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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think Vinted were wrong to side with the seller

143 replies

ihatevinted · 12/01/2024 09:01

I bought a pair of trousers on Vinted. Described simply as size 12, very good condition. Photos included a pic of the label showing the size '12R' (R=regular) but no measurements. They're quite a popular brand so if you know these, you know which size / product number to buy - both of which are shown on the label.

When they arrived they'd likely been altered to be exceptionally short (so short that they were actually capri style on my standard height 5'5" self). To the best of my knowledge, this particular trouser isn't available in a cropped length (and the product number on the label corresponds with the standard length I'd expected as I already own several pairs of these) but I messaged the seller to ask if they were cropped or altered as there was nothing mentioned in the listing to say they weren't a standard length. Seller replied 'no - these are normal length, 29 inches inside leg'.
I whipped out my tape measure and measured them - 24 inches. I sent this photo to the seller to show that the trousers is received were most definitely not 29 inches and could I please return for refund because they are far too short. She said no.
I put in a claim with Vinted (item significantly not as described) and sent photos showing the 'regular label' as well as the seller's message about them being standard length.
Vinted replied to say sorry, there was no fault from the seller and that I should have asked more questions before buying to make sure that they were suitable and to check that hadn't been altered.
AIBU to think that if you are selling trousers that you've altered or are not full length, you mention this when selling them?
They weren't cheap either (£50) so I'm quite out of pocket as the chance of selling them on in such an odd length is almost impossible.

OP posts:
Mummyoflittledragon · 15/01/2024 05:00

I’ve had issues twice with purchases and been refunded. The first was a clearly fake article, which the seller admitted to and the second was a coat, which was listed as brand new and clearly not. Maybe what clinched it for me with the new one is that I happened to have exactly the same brand new coat I’d bought from eBay and took photos to compare the two. I know that sounds mad having 2 of the same coat. One is oversized to put over a coat when I am sitting outside watching dd horse ride, the second one was my size.

Mummyoflittledragon · 15/01/2024 05:01

PIB20 · 14/01/2024 22:37

Honestly vinted is a nightmare for both buyers and sellers. A few months ago i sold a football shirt on vinted, it was official, purchased from a well known store that only stock official merchandise a few years ago. They person buying raised a case against me on vinted stating it was fake and not a real shirt. Vinted asked me to supply to receipt or extra photos, which i did not have the receipt for and couldnt take more photos because the person who brought it had it. Vinted sided with them, refunded them and they got to keep the shirt because they dont have to return 'counterfeit' items, even though it wasnt. Then said i could be banned if i sell counterfit goods again. A few weeks later the person who brought it listed it on their own vinted store for double what they brought it for!

Sorry you got stung this time. Vinted customer service leaves much to be desired

Is it still for sale? I’d contact the legal email listed above.

THisbackwithavengeance · 15/01/2024 05:30

That is appalling OP.

But you were being unreasonable to buy anything on Vinted for £50.

As I tell my DCs, if you want to buy something high end or expensive, buy it new from the proper shop with a guarantee and a receipt. Vinted and eBay have basically replaced actual jumble sales. Saying that, I have had some real bargains but my price limit is £5 and even that's pushing it.

MerryMarigold · 15/01/2024 05:54

Summonedbybees · 12/01/2024 09:54

I bought a toy on Vinted before Christmas for my grandchild.It was £50 odd quid. I bid and paid for the item. A few days later the seller was complaining that she didn't have time to post the article. I explained I wanted it for Christmas. A few days later she decided not to send the item at all because she had a one year old and she was too busy to organise posting it. It took nearly two weeks to get the money refunded. In the meantime I had to track down and pay for another one. Vinted said, even though I had paid and she had received the money, the seller had the right to change her mind. In fact, the call assistant I was texting for help was sympathetic but told me that Vinted sides with the seller. I think the sub text is don't spend more than a few quid because it is hard to get a refund if the seller is difficult.
You cannot leave poor feedback if you haven't received the article even though they have accepted and taken your money. I don't think Vinted has much in the way of professional standards compared to EBAY

Vinted don't release the money to the seller until you receive and confirm it is OK.

Sodndashitall · 15/01/2024 06:15

But seller put in writing they thought trousers were 29inch and they are not ? Id go back to Vinted Customer service and point this out ? Item was not even as seller expected !

Copperoliverbear · 15/01/2024 06:17

It's unreasonable, but in my experience all these sites always agree with the seller which is unfair.

Sunandsea26 · 15/01/2024 06:28

Deffo completely unreasonable! She should allow a refund, it’s happened a lot to me! Keep pushing as deffo should be in your favour.

Heatherbell1978 · 15/01/2024 06:43

Big Vinted fan here but yes that's totally not on. As a rule I don't buy anything over around £10; which works fine as I use it mainly for kids stuff. Even then I'm pretty sure some of the Nike stuff I bought for DD for Xmas was fake. There are some awful buyers so I kind of understand why they tend to side with the sellers most of the time. I sold a nearly new Joules item which the buyer tried to return as 'it was covered in paint'. It had been nowhere near paint in my house and she sent me pictures of it covered in paint which had very obviously happened at her end!! I said fine, return it to me then. Which as it happens was going to cost her about the same as I sold it for so she never bothered.

Padz · 15/01/2024 07:31

Their CS is awful, I’ve had 2 bad experiences.
The first I bough some size 16 Jeans for my daughter and I got a size 14, I was basically told to lump it as she’d got 2 ordered mixed up and it was too much hassle to sort out!
The second was a dress that was described as a excellent condition only worn once, it absolutely stunk of old storage verging on a vommitty smell, I was told to send it back at my own cost (it was a 99p vintage dress) but the seller said it smelt fine when it left her so the smell must have happened during transit! 😆 Some of these people think we’re born yesterday!

Canyoudigityesyoucan · 15/01/2024 07:36

But even if OP did ask for measurements, the seller would have given 29” as that’s what they told the seller when asked…. So you would never have known before purchase they were shortened

rockwater · 15/01/2024 07:38

Summonedbybees · 12/01/2024 09:54

I bought a toy on Vinted before Christmas for my grandchild.It was £50 odd quid. I bid and paid for the item. A few days later the seller was complaining that she didn't have time to post the article. I explained I wanted it for Christmas. A few days later she decided not to send the item at all because she had a one year old and she was too busy to organise posting it. It took nearly two weeks to get the money refunded. In the meantime I had to track down and pay for another one. Vinted said, even though I had paid and she had received the money, the seller had the right to change her mind. In fact, the call assistant I was texting for help was sympathetic but told me that Vinted sides with the seller. I think the sub text is don't spend more than a few quid because it is hard to get a refund if the seller is difficult.
You cannot leave poor feedback if you haven't received the article even though they have accepted and taken your money. I don't think Vinted has much in the way of professional standards compared to EBAY

This is good knowledge to know- a few people have mentioned Vinted to me, I won't be buying from them if they are like this

Strictlymad · 15/01/2024 07:41

Can you call up and speak to a human, I’ve found these auto chat things quite useless but speaking to a human with a brain often helps- I’ve had issues with eBay etc in the past and they’ve always sorted in my favour when I call

MerryMarigold · 15/01/2024 07:42

The only good thing is that you can leave a bad feedback for the seller.

I got a jacket for my DD correctly described as 10-12 (that's what the label said) but it was huge and was 'oversized' on me (16). Tricky for the seller to resell as she has to sell it at the size it says on the label. The seller was fine to take it back, luckily. I guess it depends on the seller. I only buy from 5 star sellers and I've never had an issue. I buy loads (I have 3 teenagers).

Cyclingagain · 15/01/2024 07:50

Well this has put me off ever buying on Vinted!

NonPlayerCharacter · 15/01/2024 08:04

Cyclingagain · 15/01/2024 07:50

Well this has put me off ever buying on Vinted!

It's fine for things you don't care about too much. Kids' clothes that they'll outgrow, a silly Christmas jumper, that sort of thing. But yes, it's like a jumble sale where you can't check the stock. So while I've been lucky so far, I wouldn't risk more than a tenner on it at the most, and that much only for something that would be really good if it worked out. Up to a fiver, usually.

WestSouthWest · 15/01/2024 08:16

I have had a few items from Vinted that weren’t as described, including a pair of 7/8 Fabletics leggings which were definitely not 7/8 but regular size and too long for me. Vinted sided with the seller even though the item was not as described. They weren’t very expensive but it was enough to put me off using Vinted again. I have returned to eBay because it seems to protect buyers a lot better.

Blomdd · 15/01/2024 08:20

Vinted are awful for this. I sent someone a pair of shoes once and they took a picture of the packaging and a dress saying I had sent them a dress instead. It was the only thing I had sent so hadn't got mixed up and had never seen the dress in my life. The packaging was mine with my handwriting. They complained and vinted refunded them £50. Total scam! I even showed them the receipt which had the parcel weight on it. I now film myself from start to finish packaging the item in the post office.

Cerealkiller4U · 15/01/2024 08:23

I brought a skirt which was advertised as a size small

it was 20 inches!! 20 inch waist

😂

Carston · 15/01/2024 09:25

The thing that irritates me is the lack of option to partially refund. One buyer complained to me that the box had been slightly damaged in transit. I hadn’t bubble wrapped it or anything because I didn’t think it would be important for the box to be perfect. She explained she was a collector so the box was important to her. I apologised and offered her £10 off or to return for a refund. She happily accepted the £10 off but we realised the only way to do that was for her to accept the item and me to pay her privately (via PayPal) the £10. On this occasion both myself and the buyer were trustworthy people and kept to what we had agreed but I could easily have just not paid her £10 and she would have accepted that the item was ok and couldn’t do anything about it.

AllTheChaos · 15/01/2024 09:32

Cerealkiller4U · 15/01/2024 08:23

I brought a skirt which was advertised as a size small

it was 20 inches!! 20 inch waist

😂

Was it vintage? Sizes have changed so much that with vintage items actual measurements are vital. Eg size 8 now appears to be a 26-28” waist, but used to be 22”!

Fluffywhitecloudsinthesky · 15/01/2024 09:37

Interesting to know. I agree with everyone saying don't buy expensive things on Vinted. That said, I've paid up to £50 for brand new shoes and also second-hand more expensive leather bags. One of my dd's items was clearly not the designer brand stated, but in fact she loves the bag and uses it every day so I feel that worked out ok. Mainly I buy brand new with tag jeans in a certain size and cheap tops, I agree with you OP that the seller was pulling a fast one as these things do come in standard sizes and it's not on you to ask for every sale 'have you altered this in any way?' because that's what a standard size is!

Fluffywhitecloudsinthesky · 15/01/2024 09:40

Vinted is much cheaper than EBay though, for branded stuff like White Company, Boden, you can pick up some bargains if you know your size and jump quickly, and that's why I carry on using it.

I also buy brand new with tags shoes quite often in brands I already know and this has worked out well (I don't buy second-hand shoes, although I once did have a 'worn once' pair but I always look at the soles pictures to see if this is true and it has been so far).

SinnerBoy · 15/01/2024 09:45

sergeantsalt · 12/01/2024 09:57

CRA doesn't apply to Vinted, they state it in their T&C.

They can say what they like, but they cannot simply bypass national legislation, it's not optional! If they trade in the UK, they are bound by consumer law, whether they like it or not.

NonPlayerCharacter · 15/01/2024 09:49

SinnerBoy · 15/01/2024 09:45

sergeantsalt · 12/01/2024 09:57

CRA doesn't apply to Vinted, they state it in their T&C.

They can say what they like, but they cannot simply bypass national legislation, it's not optional! If they trade in the UK, they are bound by consumer law, whether they like it or not.

But does it apply to the online equivalent of a jumble or car boot sale?

I don't know, I'm not a lawyer.

Raqu15 · 15/01/2024 09:57

Vinted always sides with the sellers. I don't buy anything for more than £10 on vinted; that way I don't lose out on much if something goes wrong. I also only purchase children's clothes which most of the time they're listed as brand new with tags.
I was sold a counterfeit item, paid £60 and vinted sided with the seller despite me providing irrefutable evidence that the item was fake! Had to do a charge-back with my bank which was a lot of hassle. It's ridiculous. Very soon they will start losing credibility.