Misrepresentation

[54jennig53]

I recently bought an Andrew James halogen oven and received one made by Quest, a cheap Chinese knock-off. Unfortunately my husband has unboxed and used it. It works. However its not what I ordered and was significantly more expensive than others. Have left feedback, no response! I cant find anywhere to complain to Ebay about this. What is the policy about this type of trading?

[tressygirl]

The policy for this, is written on every listing in the guise of ' eBay's 30 day MBG,  Money Back Guarantee policy'.

If you receive a faulty item you have 30 days from the item's last estimated date for delivery to receive a full refund,  and the seller pays for the tracked return postage if they want their item back first.

You say it's Chinese made,  most items are.  Or,  did you mean you purchased this from a seller based in China?  Hopefully not,  as it's an oven.  Even if the seller is registered in China , but the item location is listed in the UK,  don't be fobbed off that it needs to go back to China,  it goes back to the UK address.

All the above depends on when you purchased the item,  if the timeline has been exceeded,  you could try your payment provider for help with a refund.

@54jennig53 

[*vyolla*]

I would not have bought from that seller, they're selling on a private account when they're clearly trading as a business but denying consumers their rights. There may be safety issues with that product, you won't know and have no comeback later.

I'd open an eBay return now, before you run out of time, select the 'doesn't match description or photos' reason and the seller will have to supply a pre-paid returns label. 

[john1297576]

You cannot change your feedback, what you have said will stand however your return case gets dealt with. Only by seller sending a Feedback Revision request can any change be made, but do not recommend doing anything if requested.

When you have a problem with a purchase never leave feedback until the problem has been sorted out, as positive feedback just increases the sellers total feedback, when they are blatantly, selling fakes and by being in correctly registered as a private seller denying you your legal rights.

While ebay takes no action on feedback the star ratings do get used in calculating a sellers status.

[54jennig53]

Thanks for your replies, all very helpful. 

It appears that the "buyer beware" phrase is the premise that Ebay works on. I'm continually surprised that such a large corporation does not police the businesses trading - whether using private accounts or inaccurate descriptions or contravening trading laws. I've been concerned about Ebay for some months especially since the recent updates and trying to contact a person is nie-on impossible.

Customer service (for buyers) is what sets online sites apart, looks like I'll be reviewing my shopping on Ebay.

[papso22]

Actually ebay provides incredibly good protection for buyers, to the detriment of sellers.

But buyers do need to understand how the money back guarantee works. 

[*vyolla*]

---

@54jennig53 wrote:

Thanks for your replies, all very helpful. 

It appears that the "buyer beware" phrase is the premise that Ebay works on. I'm continually surprised that such a large corporation does not police the businesses trading - whether using private accounts or inaccurate descriptions or contravening trading laws. I've been concerned about Ebay for some months especially since the recent updates and trying to contact a person is nie-on impossible.

Customer service (for buyers) is what sets online sites apart, looks like I'll be reviewing my shopping on Ebay.

---

It's nigh on impossible for a buyer to lose out on eBay.

eBay offers a 30 day Money Back Guarantee in addition to any statutory consumer rights you may have, I'm failing to see how you can lose out here? It seems that you decided to go ahead and keep and use the item when we've explained in some detail how you can return it for a full refund.

[red_magpie]

I'm continually surprised that such a large corporation does not police the businesses trading

If you are "surprised" to learn that eBay doesn't police business trading - or anything else - then like most users you can't have read the user agreement.

eBay explicitly warns buyers in the second para that they do not check listings or guarantee the quality of items sold here or that they will be truthfully described - not even that they will be safe or legal.

Who would buy from a shop that said this? Buying from unknown sellers on eBay is not like buying from the shops. eBay is a jungle.