Going to court with ebay

[burhan245]

I sold a product for over £1,000 on ebay, 2 weeks later the buyer opened a return case because he claimed 'not sure of authenticity and have no way to prove it' . During the case I proved the authenticity by providing the proof of purchase (from an authorised retailer). After the process ebay decided the buyer should return it however I received a different item back.

The process automatically deducted the amount from my PayPal when tracking showed it was delivered. I contacted ebay the same day to dispute it, was told to create an ActionFraud case and send the reference no. to ebay which I did. They closed the case instantly the next day in the favour of the buyer and said that the previous ebay assistant apparently required further training as that's not how they deal with disputes at ebay?? I guess ebay really does love fraudsters lol.

So now I've lost a £1,000+ product as well as £1,000+. I've contacted ebay atleast 3-4 times since and they say the same thing each time, 'Our advice to all sellers on site is to be set up for the possibility that returns of a faulty nature may happen, while it is unlikely it is a risk associated with selling online and the costs associated should be built into your selling plans. I compare it to how the high street stores have a budget put aside for theft, damage or items being returned in a lesser condition then sent.' This was copied word for word and I've recieved a similar response on multiple occasions - I guess ebay is actually trained to exploit sellers because I'm pretty sure you can't buy a TagHuer and return a Casio to the same store expecting anything more than £500

So now I am left with no choice but to take legal action and most likely go through with a small claims court. My question is, judging from my story is going to court really the best thing to do and if I did do so would ebay be able to pull out their user policy and corner me? I've read the ebay policy and I feel like I am in the right but I'm not 100% sure if I really am, could someone please advise me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance

[red_magpie]

I've always hoped that someone would have the bottle to take eBay to court for this!

To get the bad news over first, a big problem is that the user agreement requires us to accept eBay's decisions!

However, I think there's a strong argument that this can't be used to justify eBay brazenly failing to follow the assurances of its own user agreement - of which its money back guarantee policy forms part.

You need to crawl all over this policy very carefully, and note all the instances in which what eBay has said to you is contrary to assurances apparently given to sellers in there money back guarantee policy.

As regards "item not as described" cases, eBay does state that if they can't determine that the item was as described, they will support the buyer. This is frustrating for sellers, as it means that buyers can invent any reason to claim a refund. However, eBay has a point that they can't often determine cases fully because they never even see the item the buyer received. Most importantly, as buyers are required to return items in the condition supplied, eBay leads sellers to expect that they will at least get their items back in a saleable condition.

This, I believe, is your strongest argument. Accepting eBay's decision about the return of a disputed item is one thing. But NOWHERE in eBay's buyer protection policy does it warn sellers that, regardless of the condition in which the item is returned, or even if they return a different one, eBay will take their word against the buyer's for this too.

You would do well to take legal advice on this point, but eBay's policy is scandalously misleading to sellers. Sellers are lured into a false sense of confidence by the duties placed by eBay on buyers. Sellers are not made aware that they may lose valuable items to theft because eBay is cannot verify whether the item returned was the one supplied - and so will enforce a refund. Nowhere have sellers accepted what amounts to a thieves' charter. And nowhere does it communicate the advice you have received, that sellers should have a budget to allow for theft or damage of their items. Who would ever sell items of value here if eBay warned them of this? I like to think that these arguments could prevail over eBay's requirement that users must accept their decisions - especially as eBay is unregulated, and with no right to any independent appeal.

You will need to read the full terms and conditions of eBay's money back guarantee policy here: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

Good luck anyway, I wish you success!

[tobiasd4]

Before kicking a fuss, you should have accepted return, issued returns label & refunded on return,

that way at least you would have item back to sell.

Ebay are probably wonder why a so called private seller has lots of NEW items to sell, looks suspicous, so best upgrade to business before your account is suspended.

Business seller policy | eBay

[redwick1]

Could be wrong but I would think your problem is against the buyer and not ebay.

Ebay do say that they never see the item and almost always go with the buyer

You would probably stand no chance taking ebay to court.

If they buyer is in the UK then you may have some rights under UK law 

Contact Citizens advice and see what they say.

[john1297576]

"I'm pretty sure you can't buy a TagHuer and return a Casio to the same store expecting anything more than £500"

You must compare like with like, you don't buy from Ebay, and ebay never see what you send to buyer or what you get back. Buying from a store, they would not accept a different item being returned.

In my opinion any legal action should be against the buyer, but I suspect even if you won you would have difficulty of getting money out of them.

I doubt that any action against Ebay would get anywhere as you agreed when you joined to accept ebay decisions. In addition you would need VERY deep pockets as it would be very expensive