Taking Ebay UK to court over item sold and then ebay returns money to buyer

[frustrated1972]

Hi Forum,

This is my first post.

On the 12th June 2022 I sold a Jaeger Lecoultre ‘Compass’ Camera to an Ebay buyer in Australia for the amount of £2500.

The buyer paid through Ebay payments on the 12th June, the total amount of £2519 which included the charge to send the Camera to Australia.

The description on Ebay of the camera was added to whilst the auction was running which answered some questions I had received -

‘To answer some questions.
The Lens barrels do fully open and lock as required
The Spirit level is complete and working
The Filters and Stops all work.
The only thing I have been unable to do is to get the shutter to work.
I don’t know if I’m doing it correctly or if it needs a bit of work.
I have wound the wheel that works the shutter and it does ‘wind up’.

The Camera was sent to the buyer in Australia and was received by him soon after.

 

On the 3rd July 2022 I received a message from the buyer saying he had received the camera but was not happy with the fact that the shutter was not working correctly, he considered it a major fault and asked if I had any suggestions to rectify the problem.

 

I replied to his message informing him that the shutter issue was mentioned in the description, to which he replied on the 5th July that he ‘didn’t see the additional description’.

 

He offered to get the camera looked at by his camera repairer or post it back for a full refund.

 

At this point I was not prepared to offer him a refund as I had mentioned the issues with the camera clearly, and he had admitted ‘not reading the description‘.

I suggested he contact Ebay and go through the process of resolution.  I have had no further contact with the buyer.

 

On the 13th July 2022, 15:46, I received a message from Ebay informing me that Ebay were ‘stepping in’ to resolve the return, and that Ebay were going to take a look at the case.   

 

On the 13th July at 16:44 I received a message from Ebay, what I assume is a standard email explaining what happens when a buyer ‘receives the wrong item, it arrives damaged or doesn’t match the items description‘, None of which apply to this item.

 

Ebay stated in that message that you were placing the request on hold for four days to ‘give me time to arrange return shipping with the buyer’.

 

I contacted eBay straight away and spoke to a representative outlining my concerns and also that I had done nothing wrong with regards to mis-selling or misdescribing this camera.   

 

The representative implied that she understood my concerns and that Ebay would listen to them.

 

At 16:46 on the same day I received another message from Ebay telling me that the case was ‘temporarily placed on hold’ and that they would get back to me with an update by 18th July 2022.  

 

At this stage as unhappy as I was, I had assumed that you were going to give me a chance at least to explain this case to somebody in Ebay and therefore I did as they said and waited for them to get in touch by the 18th July.

 

I heard nothing more from Ebay until the 20th July when I received a message saying the ‘case is now closed’ and that Ebay had issued the buyer with a full refund of £2519'.

 

At no point from the 18th July, to 20th July was I contacted by Ebay.   

 

When I did receive the message that you had refunded him I was completely at a loss with knowing what to do.    I contacted Ebay and was put in touch with the High Value Claims Department.    I spoke to a representative who told me that as I had not sent a label back to the buyer for return postage, the case had been closed.   Ebay also told me there was nothing more that they could do and that their ‘hands were tied’ with regards to this case.

Ebay suggested that I send the buyer a return label, which would have cost me £20 or so, and that hopefully he might return it.   I was not prepared to lose anymore money on the off chance he might or might not decide to return it.

 

Ebay suggested that I try messaging him to see if he would return it, they said if I had no response from him, then Ebay might try messaging the buyer.  He did not respond and therefore  nothing more Ebay could  do.   Ebay  also told me that as he had a good record, then they had no reason to believe he was acting unscrupulously.

 

I have messaged the buyer in Australia three times, and have had no response from him.   My view being that he’s very happy to have kept the camera and to have had his money handed back to him, with no intention of returning it.

 

That, I hope outlines, what has happened.

 

At no point during this process have I had the opportunity to argue against this outcome.   Ebay has not listened to my concerns and I am disgusted by the way Ebay have refused to get involved.  

 

Ebay have allowed the buyer to keep the camera and have returned him his money.

 

I consider the timeline of messaging to have been confusing and unclear.    Had I not received your message informing me of the case going on hold, then I would have, ‘under protest’, sent a return label back.

 

 

I have now initiated a small claim against Ebay and, and they have passed it on to a solicitor in Plymouth.

 

The solicitor has sent me a huge email with various pages of legal jargon which I do not understand at all.

 

Does anyone here think I have a chance in taking on the Ebay overlords?

 

Thank you anyone.....

 

[frustrated1972]

Hi.

Ebay took £1361.15 out of my bank account, the remainder was taken from the sales I had made through Ebay.

Forgive me but I dont know where I find the 'letter of claim', or the 'claim form'.    

Are these to be found on the small claim site I registered?

 

[frustrated1972]

claimform

 

 

claimform.pdf

[frustrated1972]

defence filed by ebay

defence.pdf

[frustrated1972]

I am private seller on Ebay.  

 

Im not trying to be difficult but I dont know what you mean by 'letter of claim'.

 

Do you mean the initial letter that I sent to ebay informing them of my intention to take them to court?

 

I have not tried to get the payment reversed from the bank, as that still leave a substantial amount they took from my seller account

[frustrated1972]

I am a personal seller, not a business account although I fail to see how that in any way matters with the way Ebay have acted.

How is it fair that they have allowed a buyer to keep the goods and give him his money?  

I do sell items on ebay regularly.

I will contact my bank and see if they are prepared to help.

 

I also dont know if it was DD from my account, I am not sure what authorisation you need to give ebay to have an account

[frustrated1972]

Hi

I have not had any advice at all.  

The reason I have let it drag for so long is that I have had a lot of correspondence with Ebay n the hope they would see sense.   That was why I did not contact my bank.

I have no knowledge of the legal issues, and also what I should or should not have done.

I was left with the only option being small claims as I assumed they were there for low value claims without the need for a solicitor.

Thank you for your help and I guess the fight still goes on.

Regards

P

[frustrated1972]

I just checked and the payment to Ebay is listed as a Direct Debit.

I will call my bank tomorrow

[frustrated1972]

The camera was listed as faulty.   The buyer admitted when he received it he had not read the description.

 

PART OF MY LETTER TO EBAY

 

On the 12th June 2022 I sold a Jaeger Lecoultre ‘Compass’ Camera to Ebay buyer Jun Wang (username - art.cameras) for the amount of £2500.

 

The buyer paid through Ebay payments on the 12th June, the total amount of £2519 which included the charge to send the Camera to Australia.

 

I would like to add at this point that the description on Ebay of the camera was added to whilst the auction was running which answered some questions I had received -

 

‘To answer some questions.
The Lens barrels do fully open and lock as required
The Spirit level is complete and working
The Filters and Stops all work.
The only thing I have been unable to do is to get the shutter to work.
I don’t know if I’m doing it correctly or if it needs a bit of work.
I have wound the wheel that works the shutter and it does ‘wind up’.

 

The Camera was sent to the buyer Mr. Wang in Australia and was received by him soon after.

 

On the 3rd July 2022 I received a message from the buyer saying he had received the camera but was not happy with the fact that the shutter was not working correctly, he considered it a major fault and asked if I had any suggestions to rectify the problem.

 

I replied to his message informing him that the shutter issue was mentioned in the description, to which he replied on the 5th July that he ‘didn’t see the additional description’.

 

He offered to get the camera looked at by his camera repairer or post it back for a full refund.

 

At this point I was not prepared to offer him a refund as I had mentioned the issues with the camera clearly, and he had admitted ‘not reading the description‘. I suggested he contact Ebay and go through the process of resolution.  I have had no further contact with the buyer.

 

On the 13th July 2022, 15:46, I received a message from Ebay informing me that Ebay were ‘stepping in’ to resolve the return, and that Ebay were going to take a look at the case.   

 

On the 13th July at 16:44 I received a message from Ebay, what I assume is a standard email explaining what happens when a buyer ‘receives the wrong item, it arrives damaged or doesn’t match the items description‘, None of which apply to this item.

 

Ebay stated in that message that you were placing the request on hold for four days to ‘give me time to arrange return shipping with the buyer’.

 

I contacted eBay straight away and spoke to a representative outlining my concerns and also that I had done nothing wrong with regards to mis-selling or misdescribing this camera. The representative implied that she understood my concerns and that Ebay would listen to them.

 

At 16:46 on the same day I received another message from Ebay telling me that the case was ‘temporarily placed on hold’ and that you would get back to me with an update by 18th July 2022.  

 

At this stage as unhappy as I was, I had assumed that you were going to give me a chance at least to explain this case to somebody in Ebay and therefore I did as you said and waited for you to get in touch by the 18th July.

 

I heard nothing more from Ebay until the 20th July when I received a message saying the ‘case is now closed’ and that Ebay had issued the buyer with a full refund of £2519. At no point from the 18th July, to 20th July was I contacted by Ebay.   

 

When I did receive the message that you had refunded him I was completely at a loss with knowing what to do. I contacted Ebay and was put in touch with the High Value Claims Department.  I spoke to a representative who told me that as I had not sent a label back to the buyer for return postage, the case had been closed. Ebay also told me there was nothing more that they could do and that their ‘hands were tied’ with regards to this case.

Ebay suggested that I send the buyer a return label, which would have cost me £20 or so, and that hopefully he might return it. I was not prepared to lose anymore money on the off chance he might or might not decide to return it.

 

Ebay suggested that I try messaging him to see if he would return it, they said if I had no response from him, then Ebay might try messaging the buyer.  But if he failed to respond there’s nothing more Ebay could do. Ebay also told me that as he had a good record, then they had no reason to believe he was acting unscrupulously.

 

I have messaged the buyer in Australia three times, and have had no response from him. My view being that he’s very happy to have kept the camera and to have had his money handed back to him, with no intention of returning it.

 

That, I hope outlines, what has happened.

 

At no point during this process have I had the opportunity to argue against this outcome. Ebay has not listened to my concerns and I am disgusted by the way Ebay have refused to get involved. Ebay have allowed the buyer to keep the camera and have returned him his money.

 

I consider the timeline of messaging to have been confusing and unclear. Had I not received your message informing me of the case going on hold, then I would have, ‘under protest’, sent a return label back.

[frustrated1972]

Have you not read what happened, I was prepared to send the label.

 

Then straight away Ebay sent me another message telling to wait the outcome of a review.

 

This message was sent 4 minutes after receiving the message to send a return label

[frustrated1972]

Im sorry but I dont quite see why your questions bear any relevance, I'm well aware of the whole ebay procedure.

 

I do not use GSP??   What would that matter?

 

The fact remains that ebay handed over money to the buyer, let him keep the goods and sent me conflicting messages with regards to how to proceed.

 

 

 

 

[frustrated1972]

I have thought about contacting the bank but my concern is that I will lose my account to sell anything else on ebay.

 

That still leaves the outstanding amount which needs to be claimed for.

 

As I have initiated the small claims court for the full amount would that not cause an issue?