Click & Collect – Failure to Collect – Where Do You Stand?

[porte2425]

There seems to be conflicting information – even policies (as far as I can tell) – in regards to failure to collect from a Click & Collect service.

Under the seller’s “Terms and conditions for Click & Collect” (https://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/click-and-collect/terms.html), it states:

If the buyer fails to collect the goods within 7 working days of being notified that it is ready for collection, the contract between you and the buyer shall be treated as cancelled by the buyer.

and

Once you have received a returned item, you shall refund the buyer within 2 business days in line with our return policy. The refund has to include original shipping cost (except surcharges for express delivery services that were ordered by the buyer). If eBay manages your payments, you shall initiate the refund as part of the returns process on eBay.co.uk.

So, from that, it would suggest, if a buyer doesn’t collect, then it acts as a force return, where you are obliged to fully refund them.

However, even the same policy kind of contradicts that, as it states, under “Disposal”:

You authorise eBay and or a third party appointed by eBay to (i) donate to charity or (ii) dispose of undeliverable, uncollected or unidentifiable items at its discretion and in such circumstances you agree that title to the item shall automatically transfer.

So, there it states that uncollected items can become the property of eBay (or someone else they designate), and they can do what they want with them.

And for the buyer, under the eBay Money Back Guarantee (https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-poli...), it basically states that they forfeit their item if they fail to collect it.

Exclusions and special coverage when the buyer doesn't receive an item

The buyer chose a Click & Collect delivery option

Not covered:

The buyer was notified that the item was ready for collection, but did not collect it within the specified time frame

But under the standard page for Click & Collect (https://pages.ebay.co.uk/clickandcollect/), it says:

Your parcel will be held in-store for up to 7 days, starting from when you receive your collection notification via email or SMS. If for any reason you aren’t able to collect it within this time, the parcel will be sent back to the seller. You’ll receive a refund within 6 working days of the seller receiving the item back.

So, can anyone confirm the actual position eBay takes in regards to uncollected items from a Click & Collect service – do the items get returned to the seller, who is then obliged to refund as if it were a return, or, does the buyer forfeit the item(s)?

[tressygirl]

It's not crystal clear I agree, but in a roundabout way they are trying to say this,  I believe! 🤗

Once a buyer is notified their item is in their allocated store,  they have 7  days to collect their item, if they don't , they lose eBay's MBG protection the seller does not have to refund. UNLESS  the store sends the  item  back to the seller, Then, the seller refunds.  If you think about that scenario, the seller here has both item and buyer's money, one has to go!

Now, going back to buyer not collecting their item,  the store does not have to send the item back to the seller,  I often wonder how many take the trouble and time to do this, no benefit to them.  The alternatives are to give it to charity or destroy it.  So here,  the seller would not have to refund if those alternatives were selected.

Hope that's a little clearer,  must admit some of eBay's help pages need a wee bit of tweaking, and rewriting!

@porte2425 

[porte2425]

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@tressygirl wrote:

Once a buyer is notified their item is in their allocated store,  they have 7  days to collect their item, if they don't , they lose eBay's MBG protection the seller does not have to refund. UNLESS  the store sends the  item  back to the seller, Then, the seller refunds.  If you think about that scenario, the seller here has both item and buyer's money, one has to go!

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I agree, and your response make sense. Thanks.

I will go with the assumption that I would potentially lose an item if I don’t collect it in time.

But the conflicting information given by eBay is a problem for a general buyer. Someone is going to read the standard page for Click & Collect (https://pages.ebay.co.uk/clickandcollect/) and think, “okay, if I can’t get to pick it up in time, at least I’ll get my money back”. When the reality seems to be that they may end up with neither.