Ebay Problem

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:25

I've just about had enough now, and I just want to see if I can get any advice from any of you fellow people on here.

Basically on the 18th Augast I purchased one of those SATA/IDE to USB adapters off an ebay seller/shop and received the item fully working all fine until 7 days later... on the 7th day the adapter's power supply made a huge pop and it stopped working, it also felt really hot so to me it looks like it may of overheated. Anyway, I decided to send an email to the seller explaining the problem and kindly asking for a replacement power supply to be sent to me or a refund etc. but when he responded back to me, he refused to give me a proper straight answer and basically said on the lines that he cannot give me a replacement power supply. I told him that this was unacceptable and then I decided to open a PayPal dispute about the problem. Fast forward to yesterday and PayPal closed the claim - adding that they could not decide who was at fault!!

What a very vague answer, I then decided to give PayPal a call and then I basically got told that the case was closed on the grounds that they do not grant refunds to the buyer who's item stops working properly "after a certain amount of days and because the item is now used" and that they recommended that I try and go back to the seller to come to a satisfactory resolution - I cannot believe PayPal just told me that, this is the reason why I opened the PayPal dispute because the seller would not do anything about it! I'm absolutely stunned that they closed the case like this. Anyway, based of PayPal's silly recommendation I decided to contact the seller again last night stating the situation and that I still want my refund. Received an email this morning from the seller outright refusing a refund because "the faulty item was not returned within 3 days of buyer receiving item". What can I do now? This is wrong - an item stops working on the 7th day of using it and PayPal said no to a refund so now the way this is looking I've got no chance! What do you guys think?

I forgot to add - for the first few days the case was still in the "being reviewed by PayPal" stage and then yesterday morning it suddenly moved onto "return item" and then instantly straight to "case closed".

Thanks all - Liam

Participant · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:27

'I am not a shop'

Wispy · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:29

Robbie G said:
'I am not a shop'

Do you stop working after 7 days?

ColdAsIce · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:32

It sucks mate but he doesn't have to refund you, unless it was stated on the advert when buying about the returns policy.

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:33

ColdAsIce said:
It sucks mate but he doesn't have to refund you, unless it was stated on the advert when buying about the returns policy.

So no hope then, thought just as much. After reading some of the seller's Neutral & Bad Feedbacks yesterday, there are a few other buyers who purchsed the same adapter kit within the last couple of months all with the exact same fault and also stating that the power supply was dangerous.

Liam

Zenun · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:38

I bought one of these off ebay... after a couple of days the hard drive was smoking!

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:40

Zenun said:
I bought one of these off ebay... after a couple of days the hard drive was smoking!

I'm glad it didn't fry my spare HDD or my spare DVD Writer! The entire power supply and the cable that was connected to the HDD/DVD was just red hot when it packed up.

Liam

PhillyDee · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:46

Is the seller a business? Was it a BIN or auction?

If they are a business and it was a BIN then you are covered under SOGA and even DSR. Regardless of the fact it was eBay, the rights are the same.

Oh, and why a paypal claimm? It should have been eBay.

Beerbaron · 17 Sep 2010 at 10:46

can you contact the other buyers and then contact trading standards or CAB as he is surely selling dangerous electrical items.

Vonhelmet · 17 Sep 2010 at 11:00

Was it drop shipped to you, or sent from England?

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 11:23

Yes he is a Business seller and yes it was a BIN auction.

Ok I will try and get in contact with the other buyers and see what they say.

Thanks for helpful info, I will be looking into SOGA & DSR. Do you think I should take this further by contacting him again and threaten taking further action? Only If I am covered by SOGA & DSR

The item was shipped from Essex and the buyer claims to be in the UK, but reading his previous emails are hard to understand as they are worded badly so I get a feeling he could be foreign.

Liam

Participant · 17 Sep 2010 at 11:35

If he's a UK business then surely his disclaimer about 3 working days is pointless?

qwertylives · 17 Sep 2010 at 13:41

paypal fail so hard its not funny

Uther · 17 Sep 2010 at 14:19

You didn't check his feedback scores before you ordered? :/

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 14:31

Uther said:
You didn't check his feedback scores before you ordered? :/

His feedback score is 99.7%, 3 of the other un-happy buyers with the same item left feedback just before my item stopped working properly. I'm going to be keeping an eye on his feedback to see if anyone else with the same item gives him more bad/neutral feedback.

Liam

Cupra · 17 Sep 2010 at 14:33

do a charge back on the card that paypal took the money from and close the pp account

Pygmyshrew · 17 Sep 2010 at 14:51

qwertylives said:
paypal fail so hard its not funny

Sure do, we just had the most confusing and surreal email from them after we had missed the deadline to return a product so the case was closed but went on to say they're sending us £5 to post the item back which should appear in 2-3 days after which when its confirmed as being sent they'll refund the rest. :confused:

LEK-89 · 17 Sep 2010 at 16:12

This is what I don't get, for days the case was still stuck on the "being reviewed by PayPal" then yesterday the case gets closed with PayPal immediately skipping the "Return Item" stage, if they still think that I'm going to return the item now they are wrong.

Liam