Buyer Protection? Not for a Bank Transfer. Refund refused and I'm left high and dry

[voxnaturae]

I recently paid for an item by Bank Transfer because the buyer wouldn't accept PayPal. 

When the item arrived it was broken. I sent a message asking what to do next and the seller refused a return and refused a refund, saying that the item worked when it was dispatched. 

I asked ebay to mediate between us, but all I've received is that if it's not paid via PayPal, then there's no protection.

I pointed out that they shouldn't then have the words "Protection: Ebay Money Back Guarantee: on the Seller's page, next to the photo of the item, immediately beneath his Payment Information. This is highly misleading and seems to imply that the buyer is protected. 

Yes, if you click on the link you then get a whole load of information which goes on about PayPal protection: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/ebay-money-back-guarantee/index.html

But if you click on this link: https://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

you find that Bank Transfer is never discussed. It's neither included in the "Covered" or the "Not Covered" categories. This is a grey area that allows Ebay to wriggle out of its responsibilities in relation to Buyer Protection. If they allow Sellers to demand Bank Transfer or payment on collection as the only options, then it's not adequate to simply respond to requests for help with 'oh, you should have used PayPal'. This means that ebay is profiting from Sellers and not looking after Buyers, at least in my experience.

Does anyone have any experience of this, or any advice as to what to do next? I've sent a reply to the 'have a pleasant day' brush-off that I've just received, as though it's perfectly okay that I've lost over €150 Euro. This really isn't acceptable. The Seller has benefitted, I'm sure ebay has made some profit from the transaction, and I'm left with a useless piece of equipment that simply does not work.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[red_magpie]

You didn't read the link you posted.

It couldn't be made more clear. It's right there at the top, under "What's covered".

To qualify for protection the following must apply: "The purchases were made on eBay.co.uk with PayPal or PayPal Credit via checkout or an eBay invoice."

[voxnaturae]

I did read the link. What I am pointing out is the Grey Area, in which Bank Transfers are not included under what is 'Not Covered'. This should be made far clearer. If PayPal allows Sellers to refuse PayPal and insist on Bank Transfer, there should be a clear statement about that.

[corred]

@voxnaturae

Buyers on eBay UK cannot refuse Paypal

BUT

Overseas sites do not all demand this & yes as you have found, without Paypal THERE IS NO MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

The MBG REQUIRES payment to be made by Paypal as there is an agreemnent between eBay & Paypal allowing the clawback of funds from a sellers Paypal or BAnk ACcounts......there is no such agreement with the Banks & eBay for Bank Transfer.....indeed there is little or no proitection for Bank Transfer within any purchase environment

In addition you are in the Netherlands & the seller must not have been in the UK......or they would have had to accept Paypal.....so your MBG terms may be different from those on the UK site....they will be the terms of the eBay.com or the sellers home site

[voxnaturae]

Thanks, corred, for the informative reply. Don't you think, then, that it is misleading for Ebay to post "Protection: Ebay Money Back Guarantee" on a page for which Ebay has no intention of protecting the buyer? Surely there is some relatively easy coding to check whether a Seller accepts PayPal, in which case the notice should be included, or refuses it, as was the case here, in which case there would be no apparent promise of "Protection: Ebay Money Back Guarantee"? I've never had this problem before, but am not impressed by the ever so polite brush-off I received earlier today. If it were €15 I'd put it down to experience, but €150 plus postage is a more significant amount.

[profgaz]

All Sellers are supposed to accept PayPal.
There should really however be a warning not to pay by bank transfer to anyone but it is not one of ebays listed payment methods anyway.
Maybe you could report the fraud to the police & take the Seller to court.

[voxnaturae]

Thanks, profgaz. We live in different countries, so I imagine that will be complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. I'll wait to see if I get a more constructive response from ebay.de before taking it further.

[profgaz]

Ebay will Not see any of your posts on here. To contact them, you generally need to phone.

[voxnaturae]

Oh I've contacted them and all I get is basically 'have a nice day'.