long story......need help/advice....

[glaskham]

right i needed some school trousers for my ds as he starts nursery in 2 weeks, about 4 weeks before xmas i looked on ebay for some used ones to be spares and then we could just buy a couple of new pairs and save a small fortune really....money is tight this month anyway with xmas, ds's 3rd bday and car tax when were already on an itemised budget....

i saw a large bundle of trousers and shorts, bid and won them at £8.50 plus £5.00 p&p...had to pay by echeque as didn't have enough paypal funds to cover it all, anyway, sent seller a message saying i'd paid by echeque, it was supposed to clear by 24th dec, and as long as i recieved the parcel before end jan that was fine as i had some new trousers he could last with until then....

anyway mid-transaction with my paypal i get a message from ebay saying not to complete the transaction as they'd closed her account....so i contacted her, advised that i was cancelling due to ebays reccomendations (for all i knew it'd been closed for scamming other ebayers) and i said i'd just buy some trousers elsewhere....i'd still not had a single bit of contact from seller at this point

paypal transaction was cancelled and i went out and bought £40 worth of new trousers for him to have instead. the next day i recieved the box full of trousers....they are now surplus to requirements and in actual fact they are in poor condition to what she'd described in the listing anyway....she's now asking i pay the £8 p&p to send them back to her and i dont see why i should be £8 out of pocket when she'd posted before any payment had cleared.....HELP me please!!!

(oh btw i am an experienced ebayer with over 600 feedbacks but never been in this situation before so dont know where i stand, she still doesn't have an ebay account so i'm gathering she doesn't have a leg to stand on?....)

[lazarou]

Tbh she really hasnt got a leg to stand on so just ignore her and keep the clothes.

[Flllightattendant]

No, she doesn't have any rights in this situation, but what I would suggest is that you keep them (presuming your payment wasn't taken) and sell them on or give them away if they are too scruffy.

Ah I see, she is demanding them back?
Do you know why she was deregistered?

[lazarou]

There's plenty of people on ebay putting misleading info in their listings and ripping people off. She sounds like one of them.

[TheBlonde]

if you can be bothered stick the parcel back together, write return to sender on it and take it to the post office
don't pay any postage, she can pay it on delivery

[glaskham]

no...she says ebay accidentally removed her account....and that it was going to be back up and running in a few days (this was between xmas and new year so around a week ago....

but my point is, i had NO contact with her till i'd recieved the box of trousers...and they were posted on the day i sent her an email saying i was contacting paypal to cancel the payment. so i wasn't to know she was posting them...and even if she was still a registered user and i'd actually paid for them i'd be seeking a refund as they are in a bad way...knee's with holes, all bobbly etc, lots with hems down etc- not even worth giving away to be honest as cant be used for another child for school!!

[sixlostmonkeys]

have you told her you have received them?

[lazarou]

honestly, she really is just taking the mickey. She was selling rubbish and passing it off as wearable. Cheeky cow, ignore her. It is unlikely her account was shut down by accident.

[glaskham]

thats what dh said, that ebay dont just randomly pick someone to close their account down....but i do feel a tad guilty that she's now £8 out of pocket for posting to me....but the pants aren't even worth that at all to say i'd pay her the p&p it cost her.... she knows i have recieved them as i said they'd come but i'd already spent lots more buying new as i told her not to post as payment wouldn't clear.....

[scatterbrain]

I agree that it's unlikely that she was deregistered by accident - specailly as ebay actually bothered to tell you as well !

However - putting myself in her shoes I think I would feel that you should either pay for the goods or return them to me at my cost.

I am wondering whether it may just be easier and less stressful all round to agree to return the stuff to her - but why will it cost you £8 to return them when it cost her £5 to send them ? You can send a pretty big parcel first class for a few quid - so could you just take them to the Post Office and ask for the chepaest possible way to send them back - even if it takes two weeks !

Did she specify a returns policy ?

I just think this is one of the pitfalls of ebay - and in this case there are no winners really - just a load of stress and hassle - I'd pay the return postage just to get her off my back and conscience tbh ! and write it off as a bad ebay experience !

[staryeyed]

You should follow the rules of ebay in this situation, if you dont you could end up with a mark against your account for non payment. Contact seller explain that the item is not as described and try to come to some agreement.

[lazarou]

You haven't done anything wrong, but if you feel that it would make you feel better, just send her £8 as a goodwill gesture and leave it at that.

[scatterbrain]

oops - I meant you should return them to me at YOUR cost !! Sorry to confuse !

[glaskham]

she'd quoted £5 p&p on her listing but the price on the post office sticker was £8.26....she didn't have a returns policy when i bid, and now she's been suspended i cannot even see the item in question to double check things... there were in total 10 pairs of trousers and 7 pairs of shorts.....she is requesting that i return them to her at my own cost...but if i did that would mean that sending that would cost my son his nursery jumper as he starts before my next payday and i have no other spare cash unless i could scrimp on food for the next 2 weeks (which i am doing nore than enough of in the first place)

[glaskham]

but i have read ebay policy and in actual fact because payment had not cleared then she doesn't have a leg to stand on with them either, plus i could also report her for sale of goods unlike the goods listed....

i dont want to part with any money, but i dont want any bad marks on my ebay....maybe if her account was re-instated i would send the money for what she paid in p&p but nothing else as i cannot use the items she has sent. without her account being re-instated she cant do anything through ebay to give me bad marks on my account can she?

[sixlostmonkeys]

if she no longer has an account she cannot file a dispute for non-payer.
She posted them without having the payment - very silly - so why should you pay for the mistake.

even if she could file a dispute she has to prove she sent them. did she send them recorded delivery?

I'd ignor her tbh. I'm sure she has learned a lesson here (hopefully)

[scatterbrain]

Have you asked ebay for their advice ?

[lazarou]

I see why you are worried. You are thinking she may be skint and needs the cash herself, BUT, she obviously intends to put them back on ebay. I think perhaps she will put them back on using a different account and someone else will end up with a load of useless tat. She has had her account closed down but she didnt want to lose out on the sale so she sent them to you on the offchance that you would feel sorry for her and pay her for useless goods. So, look at it this way, she wants you to pay her postage costs. You, in the meantime, have nothing to show for it and she can sell the clothes on again. She would have had warning about her account being closed in sufficent time to let you know and ask if you still wanted them. In any case you would have sent them back because they are shoddy.
If she wants them back, she will have to pay the postage, or you won't send them back at all.

[glaskham]

emailed ebay last week with no reply as of yet thats why i'm getting bothered by it as she keeps emailing me saying i need to post the items back to her.......the box has been opened and then sat in the corner of my dining room for the last 2 weeks!! i'm considering freecycling them just in case anyone is very desperate for some more school pants, but i dont want to just in case it spirals if she gets her ebay account back!! just sick of seeing emails off her (she couldn't reply when i sent nice emails explaining the situation at my end but now she's a few £ out of pocket she's emailing a couple of times a day) and sick of seeing that box!!

they weren't sent recorded either.

[glaskham]

thanks lazarou, you've explained exactly how i feel....but its just driving me nuts!!!

[lazarou]

just say 'of course you can have them back just as soon as you have sent me the money for the postage costs. the items were not as described so i would have returned them anyway.' You could alternatively block her emails.

[sixlostmonkeys]

she honestly doesn't have a leg to stand on - she is just trying it on.

tell her you have returned them and block her emails

[melpomene]

Take photos of the damage (holes/hems etc) in case there is a dispute. Tell her you will only post them back if she pays the postage.