Vent - fallen foul of Vinted SNAD as buyer

RosieTellsTheTruth

Vinted's policy is actually in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (clause 13 is a starting point) where buyers should be fairly compensated for reasonable return costs. However, Vinted are a Lithuanian company and clearly believe they are above the law.

I have challenged them on this policy after falling fowl of a similar issue (2 items from separate sellers were seriously misdescribed) and all they do is to apologise and keep quoting their T&Cs. I have also raised the issue with Vinted that, by taking no action, they are knowingly facilitating fraudulent transactions and they ignored this point. I have pointed out company trading policy is never above the law of the land in which a company is operating and they have ignored this point (because they have no legal standing).

I have requested charge backs on my credit card company and asked Barclaycard to rescind Vinted's facility to take payment from Barclaycards, and I have explained they are breaking the law.

The bottom line is that now I know that Vinted are operating in the UK illegally, then I will not do business with them again. However, the vast majority of Vinted's customers are people who are not aware that they are a Lithuanian company, nor are they aware that they will have to pay returns postage, for they are deceived into believing that the 'buyer protection fee' will protect them just as Ebay protects customers from fraudulent transactions. This is not the case and all we can do is to spread awareness on social media, twitter, etc, so that unsuspecting buyers are forewarned.

You are welcome to copy this post and share wherever you feel it will be of benefit.

Kim_13

Debbie9009 said:

This is exactly why I don’t buy on vinted anymore, I don’t think the buyer should have to pay for the return of an mis described item.

Especially when also having to pay a buyer protection fee on every order - so if that doesn't cover a prepaid postage label when a a seller has misdescribed an item (if Vinted won't force a non-business seller to accept a return at their cost under any circumstances) then what are buyers paying for?

I've never used Vinted but given that it is clearly a seller's market, a platform somewhere between Vinted and eBay (buyers being the ones to sometimes get away with not being truthful) sounds perfect.

Spoonie_Turtle

Kim_13 said:

Debbie9009 said:

This is exactly why I don’t buy on vinted anymore, I don’t think the buyer should have to pay for the return of an mis described item.

Especially when also having to pay a buyer protection fee on every order - so if that doesn't cover a prepaid postage label when a a seller has misdescribed an item (if Vinted won't force a non-business seller to accept a return at their cost under any circumstances) then what are buyers paying for?

I've never used Vinted but given that it is clearly a seller's market, a platform somewhere between Vinted and eBay (buyers being the ones to sometimes get away with not being truthful) sounds perfect.

Been thinking about this myself recently and it seems it's literally just paying for protection if the item you ordered doesn't turn up.  I don't even know that you'd be protected if a totally different item turned up, probably would still have to pay to return it.

Kim_13

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Kim_13 said:

Debbie9009 said:

This is exactly why I don’t buy on vinted anymore, I don’t think the buyer should have to pay for the return of an mis described item.

Especially when also having to pay a buyer protection fee on every order - so if that doesn't cover a prepaid postage label when a a seller has misdescribed an item (if Vinted won't force a non-business seller to accept a return at their cost under any circumstances) then what are buyers paying for?

I've never used Vinted but given that it is clearly a seller's market, a platform somewhere between Vinted and eBay (buyers being the ones to sometimes get away with not being truthful) sounds perfect.

Been thinking about this myself recently and it seems it's literally just paying for protection if the item you ordered doesn't turn up.  I don't even know that you'd be protected if a totally different item turned up, probably would still have to pay to return it.

If buyer protection is paying for protection if an item you order doesn’t turn up, it surely should be optional (as the insurance sometimes offered by online retailers is - Protect My Order and the like.) If an item doesn’t arrive, that’s in breach of UK law as risk doesn’t pass until a successful delivery is made. Enforcing them is another matter if you don’t have their insurance, but the customer does have those rights.