Returning Ebay Item - Not UK as was mentioned

Trotter

Hi all,

I bought a wireless IP video camera on ebay from a seller that posted the item in Sterling and had UK Shipping in big letters on the item picture.

As it turns out, the wireless funtion doesnt work. I sent a message to the seller who advised me to go to their message forum and an instructional video. I did both and still cant get it working so I sent a message to say I wanted to send it back.

They replied in broken English to say they'll send a replacement (I want a refund and Im about to tell them that) but the one I have should be returned to China.

Now do I A) Argue that I should be sending it back to the UK where I thought it was supposed to come from or Suck it up and post it back to China.

Should they pay for the return postage or should I? Also, how long is reasonable for waiting for the refund?

Here's the exact item
Wireless IP Camera

Thanks!

Gurgle

Is it faulty or just too much trouble to set up?
If its faulty, I don't see why you should have to pay for postage to anywhere.

Trotter

Gurgle wrote: »

Is it faulty or just too much trouble to set up?
If its faulty, I don't see why you should have to pay for postage to anywhere.

It seems to be faulty.. Ive followed the instructions exactly and what should be happening isnt happening.

Now its very possible that someone with a PhD in computer science and a handy spanner might get it working.. but from what myself and my missis have tried over and over based on the instructions, we're getting nowhere.

It works fine when its connected directly to our wireless modem via cable but isnt behaving like the video would suggest when we follow the instructions.. as in it basically dies when I plug out the cat 5 cable. Wireless hasnt worked once.

jor el

At the bottom of that auction, under the About US section, you see:

Welcome to our store! We are TOMTOP, a professional worldwide wholesale company, with our own factory located in China.

So they do say they are China based.

Did the camera get shipped from the UK to you, or did it arrive from China? They may have a shipping agent in the UK, but not actually do anything else from there. If so, you wouldn't be able to return it to them as this agent may just bin it, or ignore it.

If it was shipped from China in the first place, then you could lodge a complaint with eBay about the seller misrepresenting the location. This won't get you far, and it won't let you return it to the UK.

In short, there's nothing you can do, and you're going to have to pay the return postage yourself. eBay will not shift on that policy.

Trotter

Yeah it was shipped from the UK via Royal Mail.

I reckon I'll have to just send it back to China. Given though that its not working, it sucks to have to pay a tenner to send it back to China.

I presume I'll have to wait until they receive it back to get my refund, thats if they'll give me one.

jor el

Yes, and you'll have to be able to prove delivery, so registered post is required. You could take a chance, but if it doesn't show up you won't get anything back.

uck51js9zml2yt

I keep getting emails from this crown and assumed they were dodgy

jor el

Gavin Aggressive Range wrote: »

I keep getting emails from this crown and assumed they were dodgy

eBay?

Trotter

Frustrating doesnt cover it..

The seller eventually agreed to a refund (not including postage) and I registered posted it to a UK address that they gave me. Its more reliable and cheaper to send it to the UK.

They agreed to give the refund once it got to them. Great!

The tracking number shows it got to the UK just fine.
The seller is now delaying/refusing a refund because they havent got it back to China yet from their UK warehouse and they didnt post it registered. Not my problem!!

To top it off, this refusal arrived from the seller just outside the 45 day timeframe so neither paypal or ebay disputes will touch it.

Any advice greatly received!

jor el

An eBay dispute can be started for up to 60 days. You should really have started the Paypal dispute regardless of what was going on between you and the seller, as delaying things in this manner is a common practice by sellers in order to avoid a refund.

If you are unable to start any dispute now, you probably won't ever get a refund, nor are you likely to hear from the seller again.

Trotter

jor el wrote: »

An eBay dispute can be started for up to 60 days. You should really have started the Paypal dispute regardless of what was going on between you and the seller, as delaying things in this manner is a common practice by sellers in order to avoid a refund.

If you are unable to start any dispute now, you probably won't ever get a refund, nor are you likely to hear from the seller again.

I tried to put the ebay dispute through this morning but it stopped me from submitting it due to the 45 day limit.

Ya live ya learn I suppose.. I honestly didnt know there was a 45 day limit anyway.

jor el

It is a bit short, especially when eBay also says that a buyer should allow for up to something like 60 days for international deliveries. The cut off is unreasonably short, but it is there prerogative to have one, so nothing can be done about it

Trotter

jor el wrote: »

It is a bit short, especially when eBay also says that a buyer should allow for up to something like 60 days for international deliveries. The cut off is unreasonably short, but it is there prerogative to have one, so nothing can be done about it

Ebay came back to me and said because its more than 45 days I should contact the seller.. :rolleyes: or the police... :eek:
They even gave me a link for my local garda to click on so that he/she and ebay can investigate this together.

I really can't see that happening.

Tallon

jor el wrote: »

At the bottom of that auction, under the About US section, you see:



So they do say they are China based.

Did the camera get shipped from the UK to you, or did it arrive from China? They may have a shipping agent in the UK, but not actually do anything else from there. If so, you wouldn't be able to return it to them as this agent may just bin it, or ignore it.

If it was shipped from China in the first place, then you could lodge a complaint with eBay about the seller misrepresenting the location. This won't get you far, and it won't let you return it to the UK.

In short, there's nothing you can do, and you're going to have to pay the return postage yourself. eBay will not shift on that policy.

Thats irrelevant where the factory is, the ad says at the top

Item location: United Kindom, United Kingdom

There should be no reason to send it to china.

OP, open a dispute... how long did it take to arrive?

Trotter

Tallon wrote: »

OP, open a dispute... how long did it take to arrive?

Thats the update I put in a little while ago..

Im gone past the 45 day cutoff by that I didnt know existed by 4 days so neither Ebay or Paypal will listen to the dispute.

allthedoyles

Trotter wrote: »

Yeah it was shipped from the UK via Royal Mail.

I reckon I'll have to just send it back to China. Given though that its not working, it sucks to have to pay a tenner to send it back to China.

I presume I'll have to wait until they receive it back to get my refund, thats if they'll give me one.

Trotter wrote: »

Yeah it was shipped from the UK via Royal Mail.

I reckon I'll have to just send it back to China. Given though that its not working, it sucks to have to pay a tenner to send it back to China.

I presume I'll have to wait until they receive it back to get my refund, thats if they'll give me one.

Why would you send the item to China , when it was clearly purchased in UK .
Its a pity you have allowed this to extend beyond the 45 days , but your best option is to communicate with the seller .

Ask him what his preferred option is to solve your predicament , which could include :

1. return to Uk for refund
2. return to UK for replacement item
3. return to UK for repair
4. partial refund to compensate for wireless function not working

Get a UK address from the seller to return item .

I have looked at the advert and it is clear that the item was sold exactly as described .

By the way , could the malfunction have to do with a small matter of installing software which did not come with your item :
This is in the description :

1* Wireless IR IP Camera 300,000pixels CMOS Night View WIFI
1* Adaptor
1* Bracket
Because CD disc doesn't be allowed to pass the customs, Download please click here

Communicate .....It is the key

Trotter

allthedoyles, have a look at my update from this morning. I did send it to the UK address they gave me. I didn't report it because up to last week they said they were processing the refund. This week its as if it's a different person answering my messages.

I was thinking today, I bought it on my mastercard credit card via PayPal.. Could I get the money back from MasterCard?

jor el

You can ask for a chargeback by contacting your bank. Paypal don't like this though, and they will often close your account if you even attempt a chargeback. Not always, but often.

Is the amount of money you've lost worth the possibility of losing your Paypal account?

Trotter

jor el wrote: »

You can ask for a chargeback by contacting your bank. Paypal don't like this though, and they will often close your account if you even attempt a chargeback. Not always, but often.

Is the amount of money you've lost worth the possibility of losing your Paypal account?

€50 ish.. Do they have a call centre where a real person can actually listen to the story and do something about it or is this a suck it up and get on with it situation?

Jarren

PayPal Customer Service:

1890 943 220
(01)4369023



8:00 am to 10:00 pm Monday to Friday
8:00 am to 9:00 pm Saturday
9:00 am to 9:00 pm Sunday


Contact Us
For faster customer service, please have the following information ready.
Primary home telephone number: +353 .......... Change
Secure Web PIN: .......(Valid for 60 minutes)
Primary email address: .........
To help protect your information, personal information is only discussed with the account holder.


To get The web pin you have to login first though

https://www.paypal.com/ie/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_contact-phone

Trotter

Just to give an update again. Good news this time!

Last contact was when I messaged them to say the situation was ridiculous and I was going to go to eBay or PayPal. (As I mentioned, that then got me nowhere).

The seller messaged me and asked basically why was I making this so difficult, that all they wanted was the tracking number for the package. I nearly went mad because I'd sent it 4 times already.

I had a suspicion that it was a different person each time that was messaging me so I basically told them the story from day 1 all the way to sending the package back to the UK address they gave me and even the name of the person who had signed for it (from the an post website).

Amazingly, they messaged back and said sorry for the delay, here's your refund!
The refund hit my PayPal immediately so I think Im in business.

A Dub in Glasgo

I only hope you gave appropriate feedback

Trotter

I actually havent done it yet.. thanks for reminding me!

Whats to stop them putting spurious negative in mine then out of interest?
My feedback wont effect them anyway.. they're selling thousands of items and have 99%+ feedback even though they've 70+ negatives this month alone.

A Dub in Glasgo

Sellers can't leave negative feedback. It may not hurt them but at least it gets it off your chest