Laptop Battery 3 Year Warranty Meaningless

[rickh409]

Hi

WDXOR Battery for Dell inspiron 17-5000 (5770) with a 3 year warranty - 11-09685-93893.

What does a 3 year warranty mean? I contacted the seller on 17 Mar 2025, which was 2 years and 1 month after the battery was purchased due to the fact it was failing to hold it's charge.  After 2 more messages they responded 14 days later offering to repair the battery at a price. I asked how much it would be but they have never replied. 

Running powercfg -energy now shows that it is only reaching 16% of its potential charge.

I have sent further messages and informed them I would be escalating it with eBay and I have continued messaging throughout April & May to no avail.

eBay do not seem to be doing anything about it.

Am I missing something? Is there anything else I can do? I'd be grateful of any advice.

Kind regards

[redwick1]

Any warranty is between yourself and the seller

On ebay you have 30 days to open a dispute so well out of time for that.

You could try your card provider.

[*vyolla*]

After 2 years you're out of time to pursue this via eBay, PayPal or your card provider.

Your only avenue now is legal action.

It's probably worth bearing in mind that any warranty offered by any seller is only ever going to be as good as your ability to enforce it when required. As you've discovered, you can't. 

[rickh409]

Thank you for the advice. I think you’re right. 

This is the first time I've had a serious issue with a seller since I started using eBay in 2005. All other minor problems have been quickly resolved without any fuss. 

It bothers me that eBay can allow a seller to make a claim about a brand new item but does not then support the buyer when that product proves to be unfit for purpose. 

I get the point about it being 2 years since purchase, but does that mean any warranty longer than 2 years is not supported by eBay? It's not likely to happen with other on-line businesses nor on the high street. 

The supplier is ignoring my messages and I can not find a method of raising it again with eBay as they "didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy". I can not appeal. Case closed. 

It's not the money, there is a principal at stake. It seems that legal action appears to be the only thing that's left to me. 

It shouldn't be this way. 

[john1297576]

No warranty is supported by ebay, they only provide the 30 day money back guarantee, and do not get involved in any warranties or guarantees.

You could consult Citizens Advice as they have contact with Trading Standards.

[rickh409]

I hadn't appreciated that, but I understand it. Which means sellers can claim what they like regarding longevity of their products and if the product falls apart after 30 days, buyers can have a hard battle trying to sort it out with the seller. We live & learn. 😞 

[red_magpie]

Which means sellers can claim what they like regarding longevity of their products and if the product falls apart after 30 days, buyers can have a hard battle trying to sort it out with the seller.

Correct. Which is exactly what eBay explains in the user agreement, and you accepted. If only buyers would read it!

eBay specifically warns buyers in Section 2 that "they do not guarantee the existence, quality, safety or legality of items advertised, or the truth or accuracy of descriptions".

So we have all accepted that anything bought here may be falsely described, of poor quality, unsafe or even illegal. And that eBay will not become involved after its own, 30 day money back guarantee has expired.

Would you have bought this  from a shop that had a notice up stating this? It was your choice to buy from an unknown seller on eBay, and your risk. eBay is a jungle.

[rickh409]

Fair point (or points). I naively thought eBay might be concerned about false claims by sellers. In the past when I've received an item not matching the description, the seller has always rectified the situation without hesitation. I thought the same might happen on this occasion.

It seems I've been unlucky with this particular seller. Lesson learnt.

Many thanks for all the comments, everyone.