending it to the buyer.

Your issue is with the Buyer, take the Buyer to court via MoneyClaim Online, you have all the evidence to pursue this & the buyer will have to pay the court costs, if you win,
If they want to defend it, they can have the case move to their local crown court, which could be a day out.

eBay do not have any UK managers, CS is in Dublin & as soon as you pay the money owed to eBay/Paypal, your issue with them is final & the account will be reopened

mschultz

I'm sorry I don't agree with you.


eBay have to have some responsibility in this matter because they take a sizeable fee and ignored my advice that there was a problem with the return BUT they still returned the buyers money. At the least this is very irresponsible and has left me with the problem.


Legally - yes I can sue BUT who even knows if the name and address filed on eBay are accurate?


Sorry but if eBay want to charge for such a service and act as judge, jury and executioner, they have to take some legal responsibility.

pinkshoes

If you can prove your buyer didn't return the phone in the same condition, then send them a letter before action and give them 14 days to rectify the situation before you take court action.

Did you record the emei number and check they sent the same phone back?

RFW

mschultz wrote: »

I'm sorry I don't agree with you.


eBay have to have some responsibility in this matter because they take a sizeable fee and ignored my advice that there was a problem with the return BUT they still returned the buyers money. At the least this is very irresponsible and has left me with the problem.


Legally - yes I can sue BUT who even knows if the name and address filed on eBay are accurate?


Sorry but if eBay want to charge for such a service and act as judge, jury and executioner, they have to take some legal responsibility.

What would you have Ebay do? If you say the item is not as it was sent and the buyer says it is. They have to believe someone, they're not going to have someone call round when you pack the item and check it at the receiver's address and then check again when you get it back. Your word isn't good enough. If you think Ebay have some legal responsibility then sue Ebay. The buyer has consumer rights, the seller doesn't.
It's not too difficult to check if the name and address you have for the buyer is the correct one.
Being a seller carries risk, being a buyer (unless explicitly specified) should not.

mschultz

eBay were advised that there was a problem with the returned item BUT they still refunded the money.

This is the problem I have - "they refunded the money" - i.e. I have absolutely no leverage to sort the problem out - other than to go via the legal route.

All eBay had to do was hang on to the refund until the matter was resolved - and there would be none of this nonsense.

Pretty obvious really?

Also you have totally ignored the point I made about the tall story about the time taken to report the phone faulty, etc. Had the buyer been honest in his reason for return this also would not have caused a problem.

RFW

mschultz wrote: »

Also you have totally ignored the point I made about the tall story about the time taken to report the phone faulty, etc. Had the buyer been honest in his reason for return this also would not have caused a problem.

A long story and a mention of being a dealer doesn't necessarily mean he was lying. The bottom line is Ebay get a complaint of a faulty item and ask for return, then they refund. That's it. You can report the buyer and if he's been accused of similar before it may get looked into, but not much more Ebay will do. Photographs aren't evidence of much unfortunately, if the buyer says he received it as he sent it you back you can't really prove he's lying, even if, as it would seem, he is. A court may believe you based on the evidence, Ebay don't have to bother.