Item collected, turned out to be not as described...

Emily_Joy

GadgetGuru said:

Emily_Joy said:

GadgetGuru said:

Emily_Joy said:

Yes, absolutely. The vendor, who claims to be the first and only owner, does know for a fact how much the bike has been used and what the faults are. 

No, not necessarily. Is the vendor a bike expert? If so, how do you know? How can you prove the seller knew of any faults?? This is your assumption - not a fact.

It doesn't matter whether or not the vendor knew about the faults. It only matters whether the item is as described or not.

Let me put it another way - if I'm selling a car that looks and drives perfect, and the buyer came and inspected and was happy enough to purchase it, how am I supposed to know that there was a bit of rust next to the engine that a week later has eaten its way through a clip and caused a pipe to come loose and damages something?

Now imagine that you live in an area that was flooded recently and your poor car was submerged for a two or three days. One year later you decide to sell it, but forget to mention that unfortunate incident. The buyer finds later the internal components were water damaged and their life was significantly shortened. Would the buyer not have case?

GDB2222

Emily_Joy said:

FFHillbilly said:

you shouldn't post on a forum looking for help but only decide what you tell us, in order to skew the comments so they just agree with your point of view,  whats the point?

I actually got the advice I wanted - which was to contact eBay and to talk to a person. The vendor offered to make contribution towards necessary repairs. The bike had not only a frame number, but also a sticker from the bike shop that sold it at first place. I did contact the bike shop and they told me it they sold it in early 2020.

Good detective work. So, it turned out that your suspicions about the bike's age were confirmed, and the seller has at least agreed to pay some of the cost of repairs.

I am slightly surprised that you didn’t just insist on returning the bike and getting a refund, but maybe better the devil you know …

Emily_Joy

GDB2222 said:

Emily_Joy said:

FFHillbilly said:

you shouldn't post on a forum looking for help but only decide what you tell us, in order to skew the comments so they just agree with your point of view,  whats the point?

I actually got the advice I wanted - which was to contact eBay and to talk to a person. The vendor offered to make contribution towards necessary repairs. The bike had not only a frame number, but also a sticker from the bike shop that sold it at first place. I did contact the bike shop and they told me it they sold it in early 2020.

Good detective work. So, it turned out that your suspicions about the bike's age were confirmed, and the seller has at least agreed to pay some of the cost of repairs.

I am slightly surprised that you didn’t just insist on returning the bike and getting a refund, but maybe better the devil you know …

This time of year I am working 52 hours a week, so can't really afford looking for another bike and I need the one to get me to work. 

It was a good lesson, though. I haven't realised that many believe that (1) collection items are effectively immune to Not As Described claims; (2) it is OK to sell an item malfunctioning of which could potentially lead to an injury and/or loss of life with an ambiguous description. I understand not many would pay for a service before selling, but in my opinion would be appropriate to warn the buyer, rather than claiming "excellent condition".