Dispute with eBay, Paypal and Aqua about replica goods

Legacy_user

I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction!!!!
I purchased items through Ebay with my Aqua Credit through Paypal. They turned out to be counterfeit. I proceeded to go to ebay to advise them of this matter. However they advised me that the items needed to be returned to the seller in order to obtain a refund. As per the sellers page, it does state that they are replica counterfeit goods (a detail I did not see initially.) I argued that it is illegal to sell counterfeit goods online and have reported this seller to ebay over 30 times. He is still selling online. The seller advised that if I return the goods he would refund me. I went back and forth with eBay until I finally was told by them to sign a legal affidavit and destroy the items. I would then be refunded. I did this and waited for my refund it did not come.
Therefore, i contacted paypal who were due to issue the refund. They advised that they could not refund me because their policy is to return the item to the seller in order to be refunded. Neither party seems particularly bothered by the fact that the seller has noted they are fake. I explained that I was following ebays guidance in destroying the items. They did not care and told me that the only way to resolve was to go through Mastercard aka Aqua.
I then contacted Aqua who asked for additional information that I sent and then they refunded me. They give the seller 45 days to respond and he has come back stating that he always lists his goods are counterfeit. They have since charged me for the transaction and the refund I was given has been taken off my card. They say they have to follow Mastercards policy of returning the item to the seller. I have raised a complaint with them as I did with Ebay and Paypal and will have to see what they say.

I cannot for the life of me understand why I am being penalised for being honest and following process when the seller gets to keep my money for selling fake items. They do not care that these are fake items. They just want the money. It has left me overdrawn now on the credit card with additional charges being added. I dont know what to do or where to go next if they dont uphold my complaint. From a customers point of view, they are all working against me and common sense as the seller clearly states that these are replica goods on the website. Ebay are greedy monsters for allowing him to keep selling the items. Can I go to trading standards? Or FOS if the complaint does not stand with Aqua?

I am very frustrated by this and ebay and paypal are very difficult companies to complain to. They have rigid policies. We are not talking about millions. Just £158 but I feel that I am in the right and the seller should not be allowed to do this!!!!

Any advice would be so welcome!

[Deleted User]

But the seller was being “honest” though as they items were listed as not being genuine?

Surely that’s your oversight

System

Its illegal to copy a design and replicate this and then sell it on!!!!! Ebay are aware of this being counterfeit.

Carrot007

sm88 wrote: »

Its illegal to copy a design and replicate this and then sell it on!!!!! Ebay are aware of this being counterfeit.

Without a lot more of the specifics of the goods from you this is just your point of view.


You would probably have got a refund if you opened an ebay dispute rather than a paypal one also.

[Deleted User]

It gets done all the time with everything though.

System

I did open a claim with ebay

ywlgy

You should've returned the good first to get the money back then report it. You dug a hole for yourself.

LABMAN

How has not getting refunded made you overdrawn? If the goods had been genuine surely you would still be in the same financial position.

Craig1981

if i saw something on ebay listed as fake or counterfeit, i wouldnt touch it

if i saw something that said replica, maybe i would, as this is a replica of an original, therefore to me not classed as fake or counterfeit

what was the item and price? surely if its listed as "Fake" the price would be pennies to the pound of the original product? this should have set off alarm bells in the first place, if you didnt see the description as fake

as you have used paypal, it would be first and foremost with ebay, then paypal. you would normally loose the right for comeback against a credit card company if it was purchased through a third party payment site like paypal

would be interesting to see the listing you are talking about

bengalknights

As the seller stated it was a Replica it would be down to the brand owner to report the issue with Ebay.

Have you contacted the brand owner?

PRAISETHESUN

The grounds for eBay/PayPal disputes typically come down to one of two problems: a) item not as described and b) item not received. As the items were advertised as "counterfeit" then they were clearly sold as described - it generally falls to the consumer to ensure that they are fit for purpose before making the purchase (ie. the fact that you didn't see they were advertised as counterfeit is not the seller's fault). The issue of the good being counterfeit by themselves is an entirely different matter beyond the scope of your claim, and not particularly relevant here.

You've stated that you opened a dispute with eBay, and that they advised you to return the items to the sender - this would've been the easiest way, and PayPal even has a free return shipping service if the seller wouldn't cover return costs, so I can't see why you wouldn't have taken this route. If you did destroy the item, can you provide proof? In my experience, throwing it in the trash and signing a statement saying that they were destroyed generally won't cut it. It sounds to me like you wanted to get a refund but still keep the item....