Right to refund with electronics

[aaronlowe]

I sold a working Talktalk TV box on ebay. The buyer admits that it is fully working. They still want to return it as they don't have a Talktalk broadband account.

 

In the listing for the item it was clearly displayed in large coloured text that the buyer needs a Talktalk broadband account to use this item.

 

The buyer is asking for a full refund, including the postage I paid to send the item. Do they have a right to get a refund, on second hand electronic goods, if there is no fault? And if so, do they need to return the item first or can they keep it and have their money back (effectively stealing)?

[BankFodder]

If you are an eBay trader then the seller has a 14 day cooling off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. The 14 day period begins from the date that the item is delivered. You don't have to refund the the money until you have received the item and you are satisfied that it is in exactly the same condition – including packaging – in which you sent it. You are obliged also to refund any delivery charge unless the purchaser has specified a particularly expensive form of delivery in which case you are only required to refund the standard delivery that you would normally use.

You have to make the refund as soon as is possible – seven days is probably about right.

[aaronlowe]

Thanks BankFodder,

 

To be clear. Does "delivered" mean when I delivered the item to the post office, or when the post office delivered the item to the buyer?

 

By coincidence it has already been 14 days since I delivered the item to the post office although I have no way of knowing when the buyer received the item. But they left positive feedback 11 days ago that it is working. So, if I receive the item back within another 3 days I am required to refund, but later than that I am not?

 

And to be clear, is this when I receive the item, not when the buyer posts it?

[BankFodder]

Delivery means the date that the seller has received the item

[PIXeL_92]

If you are a private seller then you have to have a return or no return policy set, if it is set as no return and it is buyers remorse etc then they can't request a return only if faulty. If you are a registered trader then you have to do as BankFodder says.

 

If they open a return stating it is faulty etc when they have admitted it isn't via I am assuming eBay messaging then report them to eBay for making a fraudulent claim.

[aaronlowe]

Thanks PIXeL_92,

 

Yes, I am just a private seller selling a few of their own personal items. The items weren't purchased for sale. I just don't use them.

 

I do have a returns policy explicitly stating that I do not accept returns. This is because buyers don't read the description even when I put *READ DESCRIPTION* in big letters in the item title.

 

The buyer hasn't claimed the item is faulty, just that it isn't "working as intended". This is because it's a Talktalk TV box and only works with a Talktalk broadband account. Otherwise the buyer even states that the item "seems to work" meaning that it takes power and boots up until it can't find a broadband signal.

 

Ebay instructed me to call them first thing after 3 days. I called at 8am in the morning when their office opened. But the buyer had already escalated a case and ebay issued them with a return label 15 minutes before I phoned. I couldn't have phoned any earlier and there was no option to do it online at any stage.

 

Life...

 

I was going to sell other stuff but now will probably just bin it or give it to a charity shop to avoid the expense and hassle.

[PIXeL_92]

Just call eBay up and tell them that the item was sold and received as described ie needing an account to make use of it and it can be proved through the messages between yourselves and the positive feedback. The only way he would have been able to raise a case is raising a not as described case and he has now committed fraud by submitting that case.

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to the apprpriate forum.

 

Regards

 

Andy