Recalled battery in eBay laptop

trukdiver

I bought a refurb Thinkpad on eBay. On checking it, I found the battery was from a batch that Lenovo had recalled as a "fire hazard". I went through the automated recall process but found it had already been replaced. I have no idea who has the replacement.

I wondered what the legal position is? Is it acceptable eBay practice to sell recalled batteries? Or should I be able to get it replaced with a safe battery? (even if it's a third party one).

patman99

This is odd. Normally when a battery is replaced under recall, the old battery is returned and a new one sent out.

Deru

I think you should call Lenovo and ask for a replacement battery. Say you never received the replacement they sent?

If not, complain to the eBay seller. Seller may not even be aware of the recall. We don't know how many times the laptop has changed hands.

Mr_Toad

patman99 wrote: »

This is odd. Normally when a battery is replaced under recall, the old battery is returned and a new one sent out.

Not really.

More likely a testament to poor process and/or greed.

The original may well have been returned but then there are always people who see loads of 'perfectly good' batteries being disposed of who then find a way to liberate a few to make a bit of money. Or, it's possible a third party company was contracted to do the disposal and decided that there was even more money to be made by selling them on.

paddyrg

Call them back, and tell them you're concerned a returned battery had ended up back on the market, have it in your hands, so maybe they've made a record keeping mistake or one of their people is selling returns? You're scared that it'll catch fire if the problem is big enough for a recall, and then where would you all be if they refused a return of a known dangerous component? Etc...

shaun_from_Africa

patman99 wrote: »

This is odd. Normally when a battery is replaced under recall, the old battery is returned and a new one sent out.

Mr_Toad wrote: »

The original may well have been returned but then there are always people who see loads of 'perfectly good' batteries being disposed of who then find a way to liberate a few to make a bit of money. Or, it's possible a third party company was contracted to do the disposal and decided that there was even more money to be made by selling them on.

paddyrg wrote: »

Call them back, and tell them you're concerned a returned battery had ended up back on the market, have it in your hands, so maybe they've made a record keeping mistake or one of their people is selling returns?

None of these scenarios apply in the case in hand.
When Lenovo replaced the suspect batteries, they didn't require the old ones to be returned. They simply asked the intended recipients to dispose of the old batteries by using appropriate recycling facilities.

jbainbridge

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

None of these scenarios apply in the case in hand.
When Lenovo replaced the suspect batteries, they didn't require the old ones to be returned. They simply asked the intended recipients to dispose of the old batteries by using appropriate recycling facilities.

So the seller didn't dispose of the battery! I would contact the seller and see what they say.

OP - check the sellers feedback on ebay and see if they recently sold a battery too?

This all assumes it was a recent purchase.

Failing that contact Lenovo again.

Mr_Toad

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

None of these scenarios apply in the case in hand.
When Lenovo replaced the suspect batteries, they didn't require the old ones to be returned. They simply asked the intended recipients to dispose of the old batteries by using appropriate recycling facilities.

But it does.

As I said, it's a failure of process and greed. Rather than do the job properly many of those potentially faulty batteries remained in circulation.

shaun_from_Africa

Mr_Toad wrote: »

But it does.

As I said, it's a failure of process and greed. Rather than do the job properly many of those potentially faulty batteries remained in circulation.

The reason I stated that none of the quoted posted applied in this case was because all of them referred to the suspect battery having been returned, something that wasn't required to be done.

There is a logical reason why they probably didn't want the suspect batteries returned and that is because of the problems with sending lithium batteries through the mail or with a courier if the person sending that battery is not certified as a hazardous goods packer or shipper.
If the batteries are suspected of being faulty they are totally prohibited from transport by air or with any of the major courier companies due to the potential fire risk.

I agree that the laptop being sold complete with a recalled battery was due to greed, but this would be the greed of the person who originally sold it and not the greed of Lenovo.

trukdiver

Thanks everybody.

It was from an "asset management company" (i.e. An IT scrap merchant) so there are lots of possibilities about who got the replacement. I've emailed them with a link to a warning about the batteries. I don't want accuse them of anything yet as it may just be sloppy processing on their part. I'm assuming they are ultimately responsible?

esuhl

trukdiver wrote: »

Thanks everybody.

It was from an "asset management company" (i.e. An IT scrap merchant) so there are lots of possibilities about who got the replacement. I've emailed them with a link to a warning about the batteries. I don't want accuse them of anything yet as it may just be sloppy processing on their part. I'm assuming they are ultimately responsible?

I imagine so. I'd let Trading Standards know. If the battery is so unsafe that it has been recalled, presumably it doesn't meet the legal safety requirements. Selling a battery that has been knowingly identified as unsafe (as it has already been replaced) should (in my opinion) see the seller slapped with a large fine.