eBay debt collectors

ib1827638613

I'll try to keep this short.  I, as a private seller, recently sold a bitcoin mining machine on eBay for £1200.  When it left my house it was in perfect worker order and had proved to be a very reliable miner during my 18 months ownership.  The buyer claims that it was defective because it was not hashing (think break horsepower of a car) at the normal hashrate that it should do.  He claimed for a refund and I rejected this on the grounds that this item has become faulty during his period of ownership.  It's a bit like buying a used car from a private seller, driving 5 miles down the motorway and having a breakdown.  From a legal perspective, the ownership has transferred and the previous owner of the car has no obligation to accept the return (except in this case there is the ebay money back guarantee).

Another reason for my rejection of his refund claim is that I have a strong belief that his claims of it being defective are fraudulent.  He admitted in one of his messages to me that he had been using the miner despite the fact he had claimed for a refund.  Why would he continue using it if it was defective?  And why should I as a seller accept a refund when I know he has been using it?

Ebay has ruled in favour of the buyer and has issued a refund of £1200 to the buyer and has said they don't have to return the miner to me.  I have cancelled my ebay direct debit so that they can't get the £1200 off me; however, this is likely to go to debt collectors if I refuse to pay.

My question is how much power do debt collectors have and are ebay likely to take me to court over it?  I am reading reports that in the end ebay never takes customers to court, but this is a sizeable amount.

cx6

yes they will and fees are likely to be added

debt collectors have zero power but if the case is found against you in court then court bailiffs have all the power of the law

Thrugelmir

ib1827638613 said:

I am reading reports that in the end ebay never takes customers to court, but this is a sizeable amount.

Be fleeced all the time if they didn't. 

soolin

Yes debt collectors will be involved, so make sure you understand the powers that they have and don’t allow them to over step those powers. Also you, and anyone eBay associate with you ,can no longer operate an eBay account.

However as for court this is where I disagree , no one has ever shown any instance of eBay going as far as court , along with many other long term users I believe you are safe from court until someone shows proof otherwise. 

in_the_Cotswolds

Or you could try a Letter Before Action against the buyer to recoup your money. Especially if you believe the machine to be fault free.

prowla

I don't understand how ebay can mandate a refund and that the buyer keeps the item - that doesn't make sense.

Of course the buyer would've had to operate the system in order to find out that it was running slow.

As to the refund ruling, that has to be down to the description of the item - was it described as "the ultimate Bitcoin mining system" or "a PC with xxx processor and yyy graphics card, as used for Bircoin mining"?

On to the operation of the machine - since there's software involved it very much depends upon the software versions, configuration, and compatibility; if the buyer has made changes then they could have been detrimental to performance.

I'm not sure what the communications have been leading up to the ruling, but it just doesn't seem right that they buyer gets to keep the £1200 item and get their £1200 back.

(Incidentally on the car analogy; bhp is brake horsepower.)

soolin

prowla said:

I don't understand how ebay can mandate a refund and that the buyer keeps the item - that doesn't make sense.

Of course the buyer would've had to operate the system in order to find out that it was running slow.

As to the refund ruling, that has to be down to the description of the item - was it described as "the ultimate Bitcoin mining system" or "a PC with xxx processor and yyy graphics card, as used for Bircoin mining"?

On to the operation of the machine - since there's software involved it very much depends upon the software versions, configuration, and compatibility; if the buyer has made changes then they could have been detrimental to performance.

I'm not sure what the communications have been leading up to the ruling, but it just doesn't seem right that they buyer gets to keep the £1200 item and get their £1200 back.

(Incidentally on the car analogy; bhp is brake horsepower.)

If seller refuses to engage with a SNAD claim then ebay will refund buyer and it is then up to buyer to arrange the return. never ever ignore a SNAD claim on ebay.

prowla

soolin said:

prowla said:

I don't understand how ebay can mandate a refund and that the buyer keeps the item - that doesn't make sense.

Of course the buyer would've had to operate the system in order to find out that it was running slow.

As to the refund ruling, that has to be down to the description of the item - was it described as "the ultimate Bitcoin mining system" or "a PC with xxx processor and yyy graphics card, as used for Bircoin mining"?

On to the operation of the machine - since there's software involved it very much depends upon the software versions, configuration, and compatibility; if the buyer has made changes then they could have been detrimental to performance.

I'm not sure what the communications have been leading up to the ruling, but it just doesn't seem right that they buyer gets to keep the £1200 item and get their £1200 back.

(Incidentally on the car analogy; bhp is brake horsepower.)

If seller refuses to engage with a SNAD claim then ebay will refund buyer and it is then up to buyer to arrange the return. never ever ignore a SNAD claim on ebay.

Up to the buyer to arrange the return?

MalMonroe

ib1827638613 said:

I'll try to keep this short.  I, as a private seller, recently sold a bitcoin mining machine on eBay for £1200.  When it left my house it was in perfect worker order and had proved to be a very reliable miner during my 18 months ownership.  The buyer claims that it was defective because it was not hashing (think break horsepower of a car) at the normal hashrate that it should do.  He claimed for a refund and I rejected this on the grounds that this item has become faulty during his period of ownership.  It's a bit like buying a used car from a private seller, driving 5 miles down the motorway and having a breakdown.  From a legal perspective, the ownership has transferred and the previous owner of the car has no obligation to accept the return (except in this case there is the ebay money back guarantee).

Another reason for my rejection of his refund claim is that I have a strong belief that his claims of it being defective are fraudulent.  He admitted in one of his messages to me that he had been using the miner despite the fact he had claimed for a refund.  Why would he continue using it if it was defective?  And why should I as a seller accept a refund when I know he has been using it?

Ebay has ruled in favour of the buyer and has issued a refund of £1200 to the buyer and has said they don't have to return the miner to me.  I have cancelled my ebay direct debit so that they can't get the £1200 off me; however, this is likely to go to debt collectors if I refuse to pay.

My question is how much power do debt collectors have and are ebay likely to take me to court over it?  I am reading reports that in the end ebay never takes customers to court, but this is a sizeable amount.

Hi, what you need to do is to contact eBay and dispute this return/refund.

The eBay guarantee covers both sellers and buyers, so you should not be chased for any repayments. See 'Seller Protection' in your eBay account. 

You don't know that there will be a debt collector dispute since you don't appear to have had any communication with eBay.

If you carried out all your communication with this buyer via eBay then they will have records of everything that has been discussed.

If you don't contact eBay, you won't know what's happening, or about to happen. 

If they are going to take any action, they will let you know but you should really raise your own complaint about this buyer and about the sale. Just go to 'help and contact' on your eBay page in the first instance. But do complain. It could be that eBay has refunded so you don't have to but you need to find out.

MalMonroe

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

I don't understand how ebay can mandate a refund and that the buyer keeps the item - that doesn't make sense.

Of course the buyer would've had to operate the system in order to find out that it was running slow.

As to the refund ruling, that has to be down to the description of the item - was it described as "the ultimate Bitcoin mining system" or "a PC with xxx processor and yyy graphics card, as used for Bircoin mining"?

On to the operation of the machine - since there's software involved it very much depends upon the software versions, configuration, and compatibility; if the buyer has made changes then they could have been detrimental to performance.

I'm not sure what the communications have been leading up to the ruling, but it just doesn't seem right that they buyer gets to keep the £1200 item and get their £1200 back.

(Incidentally on the car analogy; bhp is brake horsepower.)

If seller refuses to engage with a SNAD claim then ebay will refund buyer and it is then up to buyer to arrange the return. never ever ignore a SNAD claim on ebay.

Up to the buyer to arrange the return?

That's not really relevant in this case. Especially as this buyer has absolutely no intention of returning anything.

sourcrates

Ebay NEVER go to court, there are so many things wrong with the eBay model, its hard to know were to start, how can some one claim for a faulty expensive item, and not have to return it ?

How is that fair ?

The answer is it isn`t fair, and if these cases ever saw a courtroom, the seller could defend such a case and likely win, which is why they don`t use the courts, as they know there "terms and conditions" won`t stand up in court.


No, instead they use aggressive, small fry, debt collectors who write a couple of letters then get tired, and go and bother someone else.

Soolin is correct, to date, they have not taken one person to court in the UK for any reason whatsoever.

The hope is you will respond to the debt collection letter, I would recommend you ignore them completely, or alternatively write and ask them to prove their case against you, as they won`t be able too.