Faulty eBay chair

wolvesmat

I bought an office chair from a seller on eBay just under 4 months ago for £84. The sale and delivery was fine and I was initially pleased with the chair. It was brand new when I bought it. However less than 4 months old it has catastrophically failed. Two of the legs on the base that the casters attached to snapped causing me to fall to the floor. I wasn't seriously injured but quite painful bruising and I've broken a foot on my freezer as I fell against it.
I've contacted the seller who has offered me a £20 part refund says there was just a 3 month guarantee. Which had expired by just 3 weeks. I've initially declined this but they're not moving on the original offer. I believe the chair was never fit for purpose although there's no way of realising this at time of purchase . I can accept stitches splitting but this is dangerous. It's rated weight is 130 kg and I'm nowhere near that! 
 Thanks

theonlywayisup

Ebay and Paypal give buyer protection but they aren't meant as a guarantee and they don't remove your legal consumer rights. Where is the seller based? 

wolvesmat

I thought it was a UK seller as the item location was Lichfield but turns out the seller is based in Hong kong

y3sitsm3

wolvesmat said:

I thought it was a UK seller as the item location was Lichfield but turns out the seller is based in Hong kong

Might as well take the £20 then, you've got naff all chance of enforcing any legal rights against them (if you have any.)

sheramber

if you ever receive the £20.

MalMonroe

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

y3sitsm3

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Their eBay account for filing a false claim.

The eBay money back guarantee only covers items not received, items received damaged (not items going wrong after receipt) or not as described.  They'd also have to send the item back (to the seller in Hong Kond) which would be prohibitively expensive, and it's likely to go missing on the way anyway.

And finally, they'd need to request a return within 30 days or within the seller'sd return window (whichever is longer) so they're going to be out of time anyway.

soolin

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

y3sitsm3

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....