Bought a smelly coat - what are my rights?

MrsE_2

If I were to buy clothing on ebay I would wash it first anyway, whatever it smelt like or however clean I thought it was.

Also if you paid less than £10 for a coat (& I have no idea what you paid), but if it was a small amount then what would have been the sellers point in selling it for profit if they had to pay for dry cleaning first.

Edited to add, smokers don't know (or don't seem to know) that they, their clothes, their cars & their homes all smell like old bonfires!

luvvlyjubbly

The seller may well have just cleaned it but if it comes from a house full of smokers it wouldn't take long for it to smell again.
I know it is horrible when you get something like this....but you are asking what are your rights...i would say none.
You could send a polite email but I think it would be unfair to give a neg or neutral if otherwise it were fine. I always state from a smoke and pet free home in my listings and I imagine most others do too.

bathgatebuyer

Unfortunately smokers seem immune to it - there's an immaculately turned out woman at my work who dresses in fantastic gear, but everyone knows not to go near here in the canteen as she smells overpoweringly bad of fag smoke. So, the seller may be completely unaware that there's a problem.

i_love_it

If the smell is the only problem, dry clean it and keep it, it should resolve the problem, if tatty torn or other visual damage, ie staining, that was not brought to your attention then it has been misold, item not as described etc
but as other posts have pointed out, it may not be apparent to the seller and still sold in good faith.... second hand could smell unpleasant... musty, mothball ,smoke etc

Remove that one factor and decide if you are happy with price and condition onced cleaned, if so, maybe leave no feedback it's not essential, if 4 or 5 quid for cleaning puts the item to a price you wouldn't have bid, ask if they would consider a part refund for Dc costs, if no joy put it down to experience and ask questions regarding cleaning before future purchases of simular garment.

Ice_2

put the coat in a bin bag sprinkle with bicarbonate of soda shake bag well leave for afew hours shake bag again take out of bag enjoy...saw this on kim and aggie but for soft toys...so should work on a coat...:D

asea

Thank you everyone for your replies.

The seller has emailed back & apologised & said that they knew that it smelt when they sent it. They have offered me back my money. I am declining & will split the cost of the dry cleaning 50-50 with her instead.

I didn't even by the coat for myself but for my mentee. I thought I would tell a white lie & tell her it was mine as she wouldn't accept it if she knew I had bought it for her & I know that £10 is a lot for her to pay to take it to the dry cleaners

So this has been sorted now, thanks for all of your advice!

Horasio

I bought a coat and it stank of smoke too. I contacted them and they refunded me after I sent it back. I did have to pay for the return postage.

We agreed not to leave feedback.

I bought a handbag and that stank of fags, from a different ebayer - I smothered it in Fabreeze but it was still horrible to open the package to a stinky bag. It doesnt smell so bad now.