Vinted counterfeit item

[selondy]

My son bought an expensive coat on Vinted. He checked out the seller who seemed legitimate and my son had enough contact with him to trust that he was a genuine seller.

However, after receiving it he took it to the manufacturer to get it re-waterproofed who told him it was counterfeit. A good copy but fake nonetheless.

He raised a claim with his bank who returned his money initially but Vinted have now said as it was delivered and outside of the 2 day return window there is nothing they can do and the bank have removed the money from his account again.

What are his options please?
He has recontacted the bank and we are waiting their reply. Is there anything else we should be doing and has anyone been through similar?

He should ask the manufacturer to provide him with a written declaration that the coat is counterfeit. They will do this for a charge. He should then gather up evidence to demonstrate that the coat he has in his possession is the same coat that was advertised - any marks, imperfections, notable features shown in the photographs or noted in the item description or the seller’s messages - so that it could be agreed on a balance of probabilities that he hasn’t made a switcheroo himself. This can all be provided to the bank to support his chargeback request.

He should also contact Vinted with the same, requesting that they reopen their investigation. Vinted’s buyer protection procedures outside the protection window are notably poor, so this is less likely. He should report the seller to Action Fraud, and advise Vinted that he has done so and will be pursuing the matter further, by legal routes if need be.

Does he have the seller’s name and address, was it indicated on any return to seller labelling on the package? If neither Vinted nor his bank will review the transaction in his favour, that’s an option he can pursue.

I assume he didn’t pay for the Item verification from Vinted?

This is it…

I bought my DC some AirPods for their birthday, I checked they were ok and worked when they arrived, all good. The birthday was a few weeks later, but when my son started using them they were not working well. He had a closer look and it became obvious they were fake. When I looked back at the Vinted photos, I then noticed that the ref number in the box was different to that on the pods. It was there in black and white, but I hadn’t noticed.
I considered contacting Vinted and the seller but in the end decided not to as it was too long after the purchase and I’d confirmed all was ok.
Ive chalked it up to experience and am now super vigilant. I’m not buying “new without tags” anymore.

In your experience, if the seller is claiming that it is genuine but you’ve now confirmed that it’s not, I’d go back to Vinted again. Maybe small claims court? I don’t know how realistic this is though, sorry. How much was the coat?

It’s worth noting that Vinted’s verification service is notoriously unfit for purpose. They don’t send the items to manufacturer-approved authenticators or specialists who have the individual brand expertise to evaluate them, they’re only assessed by Vinted employees to a checklist of very obvious known counterfeit markers. If they pass an item which is later discovered to be counterfeit they will readily acknowledge as much and push it back onto the buyer to have obtained their own authentication report within the protection period.

Yeah never used it myself. But then I would personally ever buy something expensive off Vinted. Just not worth the risk, I feel like you have to be prepared to lose the money!

Thank you @ComtesseDeSpairsome excellent actions here that I will advise him of.
He says he will never buy as much as a t-shirt from vinted again. He feels very bruised by this experience such a shame when he had saved so hard.

Hopefully we will get a positive result and I will update if we do.

@boombangabongthanks for your advice. I hope we can get it resolved. Sorry about your birthday airpod experience too, its so upsetting.

Out of interest how much did he pay & what’s the RRP of said item ?

I bought something from Vinted that I complained about being a fake. The onus is on the seller to provide documentation. They couldn’t and I got a refund and didn’t had to send it back. Looking back, it may have not been a fake, just was hard to prove.

Lesson learned I’m afraid. Always ask for proof of purchase from the seller.