Ebay issue - Suggestions

mudcow007

Right..

we bought a "as new" sofa bed off eBay on the weekend, I picked it up on Monday night. The seller told me when i got there, that he had just ripped the side but literally just sowed it so its back to as new condition

so i said i'm fine about it, but my Mrs is fussy.

paid the guy an took it home, when it was in the back of the car i kept on getting whiffs of a nasty smell...

get it home, my Mrs isn't happy with condition - the sofa looks about 10 years old an absolutely reeks of cigarettes

so we wash all the covers thinking it might get rid of the smell an improve its looks - it doesn't, smell is still there an looks as shabby as ever

i ring the seller who tells me, he doesn't have to refund us an if he does refund us it will only be partial as he has had to pay listing fee's etc.

so i drive up to take it back he says yes he will take it back but then only gives partial refund. I'm not going to argue about £10 odd quid but its the point of the matter that's really really really wound me up, i felt like breaking his hip or at very least his nose grrr *deep breaths*

because i paid cash i dont think eBay will want to know

anything i can do?

also feedback recommendations please

come on hive...do your worst

SimonAH

You paid cash. You're buttered.

Sorry I'm not more helpful......

Weirdly I bought an as-new sofa bed from eBay last year. It really was in perfect condition until I put a.rip in it by catching a doorhandle getting it out of the seller's house! They were mortified!

mrc1

My experience of eBay is that it is massively in favour of the buyer (see below), so I'd have thought you could raise a query with them and do pretty well. The only issue is that you paid cash and the main buyer protection weapon seems to be freezing the seller's paypal account/reimbursing the buyer - I'm not sure what remedy they can offer in this circumstance.

I'd just slap them with negative feedback and make sure that in future you always fully inspect the item before you hand over the cash (I'm guilty of not doing this)!

Examples we've had:

1. Buyer bought an item from us which was listed as collection only as it was big and postage would end up being 50% of the item value. After the auction they asked as to post it to their address - we got a quote for £30 to post it and even offered to deliver it ourselves in exchange for the diesel money. They emailed to say that they hadn't "factored this into their budget" so wanted a refund on the item. We initially refused but eBay's advice was to refund and relist as they can't force the buyer to go pay the postage - very annoying for us as this eBay process coupled with a slow to respond buyer took two weeks and meant we missed the chance to offer it to the second and third highest bidders.

2. Front mech - buyer bought it but turned out they bought the wrong size (it was a band on clamp). They asked for a refund, we refused as it was clearly listed as being size X. He raised a dispute with eBay and they forced us to refund and relist.

3. Wheel - Shimano freehub listed as so. Buyer bought but then realised they needed a campag freehub. As per the above...

We've largely given up on selling on eBay as it is just too much hassle.

mudcow007

Marvellous

well i opened a dispute case but im not holding my breathe

im not that arsed about the money to be honest, its the principle

so come on you cunning linguistics can someone write me an 'orrible feedback message

pretty please

Tricycleboy

mrc1 wrote:

...

2. Front mech - buyer bought it but turned out they bought the wrong size (it was a band on clamp). They asked for a refund, we refused as it was clearly listed as being size X. He raised a dispute with eBay and they forced us to refund and relist.

3. Wheel - Shimano freehub listed as so. Buyer bought but then realised they needed a campag freehub. As per the above...

We've largely given up on selling on eBay as it is just too much hassle.

I didn't realise that even if you listed something perfectly accurately they can still stiff you if they change their mind. hhhmmmm makes me want to use it much less now- its just rubbish for sellers.

Mudcow i think you are a tad shafted as you paid cash and you accepted the item in the first place. Refund for what you can get and bad feedback is probably the best way forward.

I must say i've found buying/selling through the BR classifieds to be a really excellent experience every time- must have bought and sold dozens of bits and bobs. Just a shame sofa beds don't come up that often.

mudcow007

to be honest, i dont know why my mrs just didnt buy a sofabed from Ikea, its only about £30 more

still you live an learn!!

t4tomo

I'm wondering why when it looked 10 years old and smelt of cigarettes you didn't just do an about turn and tell them it wasn't as new and they were having a giraffe

mudcow007

t4tomo wrote:

I'm wondering why when it looked 10 years old and smelt of cigarettes you didn't just do an about turn and tell them it wasn't as new and they were having a giraffe

his whole house stunk of cigarettes so i couldn't actually smell the sofa when i got it...

UndercoverElephant

mudcow007 wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

I'm wondering why when it looked 10 years old and smelt of cigarettes you didn't just do an about turn and tell them it wasn't as new and they were having a giraffe

his whole house stunk of cigarettes so i couldn't actually smell the sofa when i got it...

The clues were there...

As-new to me means, bought it, took it home, found it didn't fit and listed it, rather than used it for ten years until it was shabby, then listed it.

mrc1

Tricycleboy wrote:

mrc1 wrote:

...

2. Front mech - buyer bought it but turned out they bought the wrong size (it was a band on clamp). They asked for a refund, we refused as it was clearly listed as being size X. He raised a dispute with eBay and they forced us to refund and relist.

3. Wheel - Shimano freehub listed as so. Buyer bought but then realised they needed a campag freehub. As per the above...

We've largely given up on selling on eBay as it is just too much hassle.

I didn't realise that even if you listed something perfectly accurately they can still stiff you if they change their mind. hhhmmmm makes me want to use it much less now- its just rubbish for sellers.

Exactly. Their response to each of these boiled down to "we can't force them to pay" - yet they can freeze our paypal account and take money out of it FFS.

I'll echo the positive experience of bikeradar classifieds though. Have sold lots recently (and have a couple of books on there now) without any problems!

jzed

Don't bother with ebay anymore. Sold some tickets on it. Got the cash (or so it told me) sent the tickets off, and then the money somehow disappeared. The buyer had recalled the payment. Ebay were useless, so managed to do a bit of digging on the buyer (found his work email address) and they then claimed some problem with their bank account or something and it was now sorted. Money turned up shortly after that.

jonny_trousers

I've only really had positive experiences of Ebay (even when having to open up a dispute). They do take the proverbial where fees are concerned, however, but then perhaps you get a better price because of the number of bidders they draw in.

It's a tough one for you Mudcow as you really ought not to have handed over the cash and taken the sofa away in the first place, but then it does sound like the seller lied to you. If I were you I would message the seller and politely inform him that you only accepted the partial refund as you were worried that you wouldn't get anything back if you protested further, and that you are going to leave negative feedback unless he reimburses you what he owes. He can log the whole thing as a no sale through Ebay and will therefore not be subjected to any of their fees and can relist it if he's worried about that. If you do need to leave negative feedback then I would suggest you keep it polite and to the point so you don't come across as a whiner. Something along the lines of, "Seller advertised item as 'as new', but it turned out to be old, damaged and stinking of smoke". Only partial refund offered, Buyers beware!" Maybe that's way more than you are allowed to write?

Like you say, it's the principal more than the money. Be a pain in his arse.