Is a seller obliged to take back an item that's flagged on the gov.uk as high risk of electric shock

[harhudsbigdad]

I bought a laptop charger (224677056531) as a spare on 28 June and have never used it. I had an email from eBay this week with a link to the gov.uk site advising that imports have been stopped and these items destroyed due to a manufacturing issue that carries a 'High' risk of electric shock.

Long story short, the seller is refusing a return as it's outside the 4 month window, and has essentially said that I have to wait for a shock before getting in touch for a resolution. 

I've reported this and have just seen that the listing has already been removed for a policy violation, which is good as it'll stop others from potential harm. Any suggestions on where to go from here please? I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with it, not least because the seller is HK-based, although it was shipped from a Co in Tamworth. Can't find any info on that!

[red_magpie]

eBay's own money back guarantee only lasts for 30 days. After that, any resposibility rests with the seller.

Depending upon how you paid, it's possible that your payment provider may be able to help.

Otherwise, as your seller is based in China there is nothing you can do, except bin the item and learn from the experience.

Before buying again, do please read Section 2 of the user agreement. eBay even warns buyers that they do not guarantee that items for sale will be safe, legal - or even exist. Would you have bought from a shop that stated this?

Buying from unknown sellers on eBay is NOT like buying from the shops or reputable online retailers. It was your choice to accept the warning and take the risk of buying from this Hong Kong based seller. At least you're lucky that it didn't cause a fire or injury, which has happened to many other buyers.