Buyer rights

[jogo1980]

I have been using eBay since 2012 and I’ve come across a problem today where eBay have disregarded my rights as a buyer. 

The item I purchased was a handbag and it arrived today stinking of cigarette smoke. I messaged the seller politely asking to return as I can’t use the item. They refused point blank and told me I should have asked it smelt of smoke before buying. I have bought over 3000 items on eBay over the years and have never had this happen. I opened a return request through eBay and as I didn’t have a damaged item, I had to choose the reason as ‘don’t like it’. EBay sided with the buyer in a matter of minutes. 

I contacted the seller again and she said I could get rid of the smell using fragranced wipes. I don’t think this is going to work as cigarette smell is usually had to remove. 

Have eBay changed their buyer protection or should I try and contact them to take it further as I’m left out of pocket with an item I can’t use? Its put me off of buying anything else. 

many thanks in advance for any advice 

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

You should have chosen "item not as described" to get a free return.

Only option you have now is via a chargeback through your payment provider.

[jckl1957]

Private sellers can refuse 'change of mind' returns.

Obviously, saying you don't like it indicates a change of mind and that is why the case was closed.

Really, you needed to open a case saying the item was 'not as decsribed'.  I don't think there is anything further you can do through Ebay.

[jogo1980]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply. I tried to open the dispute as ‘item not as described’ but I couldn’t continue without adding a photo. Lesson learned, I used to love eBay, but it’s changed so much I don’t think I’ll bother in future!

Thank you once again

Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[papso22]

For future reference, any photo will do, including the one in the listing.  Obviously you can't photograph a smell!

[jogo1980]

Thank you for your reply. I’m guessing eBay didn’t actually read the text, just the title. Oh well, lesson learned.

Thanks again.

Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[m25jet]

It was said earlier on in this thread "You should have chosen 'Item not as described' to get a free return.  Only option you have now is via a chargeback through your payment provider", but it may well be the case that you have more than one option with regards to how you could go about securing a refund, depending upon how you paid for the handbag.

Whilst you do have the option of starting a chargeback via your payment provider, if you paid for the item via PayPal then you can also log into your PayPal account and open an Item Not As Described case against the seller there.  PayPal tend to look into cases far more closely than eBay do, so if you did use PayPal to pay for the handbag then try opening a case there before going down the chargeback route.

Should you decide to open a PayPal case against the seller you will need to make sure that you open the case within thirty days of the date of purchase.  If the seller fails to resolve the matter to your satisfaction and it subsequently becomes necessary to escalate the case to PayPal in order to get the matter sorted then you must ensure that you escalate the case before PayPal's twenty day cut-off point.  If you do this then you should stand a decent chance of getting your money refunded in full via PayPal, in which case it would make it unnecessary to go down the chargeback route in order to get a refund.

In the event that you did not pay with PayPal and used a credit or debit card to pay for the handbag, then clearly the PayPal option is not going to be applicable, in which case contacting your card provider and starting a chargeback is going to be your next step with regards to trying to get a refund.