Wrong item sent, seller wants me to pay return costs to refund!

witnessmenow

intheclouds wrote: »

You think buyer would be responsible for your mistake?

You missed the bit where you said you were posting it from the UK but you posted it from France.

I think its reasonably that if I want the item returned that I should provide free return postage from the same place I posted it. Where does it end? What if buyer moves outside EU should I still be liable?

I dont sell anything on ebay, but I think offering free return postage from the UK when it was posted to the UK is all the seller should have to offer. It seems like thats not what Ebays policy is, which seems like just another reason why sellers are more and more avoiding ebay.

That is a separate issue, incorrect listing info, that has nothing to do with the issue in the title.

witnessmenow

Billydgoat wrote: »

If there eBay account and registered address is Finland, then yes you are correct.

Again I'll say, read the eBay forums. 1000s of stories. EBay are vague about it, but once an it not received case is open , you will see for yourself.

But a seller cant reject an offer to buy based on account location, just where the account wants the item posted to.

Crazy policy, ebay is hyper buyer friendly, so much so I dont know why sellers even bother with it anymore. I know i wouldnt sell anything on it

intheclouds

witnessmenow wrote: »

I think its reasonably that if I want the item returned that I should provide free return postage from the same place I posted it. Where does it end? What if buyer moves outside EU should Is till be liable?

It ends within the EU as its covered by EU distance selling regulations.

witnessmenow wrote: »

That is a separate issue, incorrect listing info, that has nothing to do with the issue in the title.

No - I disagree, I would have expected to return it to a UK address, a French address is more costly for me to return to. In fact - ebay took issue with this part of it specifically.

Billydgoat

eBay are VERY vague on it - until you get an "INR Claim". Then the sh hits the fan. But it was confirmed by a mod on the forums.

The problem is EU Regulations are in place but there isn't any agency (like Trading standards) to complain to here.

Its vital on eBay to read EVERYTHING BEFORE SELLING ON IT. eBay's Global shipping programme is automatically turned on to newbies on eBay. I dont know why as with no selling experience it shouldn't be.

Here is 2 examples that happened to me:

Buyer bought item using eBay GSP from me. I ship to the UK Derbyshire address. This is the only address provided to me. I ship to it. 2 weeks later, buyer who turns out to be from Australia, says "Item not as described" (It was). Opens case. I have 8 days to reply - after this eBay emails me to say I have 5 days to provide the buyer with a label or postage, or they keep item. I have to pay for the item to come back to me from Australia.

I then ship to UK/Ireland only. Buyer buys item from me, address is to Heathrow Airport (Some industrial estate).I should be ok ye? NO! 3 weeks later, buyer says "Item not as described". They are in KENYA. I have to send them a label or they keep item, within 5 days. I let them keep it. On top of this, if I try fight it, Ill end up with "defect" if I don't keep the buyer happy

Now on the other hand, on my website - both of these customers would have to pay to return the item to me as they are not in the EU. If they were in the EU and they paid "€20+€5 shipping and I sent them the wrong item. I have to pay for the return shipping back to me (where ever in the EU they live) and then give them back €20+€5. This is EU law that many sellers ignore, like I said until Trading standards gets involved.

This happened 100s of times to me and other sellers. Phone eBay. Lovely Irish call center staff state "OMG you don't have to pay return shipping, but Ill transfer you to the appeals department, who are in Manilla". Get transferred to get the usual "This is the cost of doing business, you are a seller you should know this, you are not giving your buyer a good experience". Quote EU Regulations to them, they say "You agreed to our Terms and Conditions when you signed up, even though they change every week you still agree".

So on eBay it DOES NOT MATTER where in the world you are. Many many sellers get stung with this and new sellers do not know how to handle it.

You can see yourself in the OP's thread, eBay have already taken the buyers side. So rightly or wrongly, it is what it is.

EU Regulations state that once you are in the EU you are covered for item not as described. Many Many Many sellers do not comply including big UK brands. In the UK You file a report with trading standards who sort it asap. Not sure here if there is any such agency.

ohnonotgmail

what is stop them sending you a postage paid return label from the UK to france?

intheclouds

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

what is stop them sending you a postage paid return label from the UK to france?

That is what they offered but as I am in ROI it doesnt work for me.

Billydgoat

Whats the to stop the seller sending back an empty box with a tracking number? If they did this, eBay would refund the buyer in full and the seller would be out of pocket. So it is in no ones benefit for the seller to do that as the buyer could scam them (not implying the buyer will do this at all). If a seller wants to be arkward, so can a buyer.

The buyer would need to escalate it as the buyer was not informed that it was a French company and also was not informed the returns address was in France. The buyer bought the item thinking it was in the UK. As the correct information was not provided to the buyer at the time of sale, so there is no contract as such.

In eBay's playground, you play by eBays rules - simple as that.

Walter2016

intheclouds wrote: »

That is what they offered but as I am in ROI it doesnt work for me.

sorry, but that is the drawback to Parcel Motel.

You circumvented their delivery offerign by using Parcel Motel to divert it to a third party address that was not provided on your order.


You seem to be searching for someone to agree with your thinking, but unfortunately you are incorrect.

That the person listed that it was delivered from the UK is a mute point once they can show that returning from the address delivered to is available. Rememebr, as you ahve said, they are in the EU and therefore there is no hindrance for them to trade from any part of the EU.

But once they can show that they are willing to collect from the address they delivered to they comply fully with distance selling regulations.

If the boots weigh under 2kg and size for the packet is a combined length, height and depth of 900mm and no individual dimension can exceed 600mm, cost will be €11.75 via an post packet rate.

intheclouds

Walter2016 wrote: »

You seem to be searching for someone to agree with your thinking, but unfortunately you are incorrect.

Nope, Ebay already agrees with me. Theyre the only people who matter in this case!

intheclouds

Just an update.

Seller did not respond to ebay instruction to either provide free returns label or pay postage costs so I have been refunded in full without the need to return the wrong item.

Seems madness to me that the company didnt just pay for the return. The incorrect item has a higher value than the cost of return postage AND they have left me a disgruntled customer who will leave them bad feedback when they could have cost themselves less and left me happy.