What should I do I am potentially out of pocket by £54?

[LowFatMilkshake]

My friends found a gameboy on e-by for £4, inc p&p. I offered to get it for her as she has no account. It was advertised as ex catalogue stock, and may have some slight cosemtic damage eg scratches to the outer casing but otherwise brand new.

When it arrived it was dirty round the battery panel, had dust on the hinges and the serial no. sticker was worn - so I would say pre-owned, and I e-mailed the seller (who is a shop) to tell them. He apologised and said he would check the rest of his stock.

My friends still wanted to see it as he son was desperate for one, but when she saw it she also noticed initial scrathed on the outer casing.

I e-mailed the seller again who said he would accept a return and refund me if it was rturned in it's original state. So we boxed it up exactley as it was, minus the cellophane and returned it by recorded delivery (as it had been sent), e-mailing the seller to let them know.

After a week I e-mailed again to say i had not heard anything adn as he was infomred I had returned the item I assume he would have let me know if it did'nt turn up. Again he has'nt replied.

My friend has since found a brand new gameboy which I bought for her again, this time costing £54. My friend so far has given me a cheq for £40, and will re-imburse me if the seller refuses a refund. So I will actually be all square.

But the vendor doesnt know this and quite frankly it's not the point anyway. Do you think I should e-mail 1 more time threatening to report him, or just report him anyway? He has'nt yet given me feedback and I have 100% record so I dont want to get bad feedback from him.

Any ideas?

That should be £40 in the opening line

And this is an ecuse for a bump!

How long ago did you buy the item and did you pay by Paypal?

With regards to you posting the item back, week is ot necessarily that long, post can be delayed and they might be away for a couple of days or something. You should always err on the side of caution with reporting someone.

Have you checked on the royal mail website using the recorded delivery tracking number to see if it has been delivered yet?

open a dispute via paypal?

Also, be aware that recorded delivery only covers you for roughly £30 compensation if the item goes missing.

If you report them, they will leave negative feedback. There might be a good explanation. You probably stand a better chance of getting a refund by keeping things calm.

I sent the item back a week ago last Tuesay. I e-mailed his since and he has;nt responded. How many times should e-mail him before opening a dispute.

I posted it by recored the same as the vendor, it only cost £30, £10 was postage! When that actually only cost £2.34!

Ah right I see. Some of them do that, to avoid ebay fees. Cheeky buggers.

The first thing I would do would be to see if the item has been delivered. All recorded items are trackable and you should be able to see on the royal mail website if it has been delivered or not. It will also tell you if they tried to deliver it and he hasn't got it from the depot yet or anything like that.

Personally, if it has been delivered, I would send one last e-mail saying that you know it has been delivered, why haven't you heard from him. Let him know that if he does not reply to your e-mail then you will be starting a Paypal (assuming you payed by paypal, you haven't said) dispute on a certain day so he has a deadline.

Then go ahead. Start the dispute. As a buyer you will almost certainly win. Paypal tend to defer to the buyer in these cases.

Any news?

Hi Lazyline - got a reufnd, not long after starting this thread, via a dispute opened by the seller (so he could reclaim fees). £5 less than paid to cover P&P.
Beter than nothing and my friend is making uo any differences as the purchase was on her behalf.

if you sent it recorded delivery check to see it has been signed for .. there's an online service on the royalmail website