Ebayer sold dud to elderly man, now ignoring his messages. Time sensitive

EssexGirl

I hope someone can help with this issue. 
My elderly father in law bought a niche item from a private seller for over £300, advertised "in good working order"  was advertised with postage or collection, but the seller lived a couple of  miles away and was "passing by" so delivered the item to him. He said he had refunded the postage to him. 
The item is quite specialist, and FIL bought in good faith as working. It turns out it wasn't working and he messaged the seller telling him this. The seller obviously knew by the tone of the messages he's sent in reply. He told FIL that he would give him £50 towards the repair cost of £150. and FIL has since had it repaired by a specialist. The seller said he would send the money "in a few days". This was over a week ago now. He's now ignoring my FIL's messages. 

I've only just now found out about all of this tonight. Now it's coming up for 30 days. I suspect the seller knows this and is dragging it out until after this. 
I've gone on his ebay to start a return but it won't let me do that as it says he's been refunded. But he hasn't, it was just a portion of the postage. 
He doesn't want to send it back as it's now working and it's an item he wants which is why he bought it. 

The only option I can see is to claim as "item not received" as there is a tracking number for it, but as he hand delivered it, so he knows that FIL has it. 

Would anyone know what I can do in this situation please? 

elsien

He should have gone through eBay as item not described to Start with, and before paying for any repairs. 

Did he do that?

EssexGirl

No, he's elderly and not experienced with problems on ebay. I wish he would have come to me first, but he's fiercely independent and thought he could sort it out. I know that's not the way. 

Vitor

Depending on how he paid,  repair cost can be reclaimed via credit card provider (a Section 75) even if through Paypal. If paid by debit card, you can still do a chargeback. The bank will ask for evidence of misdescription, the repair invoice and the seller’s messages promising a partial refund.

Grumpy_chap

Vitor said:

Depending on how he paid,  repair cost can be reclaimed via credit card provider (a Section 75) even if through Paypal. 

Possibly not if a private seller - S75 does not confer any rights over and above those existing with the seller, so breach of contract or breach of statute, remembering that statute rights with a private seller are very low.

What is the "niche" item that was purchased?  Is £300 a bargain?  Is it still a good price at £450?  (£300 plus the £150 repair costs paid.)

Spoonie_Turtle

Just to be clear, what remedy are you looking for?  So that those more knowledgeable than I can advise whether there's a chance of reaching the desired outcome.

Your best bet now is probably phoning eBay, they will be able to see the messages and a helpful agent may be able to force a partial refund or whatever, if they can override the system not allowing a case to be opened.

There may be a danger though, if the seller is able to decide they want the item returned for a full refund, in which case your FIL would have basically paid £150 to repair something for the seller.

soolin

EBay take a simplistic view, damaged items need to be reported and then seller can either pay to get the item returned, or offer a partial refund. They cannot force a seller to pay for repairs. If a SNAD is still in time and can be opened then seller might well call your bluff and just send a pre paid return label and get back a working item. 

I’m not at all convinced any sort of chargeback at all is possible due to managed payments. There is no link to the seller, any card payment or PayPal payment will go to eBay, and eBay then pay the seller. 

EssexGirl

Thanks for all of your answers. I had a feeling this would be the case. 

I went through the system and got ebay to phone him earlier. I'm not close by so sadly couldn't be part of the conversation. They said there was a method to report the seller which I can't see anywhere. 
If I'm honest, I knew he probably didn't have a leg to stand on as soon as he mentioned the repair.

I pointed out to him that if I started a return for him the seller now knows it works and may call his bluff and want it back. Dad just wants the £50 he was promised in the "gentleman's agreement" , but I think he may have to chalk this one up as experience and suck it up. Plus, this person knows where FIL lives, so I don't want the seller turning up on his doorstep uninvited. 

FIL has had a stern talking to about future problems on ebay and the importance of getting advice first! Hope he's taken it on board. 

soolin

I'm sorry how this has turned out. However to report a seller go to the purchase history on ebay, then on the RH side there's an option 'more actions' click on that, scroll down and use report . It won't help your situation, but it might flag the seller to ebay in case they make a habit of this.