Accused of mis-selling - ebay item

[ShaneG2009]

Hi people

 

I wonder if you can help.

 

My boss recently sold an item (off road / trails bike) on Ebay which was collected over the weekend. The buyer came down viewed the item, paid cash and went away. My boss has told me that when he viewed the bike they guy was very non explorative i.e. he wasnt really even interesting in performing a proper check. My boss insisted on starting the bike up before he left just to satisfy himself.

 

Anyway 2 days after the sale has been completed the guy has come back and has said to my boss that the bike is not as described. My boss had the item as 'well maintained i.e. after each use he oiled and washed the machine. However the buyer is now saying there are suspension faults and has intimated that he wants approx 50% of the auction fee for the repairs that are apparently required.

 

Can anybody advise how he would stand on this?

 

Thanks

 

Shane

[Conniff]

Was this a sale in the course of/by a business or sale by a consumer to a consumer ?

[ShaneG2009]

Hi Conniff

 

It was a sale by a consumer to a consumer.

 

Thanks

 

Shane

[perplexity]

It was a sale by a consumer to a consumer.

 

Every legitimate sale on eBay is a consumer to consumer sale because the members consume the service that eBay provides, but as a matter of law there is no such thing.

 

Section 210 of the Enterprise Act defines a consumer, precisely.

 

It also defines a "business", so includes

 

any undertaking in the course of which goods or services are supplied otherwise than free of charge.

[MARTIN3030]

So Perpy-any advice for Shane then ?

He looks to be wanting to know if the buyer has any recourse here ?

[alistair.long]

Removed as I cannot delete.

Edited March 2, 2011 by alistair.long

[Crapstone]

Hi people

 

I wonder if you can help.

 

My boss recently sold an item (off road / trails bike) on Ebay which was collected over the weekend. The buyer came down viewed the item, paid cash and went away. My boss has told me that when he viewed the bike they guy was very non explorative i.e. he wasnt really even interesting in performing a proper check. My boss insisted on starting the bike up before he left just to satisfy himself.

 

Anyway 2 days after the sale has been completed the guy has come back and has said to my boss that the bike is not as described. My boss had the item as 'well maintained i.e. after each use he oiled and washed the machine. However the buyer is now saying there are suspension faults and has intimated that he wants approx 50% of the auction fee for the repairs that are apparently required.

 

Can anybody advise how he would stand on this?

 

Thanks

 

Shane

 

Since the buyer has made these claims that 'there are suspension faults' . I would ask for proof of this. 'Well maintained' doesn't exempt the buyer from making their own checks before purchase. I can say my car is well maintained and had an MOT a few days ago but that does not mean to say it it would be exempt from faults tomorrow if sold and that I'd even be aware if there were as I'm not a car mechanic.

 

Buyer beware .. and they had sight of the goods to check that they were satisfied with the purchase. On a trials bike it should have been easy to test the suspension just by sight and a short test if they knew what they where looking for or has someone that did know look at it.

 

If your boss wasn't aware of any faults at the time of sale then they have nothing to consider or refund.

[MARTIN3030]

Sounds about right.

Lets assume a worst case scenario,that the buyer filed a small Court claim-the onus would be in proving their cause of action.

The Ebay resolution thing could be a worry though-since the buyer could open a case for item not as described.

Has a case been opened by the buyer ?

If so what stage is it at ?

[ShaneG2009]

Hi

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

The eBay sale was only concluded over the weekend. There was no eBay complaint raised as of yesterday so we were just of the opinion that the buyer was trying his luck! I'll get an idea of the latest developments at some point today.

 

Thanks

 

Shane

[MARTIN3030]

Ok thanks for clarifying.

[ShaneG2009]

Hi everyone

 

A quick update.

 

My boss done what had been recommended above i.e. raise a dispute with ebay. My boss also at the same time said he would give a full refund if the bike was returned to him in the same condition it was taken.

 

The response that has come back is that the buyer is NOT going to raise a dispute with eBay, he is going to do so with with Paypal for a partial refund.

 

Does anybody have an idea of what implications this would have on the seller i.e would they get a charge from Paypal later on down the line?

 

Thanks

 

Shane

[perplexity]

I would be wary of advising a boss if not expressly invited to do so.

 

A partial refund is not the sort of thing that Paypal does, if not already agreed between a buyer and a seller.

 

The much more common story is that Paypal refunded the money because the seller lacked the requisite proof that the item was received, never mind the rest of the evidence. It works like clockwork (if it works at all), not as if a rational judgement were the order of the day.

 

At any rate, there will be no issue with Paypal as to whether or not the seller is a business. I have never yet heard of such an attempt. Every member is treated on the same basis, the basis of the Paypal User Agreement which is scary if you take the time to read it all. The small print entitles Paypal to do more or less whatever they want to.

 

[wheresmyhairgone]

Excuse me if this sounds stupid, but why is buyer involving Paypal if buyer paid cash:?:

[perplexity]

Excuse me if this sounds stupid, but why is buyer involving Paypal if buyer paid cash:?:

 

 

Good Question.

 

It is possibly not so much of a good idea to respond at all to hearsay.