grrrrrrr, ebay shmeebay

The_fog_has_lifted

long story short-
bought item from ebay (a fairly expensive one).
Item arrived but was totally not as described- was used when listed as new.
contacted seller who was really awkward abourt returning the item.
Seller refused return of the item via courier and then claimed they were no longer at that address.
ebay informed me that if i returned to the address they were now claiming they are living and not the ebay registered address i would not be entitled to a refund.
after much debating and messing about I escelated and ebay gave me a full refund.
seller would again not accept that i would need to return item to origional address.
fast forward 6 months and seller made a small claims court application for the money for the item, plus charges, plus court feee, plus interest
judge struck out their claim
seller appealed the decision and had the claim reinstated
judge ruled of friday in the sellers favour and i have to pay all that money.
to say im gutted is an understatement and i dont know if i can appeal or not.
Item is useable but is not what i paid for, its in my parents garage still packed.
do i sell item as used and try to get some money back- write off the excess mpney ive lost and put it all down to a leart lesson and experience or fight and appeal the judgement this time around??

lilmiss1982

Why didn't you return the item to the sellers new address after ebay refunded you? You got your money back but still kept there expensive item.

RFW

The_fog_has_lifted wrote: »

to say im gutted is an understatement and i dont know if i can appeal or not.
Item is useable but is not what i paid for, its in my parents garage still packed.
do i sell item as used and try to get some money back- write off the excess mpney ive lost and put it all down to a leart lesson and experience or fight and appeal the judgement this time around??

Go and get some legal advice, either through Citizen's Advice or a local solicitor (some will offer free advice sessions). Do this as soon as possible before you end up with bailiffs knocking at the door.

Just as a matter of interest, were you in court, if so how were you told to pay? The court usually gives a certain amount of time.

soolin

lilmiss1982 wrote: »

Why didn't you return the item to the sellers new address after ebay refunded you? You got your money back but still kept there expensive item.

UK law should have protected the OP here, not forced him to pay back money he received from ebay.

OP I agree with RFW, get legal advice quickly, this sounds wrong.

Having said that, this is the one time that ebay are in the right and as far as I understand the law on purchases (which is probably not a lot) the court was wrong.

usefulmale

soolin wrote: »

UK law should have protected the OP here, not forced him to pay back money he received from ebay.

OP I agree with RFW, get legal advice quickly, this sounds wrong.

Having said that, this is the one time that ebay are in the right and as far as I understand the law on purchases (which is probably not a lot) the court was wrong.

I think the seller has to either have the item back OR the money. They can't be without either. The buyer has the money AND the item. The buyer needs to either pay back the money OR return the item.

soolin

usefulmale wrote: »

I think the seller has to either have the item back OR the money. They can't be without either. The buyer has the money AND the item. The buyer needs to either pay back the money OR return the item.

Not as far as I understand the rules that were in place at the time.

The buyer has to make the item available, or attempt to return it, if seller refuses to accept the return, or refuses to collect then buyer gets both.

Otherwise all a seller would have to do is to refuse to accept the parcel when it was returned (as happened in this instance) and buyers would never ever be able to get a refund.

Showing that the buyer has followed the law and has tried to return item, should have been enough to protect the buyer.

Brooker_Dave

soolin wrote: »

The buyer has to make the item available, or attempt to return it, if seller refuses to accept the return, or refuses to collect then buyer gets both.

But if it was a private sale?

Clearly the buyer got a refund and kept the item, that's why he lost in court.

Now he or she needs to cough up or get a CCJ.

usefulmale

soolin wrote: »

Not as far as I understand the rules that were in place at the time.

The buyer has to make the item available, or attempt to return it, if seller refuses to accept the return, or refuses to collect then buyer gets both.

Otherwise all a seller would have to do is to refuse to accept the parcel when it was returned (as happened in this instance) and buyers would never ever be able to get a refund.

Showing that the buyer has followed the law and has tried to return item, should have been enough to protect the buyer.

It's not worded very clearly, but according to the OP, the buyer has not attempted to return the item. They instead followed ebays instructions to return it to the original address, where the seller said they no longer lived, or be denied a refund.

When ebay refunded the money, the buyer should then have returned the item to the seller at whatever address they wanted.

If the buyer had returned the item and the seller refused to accept delivery, the buyer could have pointed this out in court, as you say, but I suspect that the buyer never attempted a return, listening instead to ebay, who do not make the law.

The_fog_has_lifted

I did contact the seller once I had my refund to return the item and the emailed me to say they were no longer prepared to receive a return as thy had left the country. I packed up the item and made it available for collection by courier and spoke to eBay via their help desk chat. They advised me that all I had to do was make the item available for the seller to collect or have a courier collect. I did this and emailed the seller to tell them so. I didn't attend court as the date in court was set without attendance. The irony is the address I have been asked by the court to send payment to is the one the seller claims thy no longer live at!!!
It seems all a seller has to do is refuse receipt of a return and it's on the buyer to take the hit! I am now left out of pocket and with a second had product that I wanted new. I guess I may as well sell it on as used and try to get some of the money back!

The_fog_has_lifted

usefulmale wrote: »

It's not worded very clearly, but according to the OP, the buyer has not attempted to return the item. They instead followed ebays instructions to return it to the original address, where the seller said they no longer lived, or be denied a refund.

When ebay refunded the money, the buyer should then have returned the item to the seller at whatever address they wanted.

If the buyer had returned the item and the seller refused to accept delivery, the buyer could have pointed this out in court, as you say, but I suspect that the buyer never attempted a return, listening instead to ebay, who do not make the law.

I returned it before the seller then claimed they no longer lived there, it was in retrospect that eBay gave me the above advice.

usefulmale

The_fog_has_lifted wrote: »

I did contact the seller once I had my refund to return the item and the emailed me to say they were no longer prepared to receive a return as thy had left the country. I packed up the item and made it available for collection by courier and spoke to eBay via their help desk chat. They advised me that all I had to do was make the item available for the seller to collect or have a courier collect. I did this and emailed the seller to tell them so. I didn't attend court as the date in court was set without attendance. The irony is the address I have been asked by the court to send payment to is the one the seller claims thy no longer live at!!!
It seems all a seller has to do is refuse receipt of a return and it's on the buyer to take the hit! I am now left out of pocket and with a second had product that I wanted new. I guess I may as well sell it on as used and try to get some of the money back!

Is the seller a private seller?

What does 'set without attendance' mean? Are you saying the court told you not to attend and put your side of the case?