Mis-sold item - My rights

Armour86

Hello,

I recently bought an armchair on ebay. The dimensions advertised on the listing were totally wrong. It doesn't fit in our house as the dimensions were not as advertised.

I contacted the seller and she (eventually) agreed to pay for a courier to collect the item. She said she'll refund me the cost of the armchair once it arrives back at her warehouse. 

I paid £150 to have the armchair delivered to me by the seller's courier. I paid this directly to the courier. The seller is refusing to reimburse me for the price of the delivery to me. However, I only purchased the item based on the dimensions advertised. If I knew the true dimensions, I would never have ordered it (as I would have known that it doesn't fit in our space). It feels completely unfair that I'm out the cost of £150 due to the seller's mistake on the listing with the dimensions.

Can anyone please advise what my rights are?

Thanks

GrumpyDil

Have you raised this with eBay as generally speaking they side with the purchaser in most cases where there is an issue where hoods are not as described?

savergrant

Not sure where you stand with the courier as this wasn't paid through ebay. Don't think ebay can refund more than the amount paid. Was the fee to the courier agreed before the sale and communicated by ebay message?
Was the seller a business or private individual?

Was the item listed as postage or collection only? I'm not quite sure why you paid the courier (was it cash on delivery or prepaid?)

Armour86

savergrant said:

Not sure where you stand with the courier as this wasn't paid through ebay. Don't think ebay can refund more than the amount paid. Was the fee to the courier agreed before the sale and communicated by ebay message?
Was the seller a business or private individual?

Was the item listed as postage or collection only? I'm not quite sure why you paid the courier (was it cash on delivery or prepaid?)

Thank you, the item was listed as collection and the ad specified that using a courier was acceptable. The seller insisted on using the courier she always uses. So I paid the courier fee directly on delivery. The armchair was paid for via eBay.

MyRealNameToo

Armour86 said:

savergrant said:

Not sure where you stand with the courier as this wasn't paid through ebay. Don't think ebay can refund more than the amount paid. Was the fee to the courier agreed before the sale and communicated by ebay message?
Was the seller a business or private individual?

Was the item listed as postage or collection only? I'm not quite sure why you paid the courier (was it cash on delivery or prepaid?)

Thank you, the item was listed as collection and the ad specified that using a courier was acceptable. The seller insisted on using the courier she always uses. So I paid the courier fee directly on delivery. The armchair was paid for via eBay.

Do you have evidence of the measurements given and the actual measurements? How out were they?  

Was the ebay listing clear on how they measured it? 

Generally HxWxD would be the size box it needs to fit in but have seen consumers not measure the height but measure along the curvature of the back which will result in a higher value. 

Was it not possible to disassemble it to get it in? 

As it wasnt paid via eBay their own processes are unlikely to be able to help you but that doesnt stop you pursuing the vendor directly if you can substantiate the difference in measurements

Wyndham

How different were the dimensions? If it's close then that's very different to being signficantly out.

Ergates

Where there has been a breach of contract (which would include misdescribing an item) there is a right to be put back in the situation had the breach not occurred., which should include *reasonable* incurred costs.

So you should be able to claim something from the delivery - the question will be:  is £150 a reasonable cost for the delivery?  

savergrant

Wyndham said:

How different were the dimensions? If it's close then that's very different to being signficantly out.

The post would suggest the difference is significant enough to mean the difference between fitting in OP's house and not fitting. Not sure if that means going through a doorway or actually fitting in the available space?

savergrant

Ergates said:

Where there has been a breach of contract (which would include misdescribing an item) there is a right to be put back in the situation had the breach not occurred., which should include *reasonable* incurred costs.

So you should be able to claim something from the delivery - the question will be:  is £150 a reasonable cost for the delivery?  

If there is communication in writing to say that the seller would only allow the use of this courier, and an invoice (of some sort) from the courier the question of reasonable doesn't really come into it, the buyer had no option.

savergrant

Armour86 said:

savergrant said:

Not sure where you stand with the courier as this wasn't paid through ebay. Don't think ebay can refund more than the amount paid. Was the fee to the courier agreed before the sale and communicated by ebay message?
Was the seller a business or private individual?

Was the item listed as postage or collection only? I'm not quite sure why you paid the courier (was it cash on delivery or prepaid?)

Thank you, the item was listed as collection and the ad specified that using a courier was acceptable. The seller insisted on using the courier she always uses. So I paid the courier fee directly on delivery. The armchair was paid for via eBay.

When did you give the seller the collection code? It does sound as though the ad has broken ebay rules (clutching at straws a little)

Alderbank

There are two quite separate contracts here.

The contract of sale through eBay would have included the term 'Collection only' or 'Buyer collects'.

Separately there was a different contract between OP and the courier to which the seller was not party, to collect an item from the seller's warehouse and deliver it wherever the consumer wishes. At the point of collection the legal title would have already passed to the buyer and physical possession of the goods would pass from the seller to the buyer via their agent, the courier.

I don't know what the deal is under eBay's rules, but in terms of the Consumer Rights Act since the consumer is rejecting the goods, S20(8) of the CRA says 'the trader must bear any reasonable costs of returning them, other than any costs incurred by the consumer in returning the goods in person to the place where the consumer took physical possession of them.'

It's the OP's duty to return the chair to the seller's warehouse.

With hindsight, if the OP has asked the seller to include delivery and increase the price accordingly, the seller would have had to bear the collection cost.