eBay dispute - advice sought
Discussion
This is getting farcical now!!
To update you all;
eBay decided in their infinite wisdom to side with the buyer and asked the buyer to return the boots and me to give a full refund (which happens automatically). This is in despite the written confirmation I have from both North Yorkshire Trading Standards and the Manufacturer that the boots are Genuine.
The boots duly arrived and my paypal account was debited
I appealed via eBay on the following basis;
1. The basis of the complaint was that the boots supplied were counterfeit.
2. The buyer was asked by eBay to prove this claim which she has been unable to do.
3. I have a letter from North Yorkshire Trading Standards, who investigated the allegations fully, and have confirmed that the boots sold were 100% genuine and therefore accurately described in my advert.
4. I have an email from the original manufacturer, who examined the boots on behalf of the both the Buyer and North Yorkshire Trading Standards, and confirmed that the boots examined are genuine boots made and distributed by themselves.
5. The retailer where these boots were bought in 2007 has investigated their records and confirmed, by phone call, that my wife did make the purchase from them on 6th May 2007.
6. WHen I spoke to your help line earlier this week I was advised that the reason why you believe this to be the "fairest option" is that the buyer gets a refund and I am able to relist the boots again. The boots have now been returned and they have clearly been worn as there is mud and muck on the soles of both boots. ALso the buyer has not returned the labels that were attached to the boots when they were supplied. Therefore it is impossible for me to resell them in exactly the same way as they were advertised as "new, unworn with tags" which would attract a higher price then simply "2nd hand worn".
7. the Buyer has left me false feedback which relates to the boots and is visible to all, so anyone who sees that I have re-listed a pair of boots will see a completely false allegation that the previous boots that I sold were "counterfeit".
My appeal has been granted because "the boots weren't returned in the same condition that they were supplied" and hey ho I get the refund back
I asked what to do with the boots and eBay has advised me that I can do with them whatever I want but not to send them back to the buyer.
So, the conclusion (at the moment) is that the sale proceeds are in my bank account and the boots I sold are in my office.... could I therefore assume that the buyer has had their paypal account debited and not got any boots (even if they don't fit) to show for her spend??
If so, somehow I don't think this is over quite just yet!!
To update you all;
eBay decided in their infinite wisdom to side with the buyer and asked the buyer to return the boots and me to give a full refund (which happens automatically). This is in despite the written confirmation I have from both North Yorkshire Trading Standards and the Manufacturer that the boots are Genuine.
The boots duly arrived and my paypal account was debited
I appealed via eBay on the following basis;
1. The basis of the complaint was that the boots supplied were counterfeit.
2. The buyer was asked by eBay to prove this claim which she has been unable to do.
3. I have a letter from North Yorkshire Trading Standards, who investigated the allegations fully, and have confirmed that the boots sold were 100% genuine and therefore accurately described in my advert.
4. I have an email from the original manufacturer, who examined the boots on behalf of the both the Buyer and North Yorkshire Trading Standards, and confirmed that the boots examined are genuine boots made and distributed by themselves.
5. The retailer where these boots were bought in 2007 has investigated their records and confirmed, by phone call, that my wife did make the purchase from them on 6th May 2007.
6. WHen I spoke to your help line earlier this week I was advised that the reason why you believe this to be the "fairest option" is that the buyer gets a refund and I am able to relist the boots again. The boots have now been returned and they have clearly been worn as there is mud and muck on the soles of both boots. ALso the buyer has not returned the labels that were attached to the boots when they were supplied. Therefore it is impossible for me to resell them in exactly the same way as they were advertised as "new, unworn with tags" which would attract a higher price then simply "2nd hand worn".
7. the Buyer has left me false feedback which relates to the boots and is visible to all, so anyone who sees that I have re-listed a pair of boots will see a completely false allegation that the previous boots that I sold were "counterfeit".
My appeal has been granted because "the boots weren't returned in the same condition that they were supplied" and hey ho I get the refund back
I asked what to do with the boots and eBay has advised me that I can do with them whatever I want but not to send them back to the buyer.
So, the conclusion (at the moment) is that the sale proceeds are in my bank account and the boots I sold are in my office.... could I therefore assume that the buyer has had their paypal account debited and not got any boots (even if they don't fit) to show for her spend??
If so, somehow I don't think this is over quite just yet!!
My thoughts were that her account might not have been debited and that eBay/Paypal might just have taken the hit so as not to be embroiled further.
Having been warned once by BigAl I'm inclined not to share her eBay ID for fear of incurring the wrath of the big man himself!!
I was thinking of emailing the buyer out of courtesy and asking if she'd like me to send her the boots as I've had the proceeds after all and it only seems fair!!
As for the feedback, once both cases have been closed I've got to speak to the "trust team" at eBay and the should remove it.
Will keep you all advised, fear not!!
Having been warned once by BigAl I'm inclined not to share her eBay ID for fear of incurring the wrath of the big man himself!!
I was thinking of emailing the buyer out of courtesy and asking if she'd like me to send her the boots as I've had the proceeds after all and it only seems fair!!
As for the feedback, once both cases have been closed I've got to speak to the "trust team" at eBay and the should remove it.
Will keep you all advised, fear not!!
Well, well, well.. just thought I would pop back and update anyone who is interested on this as it got worse;
It all dragged on some more but in the end I ended up with the boots back, my paypal account debited by the amount and my visa card debited by paypal to make up the "over draft".
I appealed and argued and argued with eBay but in the end they kept saying they'd made their ruling and that was the end of it, why didn't I relist and resell them. They wouldn't listen to reason, they wouldn't listen to the trading standards, they wouldn't listen to the UK distributor nor US manufacturer.
So, the long and short of it was I gave up... couldn be bothered with continuing.
However, my wife, still wasn't happy so started writing to the Papers (Times, Telegraph and Guardian) we didn't hear back from the Telegraph or Guardian but after a few weeks the Time came back to her and asked if we still wanted their help. So we went through the whole escapade for them, sharing with them all of the documentation we had to prove that they were genuine boots (and which had already been given to eBay to proove the allegations were false).
TBH I did it more to entertain Mrs M than thinking it might get anywhere..... BUT today I have recieved notification from Paypal that my account has been credited with the funds!! As yet no explanation from anyone but I've got the money back!
It all dragged on some more but in the end I ended up with the boots back, my paypal account debited by the amount and my visa card debited by paypal to make up the "over draft".
I appealed and argued and argued with eBay but in the end they kept saying they'd made their ruling and that was the end of it, why didn't I relist and resell them. They wouldn't listen to reason, they wouldn't listen to the trading standards, they wouldn't listen to the UK distributor nor US manufacturer.
So, the long and short of it was I gave up... couldn be bothered with continuing.
However, my wife, still wasn't happy so started writing to the Papers (Times, Telegraph and Guardian) we didn't hear back from the Telegraph or Guardian but after a few weeks the Time came back to her and asked if we still wanted their help. So we went through the whole escapade for them, sharing with them all of the documentation we had to prove that they were genuine boots (and which had already been given to eBay to proove the allegations were false).
TBH I did it more to entertain Mrs M than thinking it might get anywhere..... BUT today I have recieved notification from Paypal that my account has been credited with the funds!! As yet no explanation from anyone but I've got the money back!
Hudson said:
Brilliant! Withdraw the cash, and close the paypal account imo.
flog the boots at a car boot sale or something, job jobbed!
Definitely, only going to wait and scour the Times Money section in case they ever publish the saga and if they do send a copy to the buyer (plus anyone else we can think of.. We've just discovered an ex-colleague both Mrs M and I used to work with is a Director of the Brewery she now works for!!)flog the boots at a car boot sale or something, job jobbed!
As for what to do with the boots.... we're thinking charity shop!
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