Vinted removed money from my balance after making unfair decisions

pyrrhus80

I have been selling on Vinted for about six months without any issues whatsoever. All of a sudden, in the past week, I have had two separate issue with terrible buyers – both of which Vinted has ruled in their favour.

The first was an item which the seller claimed was significantly not as described. Their complaint was that the item “looks used.” The item was used. It was never described as new. The buyer was clearly mistaken in believing that it was supposed to be new.  Vinted gave me an arbitrary 48 hours to either request a return from the buyer or provide them with a refund. I did neither and they have now cancelled the transaction and the funds have disappeared from my balance. The buyer has kept the item and received their money back.

The second issue was with an item that was brand new. The listing contained detailed size measurements. Upon receiving the item, the buyer asked to return it because they had mistakenly bought the wrong size. I politely refused (as is allowed in Vinted’s own rules) because I was in the middle of a house move and it was inconvenient. The buyer then opened a significantly not as described case, claiming that the item had arrived damaged. Once again, Vinted sided with the buyer and gave me 48 hours to either request a return from the buyer or provide them with a refund.

It is not a lot of money at stake (£14 in total)  – but I am riled up at the principal of Vinted being able to simply dictate that I have 48 hours to comply with their unjust decisions before refunding the buyers and removing money from my balance.

I am fully prepared to take this to a County Court if necessary. I just don’t really know how to proceed with it – or whether there is a better alternative action I could take.

RhondaD

The easier thing to do would have just been to accept the return and re list surely? They gave you 48 hours to negotiate a solution with the buyer which does seem reasonable? Your own decision to do nothing appears to be the sticking point.

soolin

It is almost unheard of for Vinted to side with a buyer especially regarding condition of items, selling something as used where buyer complains it is not new should have been an easy win for you. I wonder if you might have saved yourself some issues by just accepting the return as buyer would then have to have paid the return fee themselves and of course you don't lose the outward postage either as Vinted pay that.

It is very hard to contact Vinted, they don't really do  customer service like ebay and I'm not sure what to suggest here. However be aware if you do decide to go down a legal route you will be dealing with Lithuanian processes as that is where Vinted is based. 

Have you tried the Vinted forums for advice?  

pyrrhus80

RhondaD said:

The easier thing to do would have just been to accept the return and re list surely? They gave you 48 hours to negotiate a solution with the buyer which does seem reasonable? Your own decision to do nothing appears to be the sticking point.

It's not a negotiation though; it is Vinted dictating what I must do.

soolin said:

It is almost unheard of for Vinted to side with a buyer especially regarding condition of items, selling something as used where buyer complains it is not new should have been an easy win for you. I wonder if you might have saved yourself some issues by just accepting the return as buyer would then have to have paid the return fee themselves and of course you don't lose the outward postage either as Vinted pay that.

It is very hard to contact Vinted, they don't really do  customer service like ebay and I'm not sure what to suggest here. However be aware if you do decide to go down a legal route you will be dealing with Lithuanian processes as that is where Vinted is based. 

Have you tried the Vinted forums for advice?  

I am 100% certain that I could have saved myself some issues by accepting the returns - but that's not really the point, and 48 hours  really isn't a lot of time. Everything I did prior to Vinted's ruling followed their rules. With the first issue, the buyer was clearly at fault - and with the second issue the buyer was obviously lying. Communicating with Vinted is almost impossible; even when I receive correspondence from them, it is robotic and does not address any of the points that I have raised.

sheramber

From the Terms and Conditions

b) If VINTED determines that the Item is Significantly Not As Described, the Seller will have 2 (two) days to take an action described in 5.5.3.1 or 5.5.3.2 above. If the Seller does not take either of the action within 2 (two) days, the Transaction will be cancelled and the Buyer will receive a refund of the Total Price. 

Vinted Terms & Conditions of use

Vinted Terms & Conditions of Use

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE - new version applicable from 28-10-2022

The platform VINTED (the "Site") is managed and hosted by the company VINTED, UAB, located at Svitrigailos str. 13, 03228 Vilnius, Lithuania, registered under number 302767152 with the Company Registry of the Republic of Lithuania ("VINTED").

Before signing up on the Site, every User must read these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”), the Catalogue Rules and the Forum Rules, which form a legally binding agreement between you and VINTED regarding your access and use of the Site, and undertake to comply with them. To confirm that you have done so and create your VINTED account, please accept the Terms when prompted to do so during the registration process. Every User must also read the Privacy policy.

Buster_Danog

Stop selling on Vinted if you don't like following their rules. I had similar issues on ebay but I had to accept it was their platform and came with buyer protection.

MalMonroe

Hi, have you reported the issue here -

https://help.vinted.ca/hc/en-ca/requests/new

They say they respond within 24 hours.

If everything else fails you can report vinted to trading standards, more information in the following link -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

It doesn't matter about what you should have/could have done - you're right, this here is a case of theft. 

If they won't respond in a proper manner, then you have no alternative but to report them to Trading Standards.

I hope you manage to get your money back. I don't think I'll ever be using Vinted. 

pyrrhus80

Buster_Danog said:

Stop selling on Vinted if you don't like following their rules. I had similar issues on ebay but I had to accept it was their platform and came with buyer protection.

Setting a bunch or arbitrary rules does not give them any legal right do do what they have done.
I don't intend on selling on Vinted again - but that doesn't assist my current situation.

pyrrhus80

MalMonroe said:

Hi, have you reported the issue here -

https://help.vinted.ca/hc/en-ca/requests/new

They say they respond within 24 hours.

If everything else fails you can report vinted to trading standards, more information in the following link -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/

It doesn't matter about what you should have/could have done - you're right, this here is a case of theft. 

If they won't respond in a proper manner, then you have no alternative but to report them to Trading Standards.

I hope you manage to get your money back. I don't think I'll ever be using Vinted. 

I have reported the issue (although not specifically to that link, which appears to be for the Canadian website) and it has become blindingly obvious that their customer support is automated. It seems to pick up on key words and then selects whatever pre-written reply it thinks is most appropriate.

My most recent comment was "Are you a real person?" to which it responded "I totally understand you. In your case, I would have had the same reaction."
It is futile even trying to appeal when that is their level of service.

I will certainly be contacting trading standards. Thanks for the link.

soolin

Their support is automated although with persistence it is sometimes possible to get a response from someone who doesn't appear to be a bot - the language differences also makes Vinted difficult to deal with.

I would still try asking on the Vinted forums

RhondaD

pyrrhus80 said:

RhondaD said:

The easier thing to do would have just been to accept the return and re list surely? They gave you 48 hours to negotiate a solution with the buyer which does seem reasonable? Your own decision to do nothing appears to be the sticking point.

It's not a negotiation though; it is Vinted dictating what I must do.

soolin said:

It is almost unheard of for Vinted to side with a buyer especially regarding condition of items, selling something as used where buyer complains it is not new should have been an easy win for you. I wonder if you might have saved yourself some issues by just accepting the return as buyer would then have to have paid the return fee themselves and of course you don't lose the outward postage either as Vinted pay that.

It is very hard to contact Vinted, they don't really do  customer service like ebay and I'm not sure what to suggest here. However be aware if you do decide to go down a legal route you will be dealing with Lithuanian processes as that is where Vinted is based. 

Have you tried the Vinted forums for advice?  

I am 100% certain that I could have saved myself some issues by accepting the returns - but that's not really the point, and 48 hours  really isn't a lot of time. Everything I did prior to Vinted's ruling followed their rules. With the first issue, the buyer was clearly at fault - and with the second issue the buyer was obviously lying. Communicating with Vinted is almost impossible; even when I receive correspondence from them, it is robotic and does not address any of the points that I have raised.

It's not a negotiation though; it is Vinted dictating what I must do.

It is a negotiation. You had 48 hours to negotiate a return. You are only in this situation because you chose to ignore their terms. It's Vinteds platform, of course they are going to dictate what sellers must do if a customer wants a refund. Accepting a return, refunding the money and then re listing would have been a more favourable outcome that adopting the stubborn approach that a platform you are using to make money has no right to dictate what you should do. I doubt the outcome would have been much different on eBay either if you just ignored the request because it wasn't convenient for you.