Best way to get a refund

thomasanchovie

I bought a sky+ box off ebay which I've found out doesn't work. I've rang sky and they say that the hard disk must be faulty and will need an engineers visit. I've also posted on a technical forum to see if anyone had any ideas about what the fault could be but the answers I've had have agreed that the hard disk sounds like it must be faulty.

I paid for the item via paypal and have contacted the seller who insists that the box worked perfectly but has since stopped replying to my emails.

If I go through paypal to get a refund what would I need to do, would I get the full amount refunded incluing the postage and packaging or would I have to pay for the item to be sent back and only be refunded the cost of the sky box minus the postage and packaging?

Contains_Mild_Peril

Your refund should include outward postage, but unfortunately you'll have to return the faulty item at your own expense.

thomasanchovie

I've started the paypal dispute, but the seller has now got back in touch with me to say that as far as hes concerned he sold a working item that I must have damaged and he doesn't do refunds.

He's a private seller so is he entitled to do this?

Also, hes been replying directly to my email address, it looks like he hasn't acknowledged the paypal dispute yet. Should I escelate it to a claim and forward the emails on to paypal or if it goes the 20 days and he doesn't respond will it automatically go in my favour?

frivolous_fay

thomasanchovie wrote: »

Also, hes been replying directly to my email address, it looks like he hasn't acknowledged the paypal dispute yet. Should I escelate it to a claim and forward the emails on to paypal or if it goes the 20 days and he doesn't respond will it automatically go in my favour?

By not responding to the dispute he's putting you at an advantage. IIRC it's possible to win an SNAD dispute and not have to return the item, if the seller doesn't respond. (It happened to me) Presumably he doesn't want paypal to know that he's unwilling to refund - hence the emails.

thomasanchovie

frivolous_fay wrote: »

By not responding to the dispute he's putting you at an advantage. IIRC it's possible to win an SNAD dispute and not have to return the item, if the seller doesn't respond. (It happened to me) Presumably he doesn't want paypal to know that he's unwilling to refund - hence the emails.

How would this work?
I've read through paypal and they say that the dispute will be closed after 20 days, and that once disputes are closed they cannot be re-opened.
Do I need to escalate it to a claim or leave it the 20 days to see if he responds?

I'm just concerned that if I escalate it to a claim and return the goods to him he could refuse to sign for them and I'll be stuck with a faulty box and down an extra £15.

greeneye

No point in hanging around - escalate it immediately (depending on wether you had buyer protection or not this could prevent your seller emptying his paypal account and you loosing out).
The whole escalation thing is just about trying to get buyer and seller to sought things out so paypal don't have to get of their !!!!!! - it's pretty obvious you and your seller aren't going to rectify this by yourselves - so escalate now.

If he refuses to sign for it and it is returned to yourself, I belive paypal then instruct you to send it to them and start whacking on all kinds of charges to the seller like storage costs etc.

If you use special delivery and he didn't sign it's kept at the depot for 3 days and then returned not sure how long for recorded delivery.