Am I still entitled to a refund if I'm unable to return the item?

Alice_in_Dunderland

I bought a wireless computer mouse from eBay on behalf of my boyfriend. Within a few days it completely stopped working so he told me to get a refund. The seller asked me to open a refund on eBay and return the item.

Then I found out that my boyfriend threw the mouse in the bin, saying that in the past Chinese sellers have given him a refund without him having to send the item back. I have no idea whether the seller of the mouse is Chinese based.

So, my question is, am I still entitled to a refund if there's no physical item to send back? Thanks.

DCFC79

Alice_in_Dunderland said:

I bought a wireless computer mouse from eBay on behalf of my boyfriend. Within a few days it completely stopped working so he told me to get a refund. The seller asked me to open a refund on eBay and return the item.

Then I found out that my boyfriend threw the mouse in the bin, saying that in the past Chinese sellers have given him a refund without him having to send the item back. I have no idea whether the seller of the mouse is Chinese based.

So, my question is, am I still entitled to a refund if there's no physical item to send back? Thanks.

No item no refund I afraid.

In future he should wait for a response before throwing it away.

Brie

No.  Not unless the seller said no need to return - sometimes the cost of a return is more than the item is worth.  But some (such as yours) appears to want the item back - potentially to check it was actually not working, or was repairable.  

Think your BF needs to go out and buy his own mouse.  And give you your money back too.

Penguin_

Has the seller asked you to return the item?

The_Unready

Irrespective of the refund issue, I think I'd be telling your boyfriend to buy his own mouse next time!

Aylesbury_Duck

Not entitled to one, but the seller may refund anyway.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If you are still within 30 days of the delivery date the eBay Money Back Guarantee will cover the transaction.

You need to open a returns request, the seller must provide a label for the return and the item then needs to be returned.

Without having the item to return you won’t be able to claim a refund through eBay unless the seller refuses to provide a label.

It’s not the best idea to simply throw something away as the seller is entitled to ask for it to be returned or some sellers may for example request a photo of the item having been destroyed before issuing a refund without a return. The reason for this is obvious really  

Ditzy_Mitzy

Brie said:

No.  Not unless the seller said no need to return - sometimes the cost of a return is more than the item is worth.  But some (such as yours) appears to want the item back - potentially to check it was actually not working, or was repairable.  

Think your BF needs to go out and buy his own mouse.  And give you your money back too.

Agree entirely.  Irrespective of the mouse breaking, this is now the boyfriend's fault for throwing the thing away.  

Pollycat

Penguin_ said:

Has the seller asked you to return the item?

It seems so.

Alice_in_Dunderland said:

I bought a wireless computer mouse from eBay on behalf of my boyfriend. Within a few days it completely stopped working so he told me to get a refund. The seller asked me to open a refund on eBay and return the item.

Then I found out that my boyfriend threw the mouse in the bin, saying that in the past Chinese sellers have given him a refund without him having to send the item back. I have no idea whether the seller of the mouse is Chinese based.

So, my question is, am I still entitled to a refund if there's no physical item to send back? Thanks.

I'd ask for my money back from the boyfriend and never buy anything on his behalf again.

Manxman_in_exile

Alice, I think you need to bin your boyfriend.

I think it'll save you time now and avoid a lot of problems in future...

soolin

Whilst the question was a perfectly valid one , it does show just what sellers are up against on places like eBay.