I recently purchased a giant fish tank from eBay. It was advertised as fully functional and the complete set up. I inspected the item before purchasing and it looked OK. Got it home and paid a professional firm to deliver it in one piece. Although it is a beautiful tank it is not functional. When I took the filter to the fish shop, they opened it up and found it was so dirty and worn it would not function. All our fish died. It was advertised with a heater but none arrived. eBay said because I inspected before purchase I have no case. The faults are not visible on inspection and I had no idea the filter was so badly damaged just looking at the outside of it. I am a fish keeping novice and did not even think to look inside. When I inspected it I saw the heater but the item was never handed to the delivery guy. I spoke to eBay yesterday who verbally said I would get a refund, but today got an email saying my appeal to the resolution case had been denied. I phoned and asked about the eBay representative saying this to me. They say they have notes of the call but the refund was not mentioned! Now we are in a pickle. We have a giant hulking tank we do not want and have spoken to Citizen's Advice today and been told we have a case under the SoGA as the item is not functional. The vendor has texted me today telling me never to contact them again as the case is closed. I have sent a pre-legal letter but doubt I will get a response. My question is what to do with the hulking great tank. I spoke to the removals firm today and they do not want to take it back as there is a good chance the vendor will refuse to sign for it and then they will have to bring it back to us again! I have put in the letter that they have 14 days to respond but we only live in a tiny house and need the item gone so we can purchase a functional tank. The expert at our shop has advised we do not put any more fish in this tank as they will just die. If they fail to respond what on earth do I do with the tank? It is too big to go in my car. Shall I sell it on but being honest about the faults and deduct this amount from the court claim? Shall I just get a man and van to dump it down the tip? I have no clue I just want the "tank of death" out of my house.

Hi Bit complicated but will try to explain. I bought a fish tank and external filter from an online company at the end of November last year. Stocked it with Discus fish which are very sensitive fish, and very expensive. About a month ago on a Saturday night, the filter started to leak. It leaked onto my wood floor, damaging the floor by making it swell. Also the cabinet sucked up water and became unstable. Due to this I had to empty the tank, and put the fish into an unused tank I had spare. I also had to use a smaller internal filter that has been unused for quite some time. ***Info bit - when you have fish, you need a matured filter with enough bacteria in it to consume the waste and excess food from the tank. The bacteria eats ammonia and nitrite which are both poisonous to fish, so a matured filter takes care of this and keeps the tank/fish healthy. Using a new or unused filter means there is no bacteria in it to eat the ammonia/nitrite, so the tank goes through a cycle of ammonia growing, being converted to nitrite (poisons and cause diseases) and then nitrate, which is safe for fish*** My unused filter I had to use had no bacteria, so my tank with the Discus in it (tank I had to move them to) started a cycle, creating ammonia etc. A cycle with fish in the tank is very dangerous to the fish, even the hardiest of fish struggle. Doing this with a tank of Discus is much worse because they are so sensitive. Anyway, even though I did water changes daily to keep poisonous levels of ammonia/nitrite down, it wasn't enough and my fish died. I am an experienced fish keeper so I did everything possible to save the fish, but putting them into a new tank with new filter = disaster. When this originally happened, on the Saturday I emailed the company hoping for a reply on the Monday. No reply by mid morning so I rang, but was told the number I rang was only for sales, and that any complaints/problems have to be done via email. It took them 6 days to get a new filter and cabinet to me. By this time the good bacteria inside my old leaking external filter had died, so I had to basically start again with the new filter and the tank had to run the cycle of ammonia-nitrite-nitrate. As I said, over the next couple of weeks my fish died from various diseases caused by the water quality, which was due to the new filter. My problem is, if they would have let me speak to someone on the Monday morning when I rang I could have had a new filter and cabinet the following day(they do next day delivery), which would have meant I could have been set up, the bacteria in the old filter would have still been alive so I could have used the materials inside in my new filter and all would have been great. Making me wait 6 days, with 24 hours between emails from them caused a disaster and I have lost at least £350 worth of fish (I have photographic evidence). I emailed the MD with my complaint and asked for a reply within 7 days, he ignored my email, so I sent a letter registered post and received a reply today. There is no mention of my new damaged flooring which has swollen and lifted, but generally says... ***I would like to offer my personal and sincerest of apologies for the inconvenience. There is a trouble shooting process which is used to resolve product issues effectively. He is truly regretful that this experience was not a positive one for me and to compensate for my livestock loss (fish) he would like to give me £60 store credit to spend with them*** I have to email the customer service manager to spend this credit... Im not very happy at all, I dont expect the earth, and I never complain about anything, but this was my Christmas present and I had always wanted to keep Discus fish. Due to them not letting me explain the issue on the Monday morning, and making me wait 6 days for replacements, my fish died, and it wasn't my fault, I did everything possible to keep them alive, as I said I am experienced and know what I am doing, so their delay in helping me caused the entire problem. Im not sure what to do or what my rights are - if any. Does anyone know if there is anything I can do? Thanks in advance. Darren.