Yet another eBay story

[Another_Annoyed_eBayer]

Hi folks. This is my first thread so be gentle.

 

I recently won an item on eBay. The item was one of only 1000 released. I won it for approximately the price that it sold for in the shops when it was first released. The problem is that the seller has made baseless accusations against me and refunded my payment and is refusing to conclude the transaction. I do not want to cancel the sale. I want the item that I won.

 

The seller is also the Managing Director of a small company in England. His company sells items related to the one he sold me but he sold me the item through a newer private account and not his business account. (I'm not sure if that's relevant or not.)

 

The only other way to obtain a copy of this item is to pay substantially more than I paid this seller.

 

The seller has accused me of making threats (which is provably not true) and has refunded my money and said that he will not be sending me the item. Here's a few other points that may be relevant.

 

The seller's listing claimed that he would be posting the item within 1 day of receiving payment. I contacted him 3 times asking when he intended to post the item because the 1 day deadline for dispatch had passed.

 

I contacted him on Saturday asking him for the tracking number for the item as he had marked it as dispatched. This was when he chose to respond. He claimed that he had intended to post the item on Monday (5 days after payment) because the Post Office was shut on Saturday but that since I was being rude (!?) he didn't want to deal with me and was refunding my payment. The post office can be proved to have been open on the day that he claimed it was shut.

 

I suspect that he is just being greedy and wants more for this item and that he used my requests for acknowledgement as an excuse to cancel the sale.

 

Now, my question is, can I take this seller to the Small Claims Court for the cost of replacing the item from another seller? I want the item (which cost only £56 from the seller in question) but to replace it will cost between £130 and £170 plus P+P. I consider this a breach of contract and I further consider that since the item will cost substantially more to replace I am out of pocket. This seems to be exactly what the Small Claims Court is for.

 

What advice can anyone with experience of the system tell me about how successful I would be, if I decided to pursue this case through legal channels?

 

To further confuse the situation, the seller is in England and I am in Scotland.

 

Many thanks.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Another_Annoyed_eBayer

[Nagasis]

Have you read ebays seller non performance policy.

Apart from that I don't see you having much success in the small claims.

[Another_Annoyed_eBayer]

Hi, Nagasis. I really appreciate that you've taken the time to offer advice.

 

To be honest, eBay are pretty useless at advising on anything. They can't seem to decide if they are just a forum or a genuine marketplace! eBay staff don't even seem to know that DSR doesn't really stand for detailed seller ratings but instead means Distance Selling Regulations. You should see some of the transcripts I've got back from them. If they weren't so tragic, I'd be laughing!

 

Anyway, it's advice from anyone who has successfully (or not) prosecuted a Small Claims Court case against an eBay buyer or seller that I could do with. Even if it's all negative, I'd prefer to know before I waste my time with this guy.

 

It would cost me about £15 to initiate proceedings and I stand to save about £100 in the long run for the purchase of the item in question. An initial £15 plus a few minutes filling out a form doesn't sound too bad to me.

[ashmk]

Put it down to experience and move on, if you put time and effort into this you will find you waste your time.

[Nagasis]

I really don't see how you could be successful in the small claims. You have suffered no loss to claim. He refunded you and therefore you are in the position you were before you paid.

 

What would you sue for? If its the item he is not required by law to sell it to you and even if he was he would just say its now sold.

No judge would award you over what you were entitled to which was the refund.

 

As he used a new private account I would even bother contacting ebay over seller non performance.

 

The only way you may get the item is if you get someone you know to bid on the item if it is relisted.

[Planta genista]

Some time ago - and I do mean a few years back - there was a buyer on the eBay forums with a similar situation. It was to do with an expensive (and I think rare) watch.

 

Now, I can only give a brief summary and I'm not sure if those who advised him then are still around, but the essence was that there is a point of law which does cover this and by all accounts, the buyer took the seller to court and won.

 

I'm sorry I can't remember the point of law, but I believe one does exist.

 

You could try the eBay Discussion Forums / Buyer Central and start a question there. There are other eBayers who are good with their legal knowledge but you will also get quite a bit of 'tough luck' responses. The people who were around at the time may still remember what the law was about this and how it played out.

 

As the others have said, you should report them for seller non-performance and if they are selling as a business but with a private account, and you can show this, then you could try to report that to eBay - but only if you're really bored.

 

Do not agree to cancel the transaction if they send one and leave very carefully worded negative feedback but after you have reported them for SNP.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Planta genista

[Another_Annoyed_eBayer]

I'd like to thank you all for your advice. I'm sure it was all well intentioned but since I wasn't convinced I didn't have a case I thought I should seek genuine legal advice.

 

This kind of situation is exactly what the Small Claims Courts are good for. I have spoken to my solicitor, eBay & PayPal staff, Citizens' Advice, The Advice Shop and various other authorities and people who were able to give advice on how to deal with this seller.

 

This seller was in 'breach of contract' and in breach of various sections of the Sale of Goods Act. He had made a legal obligation to sell me the item at the price that the auction ended at and as such was required to send me the item that I had won and paid for. I informed the seller that this was the case in a 'letter before action' which stated that I would be seeking further compensation and/or a court order to force him to complete his side of the contract should he decide not to fulfil his legal obligations within the time frame given.

 

This is not the first time an eBay seller has decided to run to the hills when they didn't get as much as they wanted in an auction. (Why people feel the need to save themselves a few pence by starting auctions at 99p and then complaining when the item doesn't raise as much as they want is beyond me.) Anyway, I have had enough. I am sick of it so this time I was fully intending to take this to Court. As I am in Scotland and the seller is based in England, further compensation would have included various expenses incurred which could (had the court insisted I attend) have added up to a fair amount of money.

 

Anyway, the seller has got back in touch and confirmed that the item will be dispatched.

 

I should say that a lot of the 'free' online letters don't actually contain all of the information required under Law so don't necessarily trust a site that offers a free 'fill in the blanks' pre-action letter. There is information that if not present could be detrimental to any case that you might decide to raise. Remember to seek genuine legal advice, should you be serious about the potential of taking court action against anyone. It's good to test the water on forums like this but don't assume that all of the advice is sound.

[ashmk]

Well please keep us updated.

[Another_Annoyed_eBayer]

Will do.

[Another_Annoyed_eBayer]

The item arrived today by Special Delivery. Yay!

 

It just goes to show you. If you know the laws and are willing to take the matter all the way, there is a chance a problematic seller may realise they can't walk all over you.

 

It is worth noting that, in my case, I would have been able to prove an actual loss caused by the seller's breach of contract. This would have amounted to between £100-200 )plus any additional damages). Obviously, I wouldn't have bothered with a widely available item like a DVD bought for 99p.

 

So I'm still still an annoyed eBay user but right now I'm a happy annoyed eBay user

[ashmk]

Well done, good result.