OnBuy - Counterfeit goods and my rights?

goodadvice12

I bought some Apple Airpods from OnBuy.com.

They stopped working and I took them to an Apple store for repair  who advised me that they were fake.

OnBuy offer a Paypal 180 day money back warranty - however I found out that mine were fake 182 days after purchase!

OnBuy are  in fact a 'marketplace' and are doing absolutely zero to help me. They will not provide details of the seller, they are still faciliting the seller (he is still selling airpods!), and have been totally useless and disinterested. It seems astonishing and alarming that they are not bothered about the sale of counterfeit goods.

I am more than happy to pursue this via the small claims court, but would appreciate any thoughts on this matter .  Are OnBuy acting as an agent? Presumably they still have a duty of care to me as they are a middle man to the sale (and presumably are receiving commission of sorts). Whilst Onbuy are not listed as the seller, they are the ones who received the money according to my PayPal transactions.

Thanks for any insights!

user1977

If they're an agent, but refuse to tell you who they're an agent for, then they're personally liable.

Of course your problem may then be that if pushed, they tell you they're an agent for somebody in China...

DullGreyGuy

Doesnt the sellers shop give you their details?  Never used the site but looking at some random sellers of AirPods each of the shops have the details of the seller under the Returns policy.

Aylesbury_Duck

How much did you pay for them?  Were they substantially cheaper than would have been from a proper retailer?

goodadvice12

Aylesbury_Duck said:

How much did you pay for them?  Were they substantially cheaper than would have been from a proper retailer?

£190 so not massively cheaper. Not sufficiently cheap to make it obvious they would be fakes!

born_again

Well to take them to court you need their details of the seller. So odds of being Uk based?

MalMonroe

Hi, It's On-Buy's responsibility, since they sold the items to you. 

It doesn't matter that their warranty has expired because you have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

All goods sold in the UK have to be 'fit for purpose' and 'last a reasonable time'.

See info in the following links -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim-consumer-rights/

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/

And this is also very helpful, from Citizens Advice -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/getting-your-money-back-if-you-paid-by-card-or-paypal/

If the items are fake, then you should also report On-Buy for selling them - you can report that to Citizens advice as well as Action Fraud. 

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/counterfeit-goods-fraud

I hope some of this is helpful and that you are able to obtain a full refund.

MalMonroe

born_again said:

Well to take them to court you need their details of the seller. So odds of being Uk based?

On-Buy is UK based, that's good enough.

DullGreyGuy

MalMonroe said:

Hi, It's On-Buy's responsibility, since they sold the items to you. 

No, OnBuy didnt sell it as they dont sell anything... they are the same as eBay or Amazon Marketplace where you are buying from sellers and OnBuy/eBay just provide the market place for the transaction. 

user1977

MalMonroe said:

born_again said:

Well to take them to court you need their details of the seller. So odds of being Uk based?

On-Buy is UK based, that's good enough.

Not if they're merely an agent acting for a principal who is somewhere else...

Flight3287462

Post a link to the seller and we can do some sleuthing.