Can section 75 help?

maxxpayne

Hi Everyone,

I have ended up in a somewhat tricky situation and wondering if it's worth pursuing section 75.

Towards the end of last year I bought a car stereo from eBay for £300. The item was advertised as used but the seller claimed he'd only had it for a short period of time and well within warranty period. Given the seller's rating, I had no cause for concern and went ahead with the purchase. Normally, I pay for all my eBay purchases with PayPal (with a credit card as payment source) however, in this instance I decided to use direct credit card payment instead. The item arrived promptly and true to the seller's words, was effectively brand new and boxed.

Fast forward last month or so and the stereo developed a fault. At first it was intermittent but now it looks very much permanent. I contacted the authorized distributor of the stereo in the UK and they weren't of much help, asking me to return it to the seller on eBay, despite me stating that it was a private purchase on eBay. I also mailed the parent company in Germany and received the same response (asking me to return to seller). In the mean time, I dropped an email to the seller asking him if he has proof of purchase or something that will help me deal with the original seller of the stereo but have no received a response yet.

Given all this, what should be the best course of action? Can I pursue a section 75 claim? Should I wait till the eBay seller gets back to me?

Thoughts welcome.

[Deleted User]

Easiest would be to raise a dispute through eBay.

maxxpayne

Deleted_User said:

Easiest would be to raise a dispute through eBay.

I don't think I can given that it's been more than 3 moths already.

McKneff

It was 2nd hand 

QrizB

I'm not an expert on Section 75 by any means but doesn't it mean that the CC company shares the seller's responsibility for the goods conforming to contract?

If this was a private purchase, not from a trader, then you'll need to prove that the goods were misdescribed.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/consumer-rights-what-you-need-to-know "Buying from a private seller makes things slightly more complicated. As long as the product has been accurately described, you are not entitled to a refund, repair or replacement."

As you stated:

maxxpayne said:

The item was advertised as used but the seller claimed he'd only had it for a short period of time and well within warranty period. Given the seller's rating, I had no cause for concern and went ahead with the purchase. Normally, I pay for all my eBay purchases with PayPal (with a credit card as payment source) however, in this instance I decided to use direct credit card payment instead. The item arrived promptly and true to the seller's words, was effectively brand new and boxed.

From what you've written it's not clear to me that the seller misrepresented the goods?

Sandtree

Nothing that you have posted suggests that the seller was anything but a private individual selling an item secondhand.  Whilst for commercial sales of secondhand items the vendor has certain responsibilities the reality of private sales is much more caveat emptor (aka, buyer beware). You would need to prove that the vendor sold it knowing it had problems. The fact you had it 5 months or so before problems emerged is a bad sign for you.

Warranties are additional to consumer rights and so are subject to T&Cs which can be as broad or restrictive as the company wants. Many warranties are non-transferable and so buying new may get you a 3 year warranty but the 2nd hand purchaser gets nothing even if they buy it as a few month old item. 

Consumer rights are between the original purchaser and original commercial seller but again don't transfer if the item is sold.

maxxpayne

Correct. The item was second hand, e.g. used. But given that I didn’t pay the seller directly and used an intermediary, eBay, which also happens to be a business what are my chances of using section 75?

GrumpyDil

Even if you managed to get around the issue of using ebay as the payment processor S75 only gives you the same rights against the credit card company as the seller.

In this case you purchased a second hand item from a private individual, not a business. Simply put you don't appear to have much chance of a successful claim at all.