Recently I purchased a set of armrests on e-bay,that were described as being in good condition,& if redyed would be excellent,I bid on them & won.Well they arrived on Friday. When I opened the package I found two armrests, not in excellent condition - nor good condition, but in fact in poor condition. Both armrests had floppy handles and the internal hard plastic was broken in two places on one armrest and the same on the other, but the other one was also cracked through the vinyl, I immediately contacted the seller and told him this, he e-mailed me back saying what could he do to rectify the situation, i wrote back and told him that the condition was not as described and that I would like a full refund, his response was that he would re-imburse the money for the auction bid but not the cost of the shipping, and furthermore to get my money back I would also have to pay for the return shipping.
I feel that since he misinterpreted the condition of these parts on e-bay it should not be my responsibility to pay to return these parts back to him to get my money back.
Have any members had this happen to them, and who do you think is in the right?
Thanks, Neil
:confused:

 

That's Ebay :rolleyes:

 

I have been buying and selling on eBay for over 4 years, so I have a little experience, but never had your problem.

You have a few options: Of course, depending on how much you paid, and if it is worth it to pay to send them back at your expense, you could tell seller that unless he complies with your wishes, you will leave him negative feedback (the number next to his user name - you should always review sellers feedback before bidding on any of his items.... if there are some negatives, BEWARE !)

You can also tell him you are going to report him to safe harbor at eBay, which is a venue to resolve disputes between buyers and sellers. Check that area and read up on your options.

Most sellers will do almost anything to avoid negative feedback, so you may have the upper hand, unless of course, he has a few already listed.

Good luck.





[Modified by FathomGreen69, 8:18 AM 5/25/2002]

 

I've done thousands of transactions using eBay. Once in a while this sort of thing happens, although rarely. There really isn't alot you can do in reality. But they may not know this. Four (I think) times that this has happened to me, I was able to get a full refund. Once I ended up eating the shipping. Basically, you have to decide if eating the shipping is worth cutting your losses. If it is, then just do what he's already offered.
If you want a full refund then what has worked a couple times was threatening bad feedback. Don't do it directly but just say "I would like a full refund on this, I will leave appropriate feedback when the transaction is complete".
A couple times that didn't work. Even though it's not really true, in a couple cases I had to resort to threatening fraud charges. "If I don't have a refund for these MISREPRESENTED items in one week, I will file fraud charges." That worked both times I tried it. It all depends on your level of risk. If you start threatening now he may back off the offer on the table now. So if it's signifigant $$, you might want to just cut your losses and neg him after you get the partial refund.
There is a user to user board at eBay. Post the problem there and they may have better ideas for you.

eBay is just a venue that makes it possible for people to make a transaction. When something like this happens, it's not eBay's fault as some would have you believe. Anytime you buy from a person there is a chance that they will be less than honest or not accept a return. Bad people, not bad eBay.

 

I'm a ebay'er and you will have to live with his rules if you want some of your money back. After you get it, just leave bad feedback. Out of all my purchases, only 2 were bad and I think the 3 is in progress. I bought a 64 mb flash card about two weeks ago and still do not have it. All I can do is wait. At least I used Paypal and should be able to get my money back. Good luck

 

I buy and sell stuff on EBAY and yes this has happend to me. But not since then! Now I always ask questions and verify what exactly im bidding on. If a seller will not reply or seems unsure then I do not take the chance. If you ask the question and a seller lies EBAY can take action. Always ask for a "read receipt" and save you email correspondence. EBAY has "banned" lots of members for "bad conduct" With your situation you don't have much else to do except ask him to pay "half" of the shipping. With so many of us here on the forum I bet you could have us "check out" an item for you thats in our area. I know that I would do that for you!...MAX

 

Thanks to everone,I appreciate all the imput.He did have goor feedback with no negatives,so I took his discription of the parts to be accurate,my mistake.
I may just decide to write this off,but I will definatety leave him negative feed back.

 

I say "caveat emptor."

I used to love e-Bay. A couple of years ago, it was pretty good, with a lot of honest people. I still think there are a lot of honest people out there, but there are a lot of sheisters as well. If the object of your desire is priced fairly, more often than not, the shipping will not be. And the b.s. handling charges are enough to make you want to

:U

 

I was thinking of saying buyer beware,when I give him negative feedback.

 

this is the E-Bay auction Item # 1827448534 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1827448534
perhaps we should see what they look like before we judge one another I have watched this thread and wasnt going to respond but I think everyone should be aware of what you bid on and other facts you are leaving out. You never asked any Questions before bidding I clearly stated they were the origanal armrests off a 1980. as you can see from the pict on the auction they are in good shape they are not new ...never stated they were! If you want like new parts you bid on like new parts not 22 year old origanals. Where are they cracked through the vinyl? the picts do not show a Poor set of arm rests . The shipping charges you want refunded are $25.90 one way total of $51.80 on a $49 dollar part .As I stated to you in private I am willing to work with you on this . But I dont belive I as a seller am responsible for you to look at a part and then decide if you like it or not .My opinion of good condition and yours are obviously diffrent .Put it to a vote and lets see what other people think look at the pict and judge me then but please dont judge me based on 1 side of a story Thankes Larry


[Modified by MILO851, 7:06 AM 5/26/2002]

 

Are the inside plastic supports broken?
If they are, and you knew it, why is that not mentioned in the listing?
You describe them in "good condition". If they are broken internally, that should be mentioned and it certainly makes them in "not good condition".
You can't expect the seller to ask if they are broken when you've already described them as good.
I sell alot on eBay and I would suggest taking the time to make a better description when selling. Not only will you avoid these types of problems but the listing will look more professional and you will get more $$.

Just my .02!

Larry

 

The auction claims that:
If the internal plastic is broken, then clearly, this isn't true. If the vinyl is cracked, the description was a blatant lie and the seller deserves whatever feedback the buyer chooses to leave.

 

This is why I never buy stuff on ebay. I have bid on items, but have never actually won. Everyone's opinions of an item's quality is different. Something nice to one person might be trash to another. The armrests look like they are in good condition based on the picture, but you can't tell from the picture if the inner plastic handles are broke though.

BTW, the description says the armrests are dark camel, yet in the picture they look almost white. :confused: If they have faded this bad, then I could believe the vinyl is cracked