Should I take eBay to the small claims court?

[olihar_vy6oora]

Long story short, ordered item off eBay. Seller posted item, provided a tracking link. 

Item is delivered (not to me obviously) - Royal Mail takes a photo of the item as proof of delivery, visible on the photo is the address on the label, which is very clearly not the address I provided at check out.

Explained this multiple times to eBay customer service agents on the phone, who agreed the address on the label did not match the address I gave at check out. 

Ultimately, eBay sided with the seller, telling me tracking shows delivered, ignoring all these prior conversations, notes and pictures I supplied as evidence.

I am considering taking eBay to small claims court for i) failure to adhere to its "money back guarantee" and ii) time I have had to spend pursuing a refund for this blatant failure to uphold its own policies (which is still ongoing).

Any views on this?

[threeeight-3d]

I’m no legal expert so you should definitely seek proper legal advice before making any moves.

From the outside though, it sounds like this could be an uphill battle.

The first thing I’d do is carefully check whether the details shown on the order page in your purchase history exactly match the details printed on the address label in that Royal Mail delivery photo.

If they do match, then unfortunately it would likely go down as you entering the address incorrectly, in which case I suspect you’d lose. If they don’t match, then you may have more of a case  but probably not directly against eBay. My understanding is that your claim would more likely be against the seller for failing to adhere to the terms of the sale.

In short, legal advice is the safest next step here, but double checking those address details is what I’d start with.

[olihar_vy6oora]

Thanks for the reply.

To be clear: the address DEFINITELY does not match the one I provided at check out. It's not even remotely close - it's a completely different postcode (and is at a Delivery Office which deals with the postcode the seller put on the label, rather than the postcode where I live in London...).

My claim is more against eBay failing to adhere to its 'money back guarantee' as I have proof the item was not received by me from Royal Mail themselves...

[sml192]

If you have proof from Royal Mail that the item wasn't actually delivered to you and eBay are refusing to accept that then I would suggest contacting your payment provider (PayPal or Card Issuer) for help first before considering any legal action.

[style_wise]

Flabbergasted! Whenever this happens to me and I get eBay on the phone they give me a refund.

Since payment provider chargeback claims are a pain, perhaps making a Royal Mail claim would be the next best step? (Provided it wasn't sent with Simple Delivery.) You can claim from RM online and use the eBay invoice page as proof of value and postage cost.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

If it were me i would request a call back via :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

Best time to do this is just after 8am Monday to Friday and just after 9am on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Hopefully you will get a callback from Dublin,they are more than helpful 😋

Please post back.

[papso22]

They can't claim from RM if RM delivered to the address on the label.

[papso22]

marco@ebay 

kat@ebay 

Any chance either of you could help with this?  On the face of it it looks like the seller either accidentally or deliberately,  used the wrong address.  The OP should have had MBG protection. 

[olihar_vy6oora]

I’ve requested call backs and spoken to the customer service departments multiple times - what has happened is the agent acknowledges the address on the label is not the address I provided at check out and tells me they need to refer it to the ‘back office’ to investigate, after which I receive emails that my claim has been denied as the ‘tracking shows as delivered’.

Unbelievable for what is such a black and white case with proof… hence my thoughts to take them to the small claims court for the inordinate amount of time I’ve spent trying to resolve this