eBay item received faulty, expensive courier costs - where do I stand ?

Jimmy_Boy

Hi,
Curious as to where I stand with regards to a recent ebay purchase which has arrived today.
The item is a UPS for server (https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Smart-UPS-X-3000VA-Rack-Tower-LCD-200-240V/P-SMX3000RMHV2U) which I got for a good price (£150). However I had to pay for a pallet company to collect and deliver at a cost of £80.
The item arrived today and to cut a long story short - it doesnt work (A battery bus soft start fault exists), googling suggests this MAY be a faulty battery but also quite possibly a faulty unit.
The advert states nothing about the unit being faulty.
My understanding with ebay and returns is I can return it for a full refund, the issue is its going to cost me another £80. So I will of spent £150 + £80 + £80 (£310), get £150 back, and essentially be £160 out of pocket with nothing to show for it.
Does anyone have any advice on how best to proceed with my situation ?
Thanks in advance.

forgotmyname

Repair the device?   If that is a cheaper option?

Jimmy_Boy

I believe a replacement battery is in the region of £400 and theres no guarantee that will fix the issue.

couriervanman

So if its faulty file a claim with ebay

Jimmy_Boy

couriervanman said:

So if its faulty file a claim with ebay

Would I be eligible for any of the costs paid out in my courier expenses ? If I return it for a refund then ive paid £160 for it to take a round trip.

soolin

Was the item a collection only item?

If so then as you arranged your own courier seller doesn’t have to refund you for your outward courier and you might have a fight on your hand for the return courier as well. An experienced seller with a high standing account could argue that a collection item is just that, so for a refund it would need to returned back as they cannot be responsible for something after it was collected from them as you accepted the risk of a third party handling collection and they might have caused damage to it.  However I suspect initially you would win the SNAD and seller would be expected to supply a return label - but I wouldn’t like to say that for definite. 

Jimmy_Boy

Yes it was collection only. He is in scotland I am in cornwall so I asked if he would consider delivery. He said not himself due to ebay time-wasters and being lumbered with expensive delivery costs, but would happily put on a pallet for me if I arranged my own courier to which I agreed, I dont want to be 'that guy', I would like to resolve the issue but I dont see a good way forward. If I keep it then ive lost £230, if I return it then ive lost £160, if I try a new battery then its an outlay of about £350 - £400. At the end of the day... ive purchased something in good faith and would just like my item to work. Best case scenario for me is I get a refund of £150 and dont have to return it (saving delivery costs) meaning im only £80 out of pocket, but thats not fair to the seller. I dont really want to start a dispute, but im not sure if I have a choice or just 'suck it up' but its £230 lost due to no fault of mine.

Ive contacted the seller who has said the item was working, ive replied saying the fault was displayed as soon as I turned the item on, im awaiting a reply.

soolin

Jimmy_Boy said:

Yes it was collection only. He is in scotland I am in cornwall so I asked if he would consider delivery. He said not himself due to ebay time-wasters and being lumbered with expensive delivery costs, but would happily put on a pallet for me if I arranged my own courier to which I agreed, I dont want to be 'that guy', I would like to resolve the issue but I dont see a good way forward. If I keep it then ive lost £230, if I return it then ive lost £160, if I try a new battery then its an outlay of about £350 - £400. At the end of the day... ive purchased something in good faith and would just like my item to work. Best case scenario for me is I get a refund of £150 and dont have to return it (saving delivery costs) meaning im only £80 out of pocket, but thats not fair to the seller. I dont really want to start a dispute, but im not sure if I have a choice or just 'suck it up' but its £230 lost due to no fault of mine.

Ive contacted the seller who has said the item was working, ive replied saying the fault was displayed as soon as I turned the item on, im awaiting a reply.

if you are prepared to lose the original £80 but try for the item cost back then open a SNAD on ebay and ask for a label or courier arrangement for item to be returned. You will need to be proactive as the system isn't really geared up for collection only items to be returned and to start with you might just get a label which is not going to be useful!  If it is the seller that I think I've found they are a low feedback seller selling off bits of old office tech, they don't actually confirm it is working but they also don't say it isn't - so normally I should expect you to easily win an SNAD, the collection only bit though complicates this.

I once saw this likened to choosing something like fence posts online from a company and then going to collect it yourself , if they were faulty the company would probably say just bring them back for a refund, but would not be expected to pay your petrol. You are definitely due a refund if items are not as described - the issue here is just the return costs and how to get them reimbursed. A seller could argue that collection by a third party negates your buyer guarantee as they cannot be reasonably expected to allow for the fact that someone from the other end of the country wants to buy it.

Make sure you open the case in ebay and not paypal. On Paypal you would be expected to return it at your own cost.

soolin

Here are the links to ebay confirming their guarantee about faulty goods:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee?id=4210

This is the bit I am worried about :
Items collected in person are covered, provided all of the above conditions are met

It goes on to say (and this is what an experienced seller would use)

Not covered - 
Items collected by a third party on behalf of the buyer

You are relying on both the seller and ebay (and ebay never know their own rules)  not realising that you don't have buyer protection .

forgotmyname

You dont need to replace the batteries to test them though. A simple multimeter costing under £5 can be used to
test the batteries.

Although the software you get with them should be able to test the batteries also

Jimmy_Boy

I don’t really trust myself messing around with high voltage items when I don’t know what I’m doing.

I have tried to doing a ‘self test’ on the unit and through the management console but they come back as ‘refused’, like I say all my research points towards a faulty unit.

i contacted APC this morning and spoke to their technical department to try and resolve the issue - they ran through a series’s of tests and concluded the unit is faulty and requires a replacement, not a battery fault.

The seller has gone quiet on me, I’ll give him a little time to reply to see if he has any suggestions but imagine the response is going to be ‘it was fine when I sent it’.

One thing of note... the instructions for the UPS clearly state that the battery should be disconnected from the unit for transport, however this was not the case - the battery was connected, I don’t know if this would have any bearing on the item arriving faulty or not.

Doesnt look to good for me though, whatever option I persue, I’m out of pocket.