Dishonest buyer cost me money, is legal action likely to be successful?

MattMattMattUK

So first I will be upfront, this is more a matter of principle than money as the buyer chose to deliberately abuse the system and defraud me.

I sold a monitor on eBay, working properly, original box, the ad had full screen tests etc. I send it out to the buyer (cost £21), after six days the buyer claimed not as described due to it not working. They then sent pictures of it not working, those pictures consisted of the monitor sat on the floor with no cables attached. I went back and forth with them, but they insisted it was faulty and not as described. I spoke to eBay who forced me to accept a return as the alternative was to let the buyer keep the monitor and get their money back. It then took the buyer 13 days to return the monitor to me at my cost, another £21. Upon getting it back I tested it, with six different devices, it worked perfectly, exactly as it had before I sent it. I again spoke to eBay and said I was not prepared to refund the buyer in full as they had obviously lied and abused the return process and I was now £42 out of pocket because of this. I was told that I had two choices, refund the item voluntarily and eBay would refund the £18 in feels that they had charged me, or they would deduct the funds from my bank account against my will to refund the buyer and not refund me the fees, if I refunded them I could also submit a complaint and they would review it.

So, with the gun held to my head I refunded the buyer, I submitted a complaint, submitting the pictures and videos that they asked for, they said they would respond with 48 hours. After five working days I contacted them they said that they had closed the complaint because they had not seen the monitor themselves so they could not judge if the buyer had lied or not, even though it was obviously working and they had asked me to send pictures of it working which they had acknowledged receiving. eBay's response was in summary "We do not care you are out of pocket, we do not the buyer abused the item not as described process, go away".

I realise I have no comeback against eBay as they insulate themselves with their terms and conditions and I do not wish to ever deal with them again as the idea of dealing with a business that deliberately facilitates people defrauding sellers is something I find abhorrent. What I am wondering is would I likely be successful in attempting Small Claims action against the buyer to recover my costs (£42, plus court fees), or does something about the way that eBay sales are processed break the potential chain of liability?

Olinda99

no because on setting up an ebay account you agreed with their terms and conditions which says you pay for faulty item returns

as for suing the buyer - well it may well not have worked for them eg they could have unknowingly had a faulty connecting cable. or there could be an intermittent fault in the display.

MattMattMattUK

Olinda99 said:

no because on setting up an ebay account you agreed with their terms and conditions which says you pay for faulty item returns

It was not a faulty item, they abused the system and lied. I have the actual monitor, multiple videos and pictures, so I can prove that the claim of a faulty item was a lie.

Olinda99 said:

as for suing the buyer - well it may well not have worked for them eg they could have unknowingly had a faulty connecting cable. or there could be an intermittent fault in the display.

The monitor was supplied with all cables, HDMI, DP as well as power, they all work as I used them for testing (I tested using two different Windows laptops, a Windows desktop, a MacBook, a PS5 and a Switch, all worked perfectly). This is a monitor used at home for a few hours pretty much every day for two years, since I got it back it has been plugged in in my office and still works. So they are either incompetent, dishonest, or both, and their abuse of the returns system has cost me money which I would like to recover.

njkmr

Personally i do not think it's worth the hassle.
Unfortunately the world is full of people who don't play fair.
I would move on and not waste anymore time on it.

GabbaGabbaHey

As said, you've agreed to the eBay Ts&Cs, and the refund was processed in accordance with them.

In terms of Small Claims, do you think that you can PROVE in a court of law that the equipment worked for the buyer AND that they then deliberately abused the returns process in order to get you to pay for the postage? If so, go ahead...

GadgetGuru

Hate it when this happens - I've been on the receiving end of such a buyer in the past also. Its probably a change of mind case, or maybe the buyer just needed something temporarily for a few days, and hence returned when no longer needed (at your cost). But honestly, there's not much you can do. Hopefully what goes around comes around and the buyer gets what's due!

MattMattMattUK

njkmr said:

Personally i do not think it's worth the hassle.
Unfortunately the world is full of people who don't play fair.
I would move on and not waste anymore time on it.

Whilst I partially agree, I did say it was in principle, rather than about the money. I also think that if there is a way to give these kind of people their just deserts, then one should take it.

GadgetGuru said:

Hate it when this happens - I've been on the receiving end of such a buyer in the past also. Its probably a change of mind case, or maybe the buyer just needed something temporarily for a few days, and hence returned when no longer needed (at your cost). But honestly, there's not much you can do. Hopefully what goes around comes around and the buyer gets what's due!

I suspect something along those lines yes, they were desperate for it to be dispatched quickly, had it for over a week and when they sent pictures of it "not working" it was never even plugged in to anything, no power, no signal source. The messages were filled with a whole bunch of emotive laguage "so disappointed", "absolutly gutted", "disgusted" etc. that it seemed like a total over reaction and they were trying to hide something. They refused to send any pictures of it connected to anything, nor a video of it being tested by them claiming that was "too difficult", despite claiming in their messages on eBay that they were "An IT professional who builds my own PCs, so I really know what I am talking about". 

GabbaGabbaHey said:

As said, you've agreed to the eBay Ts&Cs, and the refund was processed in accordance with them.

Yes, I recognise that I have no comeback against eBay, no matter how scummy their behaviour in facilitating this.

GabbaGabbaHey said:

In terms of Small Claims, do you think that you can PROVE in a court of law that the equipment worked for the buyer AND that they then deliberately abused the returns process in order to get you to pay for the postage? If so, go ahead...

Actually, I would not need to "PROVE" it as such, for a civil case the threshold is the balance of probabilities. The balance of probabilities that a monitor worked fully before dispatch, with photographs proving that and that it worked fully after return, with photos, videos and the actual monitor to demonstrate that, would demonstrate that the balance of probabilities that the monitor was not indeed faulty and therefor their claim of it being not as described would be at best negligent and potentially fraudulently abusing the system for personal gain.

The point I am not clear on is would there be a direct line of liability from their actions, either through stupidity,  negligence or deliberate misrepresentation which caused me to incur a loss. I have no doubt that they are to blame/responsible, the point I am unclear on is if that blame/responsibility establishes a liability. 

RedImp_2

Whilst very annoying what has the buyer gained from the process?  

(Btw did you really pay £18 in EBay fees?)

MattMattMattUK

RedImp_2 said:

Whilst very annoying what has the buyer gained from the process?  

I suspect, free use of a monitor for nearly a month, they complained after six days, I had to accept the return, they then only sent it back the last day the were allowed to dispatch.

RedImp_2 said:

(Btw did you really pay £18 in EBay fees?)

I was charged that initially yes, eBay refunded their fee on the condition that I accept the return, after speaking to them the alternative was that they would take the money from my bank account against my will and I would not get the fees back. The issue is not the eBay fee, it is the £21 each way freight I am out of pocket for, and the immorality of both the buyer's behaviour and eBay.

Vitor said:

Have a look at the buyers address in Google Street View and if it's a chavvy area then don't bother doing anything more.

It looks a reasonable enough house, not a bad area. 

Vitor said:

Otherwise a 'letter before action' sent signed for might be a wake-up and they'll repay what you're out of pocket.

I was thinking of that but was attempting to ascertain if their actions make them legally liable for the costs I incurred, or just morally liable. 

Vitor

>legally liable for the costs<

I'd say a civil wrong or tort causing you to suffer loss or harm so a letter like this would we worth trying.

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, Postcode]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number]
[Date]

[Buyer's Name]
[Buyer's Address]
[City, Postcode]

Dear [Buyer's Name],

Re: Request for Payment of £21 for False Claim of Broken Computer Monitor

I am writing to formally request payment of £21 to cover costs incurred due to your false claim that the computer monitor purchased via eBay (Item ID: [insert item ID]) was broken.

On [date of purchase], you purchased a computer monitor from me through eBay. Following receipt of the item, you initiated a dispute claiming that the monitor was broken. As a result, I incurred costs totaling £21, which include the expenses for return shipping, inspection fees, and administrative costs.

Upon receiving the returned monitor, it was thoroughly inspected and tested. This confirmed that the monitor is in full working order and free of any defects. Therefore, your claim was unfounded.

I am requesting that you reimburse me the amount of £21 within the next 14 days from the date of this letter. Payment can be made via bank transfer to the following account:

Account Name: [Your Account Name]
Account Number: [Your Account Number]
Sort Code: [Your Sort Code]

Please use the reference "Monitor Dispute" when making the payment.

If the payment is not received within the specified timeframe, I will have no alternative but to pursue this matter further, which may include initiating legal action to recover the costs. This could result in additional costs and expenses for which you may be held liable.

I hope we can resolve this matter amicably and avoid the need for further action.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

RFW

MattMattMattUK said:

this is more a matter of principle than money

Any lawyer would say if you're fighting a money claim only fight for the money, there's no such thing as principles in the law.
So bringing it to the money, it's £42 (btw £21 seems high on shipping), you'll be spending more on court fees. If they defend the case, that will cost you more money. You then have to go to near the defendant's address on a court date that will likely be six months away. You may well lose and have more than doubled your original losses. If you win, the buyer may not have any funds to pay you.
There are so many obstacles to you getting the £42 back, most of them cost you more money.
Try asking them for it back, you may get lucky. Otherwise chalk it up to experience. If you're selling you can always expect a buyer to be an idiot or a cheat, mostly they aren't but it's always worth expecting it.