Partial refund for item - faulty

[lauren_h1800]

** RESOLVED NOW - THANK YOU ** 

I bought a pair of Alpinestar motorcycle gloves from an eBay store, Bikerwear for £49.95. I've never had issues with Alpinestars in the past, but after wearing these gloves for only 2 weeks, the seam by the thumb had split open. 

I wore the same size I've always worn, so I got in touch with the seller as obviously I was disappointed. 

They advised me they would have to send the gloves to Alpinestars themselves to see if they could be repaired. 

Within a couple of days of receiving the gloves, I had a missed call from the seller's office in Birmingham, with an answerphone message about the repair.  They then emailed me they had been advised by Alpinestars that this was accidental damage and they refused to repair.

I was given a partial refund of £25.00. I got back in touch and said I was disappointed with the outcome, but would prefer the gloves back so I could attempt a repair myself.

The seller has refused to send them back, as they have stated 'we will not be sending these back to you. the reason is we gave you a partial refund. We will have to resell these gloves - if you wish you can buy it of us at 50%.'

To me, that sounds like they have had them repaired - why couldn't they have repaired them and sent them back to me? So I don't think it's right that I should be £25 out of pocket now, and with no gloves. 

Can anyone advise me what I shoud do? 

[lauren_h1800]

Thank you for the feedback - my additional comment hadn’t posted so apologies for the missing information. I had opened a case as per eBay guidelines, as I would never attempt to sort an issue myself without going through the proper channels but this has now been resolved as eBay stepped in and provided a full refund.

[rusticrye]

Ebay and PayPal (or any payment processor) can only help with items which you can see are damaged, faulty or not as described on receipt. They cannot legally help you with items which fail in use, as they can't possibly know who is at fault - the seller for supplying substandard goods, or you for misusing the item. Only a judge can make such a decision. So even if you were within Ebay's 30-day limit, they would not be able to help you.

But Ebay's, PayPal's, and your card provider's buyer protection are generous extras to your consumer rights - they don't replace them. So 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). Bear in mind that within the first 6 months of receipt, it is the seller's responsibility to prove that the fault is yours. If more than 6 months have passed since receipt, it is up to you to prove that it is not, and that can be expensive as you may have to obtain a report from an accepted expert in the field.

@lauren_h1800 

@red_magpie 

@m25jet 

@plpmr 

[lauren_h1800]

Thank you for the feedback - my additional comment hadn’t posted so apologies for the missing information. I had opened a case as per eBay guidelines, as I would never attempt to sort an issue myself without going through the proper channels but this has now been resolved as eBay stepped in and provided a full refund.

[red_magpie]

Can anyone advise me what I shoud do?

You have made this difficult by not including any of the information we need.

Most importantly, did you use a tracked postal service to return the gloves, and does the tracking record confirm that they were delivered?

Even if you didn't pay extra for tracking, all Royal Mail parcels services give a delivery number on the receipt which you can enter into RM's track and trace web site to check.

If you don't have tracking proof of delivery, both eBay and PayPal would require this, so end of story.

If you do have tracking proof of delivery, when did you receive these gloves? If within the time limit you can open a case under eBay's money back guarantee, through the resolution centre (see foot of page). To qualify, you must have paid through eBay's checkout, using PayPal or PayPal Credit, a credit card, debit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay.

A case must be opened within 30 days after the actual (or latest estimated) delivery date, or, if the seller's return window is longer, within their return window. The seller is allowed 3 business days in which to respond. After that, the option will appear for you to escalate the case, if necessary, for eBay to step in and help. This option remains available for 21 days from the date the case was opened.

If only you had done this in the first place, eBay would have required the seller to send you a prepaid return label. You will now have to enter your own tracking number in the case.

If the seller doesn't respond or you're not happy with their response, escalate the case for eBay to step in. Normally eBay takes the buyer's word without question, but if the seller produces a letter from Alpinestars saying they were damaged they may find against you. They might also disqualify your claim because you have already accepted a partial refund.

If it's already beyond eBay's 30 day time limit you you can still file a dispute under Paypal's longer, 180 day buyer protection policy, see: https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/what-if-i-didn%27t-receive-my-item-or-it%27s-not-as-adve...

It's become so complicated. Next time, PLEASE follow eBay's simple and clear procedures instead of trying to resolve disputes yourself!

[m25jet]

Given that you don't have the item to return to the seller for a full refund it's made matters a bit more complilcated, but you should still be able to get a full refund if you persevere.

If eBay have now closed the case you will not be able to open another one.  However, you should stand some chance of getting a refund of the remainder of the balance if you contact PayPal about the matter.  If you still had the gloves I'd advise you to open a PayPal case and escalate it after two days but before twenty days in order to get your money back, but seeing as you don't the best option would be to contact PayPal by phone and explain the situation to them, making sure that you give them the seller's name and the PayPal transaction number.  If you returned the gloves to the seller via a tracked means of postage then give PayPal the tracking number so that they can put a trace on the tracking number and see that the gloves were indeed returned to the seller.

In order to contact PayPal by phone contact them on 0208 080 6500 or 0800 358 9448.  If you phone PayPal about the matter and explain what has gone wrong then they may be able to refund the remainder of the balance that you are owed given that you have returned the gloves to the seller.

[lauren_h1800]

Thanks all, I forgot to mention I had opened a return case at the start of this, and it was still open.

After a few more emails with the seller today, who insisted they will be reselling the gloves, I asked eBay to step in and they provided a full refund and closed the case within 20 minutes, so all resolved.

Thanks for the help!

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[plpmr]

you should have opened a not as described case.

Unfortunately you don't have the gloves to return as would be required by eBay.

If the  seller is a registered business you can get trading standards involved via CAB.