Ebay Advice- what to do if something goes wrong? YET ANOTHER UPDATE :D

[dave_mc]

Hi everyone,

As you might know if you've read my previous threads, I bought a new BC Rich Gunslinger from an EBay business seller which was a bit dodgy. :lol:

I emailed the seller the day after I received it, saying that I was waiting to get confirmation from BC Rich that the guitar was faulty- I didn't hear back from the seller, but I don't want to infer too much from that because I did say I'd get back to him.

Anyway, I got word back from BC Rich and they said it shouldn't be like that, so I've decided to send it back (both DHL and Royal Mail will insure it even though it's not in a hard case, so that's cool), and I contacted the seller to let him know.

I emailed the seller on Sunday night and still haven't heard back from him.

Question 1: How long would you give him? I don't want to keep pestering him (maybe he has a legitimate reason for not answering, he might be on holiday or something), but at the same time I want to keep myself right. Should I phone him?

Question 2: From looking at Ebay, the only thing I can seem to do is start to file a claim/start a dispute- I would prefer to contact Ebay first for a little advice regarding the proper procedure, but I can't find any contact details- have they got rid of these? Or do I just start a claim- is it pretty foolproof?

Question 3: Can I claim back my return postage costs? I had a look at the Consumer Direct website, and from what it says, if you buy something faulty online, the seller is responsible for return costs (the guitar was a buy-it-now sale on ebay, so it counts as buying from an online retailer, as far as i'm aware). Obviously getting the guitar cost back is the main aim, but I'd obviously prefer to get the postage costs back too, on principle if nothing else (a cursory look at the guitar should have told the seller it was faulty, it's an obvious problem which I noticed immediately upon taking it out of the box).

Thanks in advance for any help :) Oh and I paid by paypal, using a credit card, so hopefully that will only increase my consumer protections.

[Transcend]

You should've raised the paypal dispute as soon as you noticed something was wrong and that he didn't get back in touch to acknowledge this.

I'm pretty certain now that you have already sent it back this may mess things up a bit as he already has proof of postage saying it was delivered and no correspondance thats recorded (paypal note everything down in an open dispute) to say that you were sending it back and also him agreeing)

I do however believe your proof of postage from DHL & your original message could count in your favour in pulling things back on track.

I would lodge the dispute asap

[dave_mc]

oh don't worry, I haven't sent it back yet. Sorry if that was ambiguous :oops: I have no intention of sending it back until I hear back from him.

EDIT: with that in mind, do you still think I should open a paypal dispute (i assume that's the same thing as opening the ebay dispute?) right away?

[Transcend]

yeah i would still open it for the simple reason the item was not as described (or the problem wasn't mentioned)

This way Paypal/Ebay will contact the seller and notify him which should give him the kick up the arse if he is in fact ignoring you as then hes at risk of having his paypal account frozen and having no choice as to whether you get your money back or not if he doesnt reply.

My friend Dave (spitfire on here) recently bought a new set of dave mustaine livewires and the seller asked for it to be sent back then stopped responding completely after 2 weeks paypal refunded his money in full due to lack of contact.

It's always best to have the dispute open to make sure everything is above board as if the seller is honest it wont affect him

[dave_mc]

Ah ok, thanks, that makes sense.

I'll just wait to hear if anyone else has any other opinions, but I suspect your suggestion is the safer course of action, as you say, to keep me right.

:)

[Transcend]

one more thing to add as well just incase you don't know and its been a while

you only have 45 days from the auction end to place the dispute

[dave_mc]

Thanks :) Yeah, I thought it was somewhere around that length of time, but it's good to know the exact amount of time. I still have a fair bit of time yet. :)

I've just noticed now (ebay help is useless, i spent ages looking last night and didn't see this :roll: ) that there's an option in your "My ebay" section to request a return for an item. I guess I'll try that first.

[Philly Q]

I've just noticed now (ebay help is useless, i spent ages looking last night and didn't see this :roll: ) that there's an option in your "My ebay" section to request a return for an item. I guess I'll try that first.

Yeah, I'd try that first before opening a dispute, because at least then it shows eBay you wanted to return the item.  But since he hasn't responded to your initial email, perhaps it's best to get on and start a dispute as Tony suggested.   

The dispute process is really good if you and the other party are in agreement (e.g. I once sold a guitar to a guy who'd "forgotten he bid on it"  :roll: , so we agreed to abandon the sale and I got all my selling fees refunded).  I suspect it may get more complicated if you have a stroppy seller who doesn't want to cooperate in the dispute process.

On the return postage question, I don't think you can reclaim that.  I've never been able to when I've returned guitars in the past, although some big retailers (e.g. Amazon) will cover your return postage costs as a gesture of goodwill.

[dave_mc]

thanks philly.

Yeah I'll do the "request a return thing" first, but then if he hasn't answered by tomorrow or the next day, I'll start a dispute. That sounds like the sensible thing.

Were the guitars you were returning faulty, just out of interest? Because, as i said, from what consumer direct was saying, if it's faulty the seller should refund them- if you just don't like it and you're relying on the distance selling regulations, the buyer has to pay them (unless the seller agrees to as a gesture of goodwill, like amazon, as you said).

Though that might be in a best case scenario, lol, it might be easier said than done. Plus it might be academic- I'm not sending it back without insuring it, and if the seller only legally has to pay for the cheapest possible shipping... that's not going to include insurance.

[Philly Q]

Were the guitars you were returning faulty, just out of interest? Because, as i said, from what consumer direct was saying, if it's faulty the seller should refund them- if you just don't like it and you're relying on the distance selling regulations, the buyer has to pay them (unless the seller agrees to as a gesture of goodwill, like amazon, as you said).

Good point.  There was one which was "new" but had a couple of dings not mentioned in the ad, so arguably that was faulty, but I didn't push it because it took so long to get a refund out of the buggers.  But basically I've returned things because I just didn't like them!

[dave_mc]

ah ok, thanks.

Mine has a couple of dings, but mainly it's the neck problem which is why I'm returning it. The dings (along with the neck) add to my suspicions that it's b-stock (or at least not properly new), but I wouldn't bother returning it if the dings were the only things wrong with it.

Though obviously I'd agree that if the dings did annoy you, that you should be able to return it because it was faulty or not as described.

[dave_mc]

Update:

I opened a case on ebay, mainly because I had phoned DHL and they said they would insure it. The seller responded within a couple of hours (!) to say he'd refund my money if I sent it back.

All good, except I phoned DHL to book the collection, and they said that actually they wouldn't insure the guitar if it wasn't in a case, and that the previous person I had talked to on the phone was wrong.

GRRR.

When I phoned the post office they claimed that they would insure it without a case, but it's a pain to get a parcel of this size to the post office, and more importantly I'm scared of another DHL type thing happening, where they claim it's covered but then if I actually have to claim, say that it's not.

Now, considering how the seller has acted thus far (first sending me a dodgy guitar which was clearly dodgy from the get-go, not responding to my emails until forced by ebay, etc.), I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, and I really don't want to send a guitar without insurance in case he tries to pull a fast one and I'm out of pocket (or even if it legitimately gets damaged, again presumably I'm the one out of pocket).

Any ideas? I mean I don't really want to keep it, but at the same time I'd be better with the guitar and no money back than have no guitar or money if the guitar gets broken and it's not insured...

[Transcend]

this is where things get tricky.

you do need it insuring to cover yourself.

I think the best you could do is get him to arrange a courier to pick it up from yours

that way its on his back if he doesnt insure it.

[dave_mc]

Yep, that would be the ideal way to do it, but the problem is that any contact i've tried to make with him, outside of ebay's case system, he has just ignored.

Someone on another forum said that he thought ebay buyer protection should cover it as long as you have a tracking number- but obviously I'd want to make sure.

[Transcend]

Yep, that would be the ideal way to do it, but the problem is that any contact i've tried to make with him, outside of ebay's case system, he has just ignored.

Someone on another forum said that he thought ebay buyer protection should cover it as long as you have a tracking number- but obviously I'd want to make sure.

Well just contact him through the dispute thats always the best way to go ahead with these things.

A tracking number is enough to prove that you sent it but that is only useful if hes denying receiving it.

if it gets damaged in transport I dont think it would do.

However i think special Delivery service automatically has insurance for anything sent so try looking into that?