A laptop battery bought February 2019 with a 3 year guarantee has failed.Seller not responded

[rackjowland]

I have emailed the seller twice, on Sept 16th and Oct 25th, but no response.

The seller is still advertising on Ebay with same 3 year guarantee. 

The seller indicates UK stock but appears to be in China.

[tsmgmd]

Whilst I am not a expert on batteries I thought I would do some research. 

It appears most laptop batteries with 3 yrs warranty flashed over the listings come from China based sellers. 

Further research indicates that these batteries on average accept 300 times of been put on charge. 

Taking into account you have had the battery for well over a year you may have finally reached or exceeded that batteries normal working life.. 

[tsmgmd]

Normally batteries are one of the few things that a seller has some small print regarding warranty.. And a seller offering a three year warranty is just asking for problems. 

At best the seller could say that the battery has performed for 1yr and 8 months so was not faulty at day one.. 

I have to be honest and say cut your losses and by a true manufacturer produced battery that matches the manufacturer of your laptop. 

[m25jet]

To be honest if you're buying items that would normally come with a minimum twelve months guarantee as standard when bought new then you would be better off buying those kind of items from a reputable High Street store so that if something went wrong with the item whilst the guarantee was still valid you could take it back and get it repaired or replaced. The problem with warranties for items sold on eBay is that they are virtually impossible to enforce.  Unfortunately, as you have now found out the hard way, if something goes wrong with an item that you've bought on eBay that supposedly came with a warranty then you've got no chance of being able to return it to the seller in order to get it repaired or replaced on the warranty, especially if you're based in the UK and the seller is based in China, and you would not be able to rely on eBay or PayPal to enforce any warranty that the seller may have claimed would be included as part of the sale.  Therefore, the best option if you are looking to buy new items that come with a guarantee that is valid for at least one year from the date of purchase is to buy them from a High Street retailer, as opposed to buying them on eBay.

[rusticrye]

Ebay's Money Back Guarantee, along with PayPal's Buyer Protection, can legally only cover items which you can see are damaged, faulty, or not as described on receipt.  So items must be returned in the exact condition in which they were received. Ebay and PayPal (or any payment processor) cannot possibly assist with items which you report as problematic further down the line, as they can have no idea who is at fault - you for misusing the item, or the seller for supplying substandard goods.  Only a judge can make such a decision.

But Ebay's MBG and PayPal's Buyer Protection are generous extras to your consumer rights - they don't replace them.  If the seller is a UK business seller, go to the CAB's website to learn what to do ('before action' letter by Signed For post, followed by Small Claims court if necessary) just as you would when dealing with an unhelpful retailer in your local mall.

If the seller is not in the UK, there is nothing you can do, I'm afraid.

@rackjowland 

[red_magpie]

EBay's money back guarantee only lasts for 30 days. Paypal's buyer protection policy lasts longer, 180 days, but only covers the condition of items on delivery, not faults that occur in use. Neither will get involved in warranties.

Any responsibility now rests with the seller. If they're a UK business seller, in theory you should have the same statutory consumer rights as if you bought it from a shop. If they're in China, there's nothing you can do.