eBay - looking to issue legal claim

[chris223b]

Bit of an issue with eBay. In a nutshell, this is the chain of events:

 

Item ordered in August, delivery address was to my work at a site I am not usually based at. 

 

I assumed the item was there, but became aware in late August that it was not. Not received case opened with eBay

 

Seller acknowledged failure to supply and dispatched the item which was delivered early September, evidenced in message from seller when she saw it had been delivered. I was advised it had arrived by my colleague at the site so closed the case

 

Didn't get to check the item over until late September (although within 30 days of delivery). Found item to be poorly packed and had been damaged (Hermes strikes again!)

 

Opened a return case, but was surprised to see it was not covered under the usual eBay Money Back Guarantee when it clearly should have been

Seller declined return

 

Spoke to eBay, who after a very lengthy phone call acknowledged that it should have been covered but their system did not log it as such because the seller never uploaded tracking information so the system went on last estimated date of delivery (which had expired long ago due to the initial failure to dispatch the item). 

 

eBay agreed to give the seller 3 days 'to facilitate the return' (ebay could not generate a shipping label because it is heavier than the weight limit on their prepaid labels). Advised if seller did not provide sufficient postage ebay would refund

 

Nothing heard from seller.

When the 3 days were up, eBay did not refund but instead closed the case.

 

I issued an appeal on the grounds of all the above. The appeal was declined

 

I phoned this morning and had what I thought was a very productive call where the agent apologised and blamed it all on their system making assumptions. Confirmed again the item should have been covered by the money back guarantee. He fully documented the case (did a lot of typing anyway) and transferred me back to appeals, stating also he would actually talk to the agent and explain what had happened before transferring me

 

After going round in circles, nothing has been agreed with the second agent. eBay are back to claiming the money back guarantee doesn't apply  now want me to message the seller asking for them to supply return postage refund, and then wait 2 days before 'next steps' are taken.

 

At this point, I've had enough. I do not feel it is for me to chase the seller further - nor does the seller have any reason to accept a return when there isn't even an open case for one at present. Also eBay will not explain what will happen in 2 days until the 2 days are up.

 

Every phone call results in the need to explain the entire situation from start to finish as each agent claims not to know what has been discussed previously. I believe I will just keep going round in circles and have no reason to jump through any more hoops.

 

Since it's a relatively small amount (< £150), I'm happy to throw a claim form at it for the sake of the issue fee as I just want my money back at this point. However it seems a bit confused as to who to send it to or where to send it.

 

eBay (UK) Ltd with a registered address appears on all the emails, some people say to send it there, others say to send it to eBay Europe SARL using the UK address citing the Hague convention. I would have thought the UK company was correct and most likely to succeed. 

 

Also unclear whether I should send a LBA or not as I am a private individual and also have made attempts to resolve this informally by speaking to eBay up to this point?

[dx100uk]

how did you pay for the item?

 

dx

 

[chris223b]

Debit card. I could try raising a chargeback but unsure of success when goods were paid for over 2 months ago. Also believe this is Ebay's problem since they are breaking their own rules and have failed to carry out resolutions that they proposed.

[dx100uk]

bottom line is you won't get anywhere with ebay.

you just get bounced everytime as usual.

 

pers i'd do a chargeback

 

chargeback is a total limit of 540 days from the relevant transaction

from realising chargeback is now an option, you then have 120 days to do so.

[chris223b]

Yeah the chargeback might be the best option, I just doubt it will work when from the banks perspective it's an old transaction and they only have my word for it that anything is wrong. 

 

May have answered my own question, ebay themselves do now list their UK Ltd company at 1 More Place, London as the address for service for UK members.

 

Whilst I anticipated being continually bounced if trying to deal with them, you believe they will ignore a claim form sent to their registered office? 

Edited October 5, 2020 by chris223b

[dx100uk]

simply tell them item arrived damaged and the seller is refusing to accept a return and refund.

 

ebay are a chocolate teapot, they couldn't careless.