Item lost in post seller wont refund

NeillB

Hi 

I collect WW2 militaria. I recently bought a bayonet from a seller online. He, like me, lives in the UK.  The item went astray/got lost/intercepted in the Royal Mail network.  He wont refund me and is insisting on Royal Mail carrying out an investigation which is nonsense as he, to my understanding, is fully liable. He chose the postal method claiming he didn't know Royal Mail class bladed items as prohibited from April 2024. 

Does anyone (more knowledgeable than me) know what part of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 this comes under? I need to quote it to him then give him a minimum set number of days to reply before seeking remedy through legal means. 

Many thanks for any help provided. 

400ixl

Was this a business sale or a person to person transaction?

born_again

NeillB said:

Hi 

I collect WW2 militaria. I recently bought a bayonet from a seller online. He, like me, lives in the UK.  The item went astray/got lost/intercepted in the Royal Mail network.  He wont refund me and is insisting on Royal Mail carrying out an investigation which is nonsense as he, to my understanding, is fully liable. He chose the postal method claiming he didn't know Royal Mail class bladed items as prohibited from April 2024. 

Does anyone (more knowledgeable than me) know what part of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 this comes under? I need to quote it to him then give him a minimum set number of days to reply before seeking remedy through legal means. 

Many thanks for any help provided. 

What sort of seller?
Ebay or such?

landsberger64

From my eBaying experience - eBay will normally back the buyer, unless the seller can produce evidence that they posted the item and it was delivered (or attempted to). Have you raised a dispute yet?

molerat

What platform did you buy on ?

How did you pay ?

Keep_pedalling

It won’t be Ebay, such items are not allowed.

swingaloo

Keep_pedalling said:

It won’t be Ebay, such items are not allowed.

There are a few listed on Ebay.

badmemory

I too didn't think such items were allowed on ebay, but I also thought they were not allowed to be sent via mail either.

Alderbank

Here's a purely random example of a WWII bayonet currently for sale on eBay, eBay don't seem to have a problem:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145912245897?itmmeta=01J3XKZWA1W0PZDAB6FWCFF9V9&hash=item21f90c2e89:g:BdgAAOSwmBtmo2eA&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwDRxSaWzoQ5Jz8isrmThBldIZr16zT7KB3NGROqlC%2BCYbqIzz1pcQjaDwYbApM2MqTJeYoxNz4BjctAJkOynB7X5bFsFXhLknLKc%2FcOTeNehaFz4dejPiO26z3lvVJMjy3Q7oMydv8vym8fV%2FLvuiHflGTUxQxGLW%2BsXTUFuCbpdHpMYjtcFREtL%2BMMSPfTAnTTQZSSbFUyrO6TRbpXr67Wx2lIFj%2Fj5x1%2BY%2F66gx9JFUmmRV25Whhy4t5GX6N%2Bb1g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4rF_7OfZA&edge=1

The seller is described as 'private' as are many sellers on eBay, so no parts of Consumer Rights Act would apply.

He has sold more than 300 items and has 100% feedback.

The seller offers to post by Royal Mail tracked. Presumably he will give RM a false description of the goods.

These have been outright banned by Royal Mail since April 2024:

Knives or Blades’ defined by s141A Criminal Justice Act 1988 or ‘Bladed Products’ as defined by s41 of Offensive Weapons Act 2019. Such items include, but are not limited to, any knife blade, any kitchen knife (regardless of size or design), bread knives, knives that can be used for hobbies and trades (regardless of whether they are marketed as knives, for instance, utility knives and snap-off cutters), gardening and farming tools that have a blade, any trade tool that could commonly be described as a knife, butcher’s knives (including meat cleavers), cutlery knives, scissors with sharp edges, sporting equipment with a blade, replica and antique knives (including those used for re-enactment purposes), handmade and bespoke knives, open razors (where the blade is exposed), any axe, any sword, survival knives, or machete. 

soolin

How did you pay?