Wrong product sent from abroad

pinkshoes

A friend of mine bought a product from abroad (Hong Kong I think), described as brand new. Paid £55, of which £25 was postage. Paid via paypal.

Product arrived, and firstly, it was covered in scratches and blatantly second hand, and secondly, it doesn't work.

The dilemma is that it's going to cost almost as much as the product is worth to send it back, so is he entitled to send it back and be reimbursed for the full cost as well as return postage (given that product isn't new and doesn't work!), or will it just be a case of kissing goodbye to £55?

I rarely buy stuff online, and definitely not from abroad, so have no idea how it works when you don't get what you've paid for!

Any advice most appreciated!

mdbarber

fraid not, consumer protection laws generally only apply on eu or uk purchases, he can always contact the company see if they will do anything as a gesture of goodwill, but don't hold your breath

dmg24

Was the item bought through ebay, or directly from a company?

How did he fund the Paypal transaction? If by credit card, he should have a claim against the CC company, or if by Visa debit card, it may be possible to do a chargeback.

pinkshoes

The item (Car CD player that plays DVD discs) was bought from an ebay shop.

He's now just received a freight charge of £16 too, which was supposed to be included!

He's emailed the seller photos of all the scratches three times now, as the CD player has obviously been in someone elses car and very well used. Even the case is quite battered, and the CD player doesn't work. It was described as brand new. The seller just keeps claiming he hasn't received them, and that the seven days he has to dispute the item have now passed, which is rubbish, because the photos were sent the day after we got it.

Would it make any difference that it was bought on ebay rather than just randomly? He's tried taking it up with paypal, but the seller claimed they didn't receive any photos, and then the dispute seemed to get closed down.

I told him off for not buying British!!

KILL_BILL

raise a dispute with ebay - if nessecary keep on at them and send them the photos as clearly the item is not as described

dmg24

KILL_BILL wrote: »

raise a dispute with ebay - if nessecary keep on at them and send them the photos as clearly the item is not as described

Problem is ebay can't refund the money, only Paypal can do that. The worst that ebay can do is place a strike against him.

markelock

Contact Paypal again. They seem to offer protection left right and centre, raise a claim again, or re-open the old one. I've only ever had problems with them as a seller, as a buyer they've helped me every time. They offer cover, and dmg24 is right, ebay can only add a strike, but every strike adds up, at some point the seller will either end up giving something back, or stopping trading as that username.

pinkshoes

Thanks!

I'll get him to contact paypal again to sort it out. If the darn thing had actually worked, it wouldn't have mattered so much that it wasn't brand new as described!