Not sure about condition of eBay item

[TiredMummy2015]

I bid on and win a brand new pram. It's arrived today and has quite a few scratches on. The box it came in was fairly damaged but I'm not sure the marks and scratches were caused in transit.

What are my rights if I don't want to keep it? I got it cheaper than retail but not cheap enough to be happy about the scratches.

[BinkyandFlip]

Mind you if you paid about 200 less than new and she's offering another 300 off, that's quite a good discount. It depends how much you mind it being not pristine, having a history you do not know (from another ebayer, not a shop) and being incomplete, and also that it was sold to you by a complete nutter

A new one would also have the non transferable warranty don't forget. Which may well be worth having.

[TiredMummy2015]

I paid £200 less than new and complete I.e. With the carrycot, tailored fabrics and hood. This is second hand and minus those bits. For what I paid her I could get a second hand one with all the extras like car seat adaptors etc.

Plus £250 of the " refund" she is offering me is the compensation she thinks hermes will pay her. The box was damaged but it's clear the marks on the buggy aren't from transit. In any case I imagine hermes would only pay the maximum compensation if the item was completely lost or destroyed? I can't see them giving her £250 for scratches and dirty marks? ( especially when some of the marks are chocolate!).

[TiredMummy2015]

The warranty is apparently unregistered but after all this I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing is an imported fake from China!

[BinkyandFlip]

She will get exactly zero from Hermes. I think you are wise just to send it back. I hope you get some peace from the messages at some point and she accepts that she is having it returned. Whether she does or not though, it is your right to return it and as Norbert said, ebay may be able to speed up the process if you call them and let them know what she's doing.

[BinkyandFlip]

Yes and don't believe an effing word about the warranty!

[summerwinterton]

ok I would message her once now - tell her to stop messaging you any further. Her messages are harassment now and are bordering on police territory. Report her messages to ebay too. And neg her pronto.

And warranty or whatever, ignore her please - do not reply to anything at all.

[TiredMummy2015]

Well I ignored her messages yesterday and touch wood she has stopped contacting me.

I called Ebay and they were useless. Said there's nothing I can do until the 19th. Didn't seem that interested in details of my claim or that I was being harrassed. They also told me I received an email informing me that they had passed my number to her and didn't seem at all bothered when I told them I'd not received anything at all.

It's a good job that I am not desperate for my money back to buy another pram isn't it. I don't know why they give sellers so long to sort things out.

[19lottie82]

That's the standard time frame I'm afraid. Just wait until 18th then log back into the case details and escalate or it may be worded as "ask eBay to step in and help".

[BinkyandFlip]

oh that is utter rubbish. I'm sorry they were useless. I can't believe they didn't send you the email about the contact details, it's auto generated so probably a glitch but really crappy to do that.

I hope she leaves you alone - it's in her interests to have it back sooner so she can get on with selling the blasted thing again. But she doesn't sound very bright.

Giving a recalcitrant seller that long to do nothing before they let you return it seems quite farcical. Occasionally a seller will give in and just say whatever, send it back, and then you have to be very careful that you have got the correct address (ie check with paypal and ebay that it's the one on their account, if you send it elsewhere you get no refund and sellers might tell you a false one).

I had a very long (about 4 weeks) battle with a furniture seller once who sold me a crap quality sofa, said it was real buffalo leather etc, well bits of it may have been but the rest was stapled on plastic. I asked to return it, he got really shirty and refused to pick it up, this went on for ages and eventually ebay started saying they would 'review' the case again and he got really scared they would find against him and refund me without my having to return it that he agreed to come and pick it up!

Their messages made no sense and they had implied I might get to keep it and the money, which of course I'd never have done, I'd have let him take it away - but it freaked him out!

So their having a poor grasp of English can work in your favour - it is completely random at times. Paypal are usually more predictable.

[BinkyandFlip]

Sorry, x posts - I don't mean what Lottie said is rubbish!!

[morecoffeethanhuman]

I've posted before on ebay threads re. how horrendous ebay are (as a seller I got really screwed)
But I can assure, that no, they didn't care about your pics as they rarely review anything anyways - but they will find in your favour as your covered by the t&c that say if as the buyer, you don't believe the item is as described, you have full right to a refund inclusive of posting.
That's the only time you may need to bother with the call centre, when they agree with you, you can request a pre paid postage label. Just wait for the deadlines and it will get sorted hth

[TiredMummy2015]

Thanks everyone!

This has definitely put me off from buying anything big from ebay in the future.

[MNerAnon]

OP, make sure all your communications are three email messaging system. It's just that when you escalate the case on the 19th they will review all the messages. If you had the threat sent to you by text then take a screenshot upload it and return it to her as a photograph attachments saying that you disagree with what you're saying and you will escalate it as soon as you can, and that you consider any further communication from her (other than to pay for a courier to collect the item and to give you a full refund) would be viewed as harassment.

I know you probably won't relax until the matter is resolved, but eBay will definitely come down hard on the seller, heavily in your favour. All they have to do is to read the communication between you both to see that you are completely legitimate and she has holes in all of her stories!

I would make a note of all day in discrepancies, such as what she said, has she changed her story, what you received, the photographs that you sent, and the fact that you will accept nothing other than a full refund and return at no cost to yourself. EBay can't force you to accept partial refunds or even an exchange of goods. To try and do so would be illegal and they know it. So try and rest back and continue to enjoy your pregnancy until the 19th, it's only next Monday and that will go quickly.

[MNerAnon]

When I said: "OP, make sure all your communications are three email messaging system" I meant make sure all your communications are made through eBay email and messaging system"

[TiredMummy2015]

Thanks!

Yes all communication has only been through ebay since I received the buggy.

She is quiet now so probably thinks that I have decided to keep the buggy as I've not responded to her messages about the partial refund. I'd already told her I wasn't interested so I didn't feel the need to reply further.
I just hope I get the refund as she said she won't have the money to give back to me. I am guessing/hoping that ebay will have to pay me back and then its for them to get money from her if she closes her account?

[summerwinterton]

they will have frozen her paypal account to repay you already - and if she doesn't replay them, well - paypal do not use pleasant debt collectors by all accounts. She can't close her paypal account just like that - it doesn't work like that, especially with a case running.

[Anastasie]

Yes, it becomes their problem and they have ways of getting it back - normally the money in the seller's paypal account gets frozen so she can't access it, as soon as a dispute is opened.

So that could already have happened. Which may explain why she is so cross.

Otherwise they will put her into negative balance and demand the money back into her account or her account will be closed down, and they will also prosecute I am sure, if all else fails, for a sum like this.

[Anastasie]

x posts but that's correct.

[Anastasie]

She basically won't be able to use ebay or paypal till she sorts it out.

[TiredMummy2015]

ok Great.

I wondered because she kept saying that she is a single mother and it will take her a long time to get together the money to refund me.

[Anastasie]

Well if that's true, then it will take her a long time to get the money together to bail herself out of the shit with paypal.

Which isn't your concern, that's what the buyer guarantee thingy is all about. They will suck it up on your behalf.

If she wants to be treated with compassion then she ought to get her story straight and not make up a load of bollocks, or actually, send people dirty used prams in the first place.

[summerwinterton]

don't believe a word she says - if she lied about the condition of a pram then she is prob lying about her paypal now.

Have you searched for completed items of the pram to see if you can find the listing of when she bought it?

[LyndaNotLinda]

She's a single mother who's having to go to hospital with pregnancy complications and she's buying extra small condoms

Something not quite adding up there ...

There are some pretty awful people on ebay - baby and child-related stuff seems to be the worst for them in my experience.

Hope ebay sort it out by the weekend.

[TiredMummy2015]

I haven't been able to find it in completed listings.... but I do think the photographs in the listing I won were actually taken by her.

The ebay account seems to be her mothers. It was her mother who was texting me, and the name and address on the account is different from the name and address on the label I found on the back of the box (same surname though). It will probably turn out I've been scammed by some 14 year old using her mothers account .

It's all very odd. I think she has bought it from another seller and for some reason has wanted to pass it on immediately. She must have listed it literally the day she received it going by the parcelforce label I found on the back.

[Anastasie]

Unless she used the box from the new one.