eBay RIPOFF

I bought a small bunch of military books from an eBay user recently and, at their request, paid by a personal cheque. The books never arrived.
Despite my paying extra to the supplier for transit insurance, he states that he is not going to make a claim because " I can't provide proof that the books never arrived " ! eBay aren't being very helpful since I didn't use PayPal. Does anyone know how I can either get eBay to be more energetic, or any other courses of action I may employ ? The transaction was a wholly UK based one.
BG

 

you can sue the seller via the Civil Courts for your money back

FNG

 

Then when you've done that, do what I do, & boycott e-bay alltogether.
They have no scruples at all, and will not help people who have been exploited or ripped off.
The law needs to be changed to make them more accountable.

 

Thanks, guys, for you helpful input. Do you know of the new auction site Saveoo ? This is where the prices bid go DOWN ! Honestly !
BG

 

eBay isn't a party in the transaction, nor should they be, so they can't help you in sorting out the problem. Rather, if you have documentation for the transaction and that you paid for insurance, then the seller has to provide a tracking number.

You might also want to stop payment on the cheque, if possible.

 

my attitude to ebay is that I will not buy or sell anything on it that I can not afford to lose.

So I do buy and sell a lot of low value stuff which has always been fine as no one generally tries to rip you off for a fiver.

But I will not buy a picture of Rolex at £3000 as I could not afford to lose that type of money.

If I could afford I would push the boat out for a Russian Mig though

FNG

 

If you only accept bank transfers, and send the items using insured mail, you do not have any risk as the seller. As the buyer, as long as you buy from someone you know, it's not a problem.

 

ebay

My grandson (one of em) had a problem with Aston Martin spares he didn't get.

 

Is his name "Bond, James Bond"?

 

ebay

Do you know something I don't know? I know he used to do 'Hill Climbs'
in Holland! :roll:

 

Hill climbs in Holland?

I thought that only the Swiss Navy took part in those these days!

 

You can't forget those snow capped mountains of the Netherlands

 

Yes, you could say "Once seen, neder forgotten!"

They do say that on the highest peaks, the snow never melts, not even in the depths of winter!

 

Yes they are - they take their cut just like any other auction house - and additionally have a code of practice specifically designed to promote confidence in using their site (which they clearly have an interest in doing). The issue here seems to be regarding items lost in the post and, if insurance has been advertised and paid for then the seller's refusal to claim/refund is in breach of their code of conduct - therefore, eBay should be obliged to push harder.

Also - even without insurance, simple proof of posting is enough to claim up to £29 compensation in the UK. The seller should, at the very least, try to claim - their refusal to do so is unreasonable and strongly suggests they have not paid out for the insurance in the first place (breach of contract).

 

eBay's commission is much smaller than other auction houses´, because they do not have a large staff to take care of various complaints. As the case is, it is a matter of word against word, and eBay has no way of knowing who's telling the truth.

Yes, if you paid for insurance, the seller has to send the item insured, but if you paid by cheque, it'll be very difficult to prove what you actually paid for unless you received an invoice for the amount of the cheque. Also, payment on a cheque can't depend any conditions, such as delivery of a purchased item.

Furthermore, while eBay may be the auction house, an ebay transaction takes place directly between the buyer and the seller (in that the buyer sends the payment directly to the seller, and he sends the items directly to the buyer).
Therefore, even if the seller violates eBay policy, eBay's only sanction is a temporary or permanent ban (which they have been known to give, but this assumes you can justify your claim to eBay). eBay does not have any part in the physical transaction, and therefore can't reimburse any money. They don't have the authority to do anything other than sanction a user according to their user agreement, i.e. bans.

All of this is also written quite clearly in eBays user agreement.

 

Exactly - the threat of sanction should be pushed - in many cases it can be enough. Also, as I understand it, the seller is not disputing payment only whether the goods arrived or not.

PS. I'm not going to delve any deeper into this one for reasons that some here may be aware of.

 

whatever

Exactly amigo!

 

Re: ebay

I am a member of the Aston Martin Owners Club and may be able to help.I would need to know the name of the supposed supplier.
BG

 

Don't worry about not delving deeper- your earlier post of the same date has been more than helpful.
Many thanks.
BG

 

Oh, the glaciers and majestic fjords of the Netherlands! Simply stunning.