eBay

freeman11ca · ‎11-07-2015

Hello, I bought a satellite kit from this one seller and I need to know what process I have to take to return just one item in this kit? I bought the kit containing a satellite dish, an LNB, a coaxial cable and a receiver. It turned out after 2 weeks that this receiver was defective and never worked, and the remote control has to be within 12" from the receiver to receive the remote commands. I bought another receiver from eBay and found it working perfectly, but the first receiver that came with the kit could not pick up any signals from any of the satellites, and with the remote control problem, I'm absolutely sure it is defective. The satellite dish took a whole day of hard work to put all the pieces together and set up outdoors, so I only want to return the receiver in that kit for a refund based on the value of this receiver, not the whole kit if possible. How do I go about this, step by step?

freeman11ca · ‎11-07-2015

I should also mention the return policy is for 30 days, and refund policy is money back. Thanks.

momcqueen · ‎11-07-2015

Your first step is to contact the seller.

He or she may require the item be returned in full. If that doesn't suit you, you'll have to ask ebay to step in.

But ask your seller first.

mesbah.javid · ‎11-07-2015

You will receive confirmation from eBay that seller must provide return postage label. After 2 days eBay tells you that seller says does not provide return labels so better you pay return then eBay will demand seller to pay you back. You spend hefty postage return garbage back to seller with track number. Then after seller receives item you go to open case and see eBay cheated you removed original confirmation and now it says you received a refund and seller says you don't need send back garbage item you can keep it. This cunning policy you end up paying for all return of garbage you purchased from eBay. See my case posted here yesterday.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-07-2015

It is totally up to the seller if they want to give you a partial refund as ebay doesn't require partial refunds...they only support full returns.

I know that you don't want to return the whole purchase but I'll explain the process here in case that you do want to. The seller is supposed to pay for your return shipping since the item is non working and therefore not as described. (assuming that it was sold as working)

If you want to try working it out your seller without opening a claim, do not purchase your own label...the seller should supply one if they are in the same country. If they are in a different country, you could find out how much it would cost to send with delivery confirmation and have them send you the money first. eBay has no way of making the seller pay for return shipping after it has been shipped.

If you file a claim such as another poster did and the seller does not send you the money or a label, wait until you can ask ebay to step in and tell them that the seller refuses to send a label. eBay will likely have the seller refund you without a return unless the seller appeals and wins the not as described claim.

Note that the above information is only if you file through ebay which you can do for up to 30 days after delivery. Paypal has a 180 claim window but they do not require a seller to pay for return shipping, the buyer has to pay.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-07-2015

@mesbah.javid wrote:
You will receive confirmation from eBay that seller must provide return postage label. After 2 days eBay tells you that seller says does not provide return labels so better you pay return then eBay will demand seller to pay you back. You spend hefty postage return garbage back to seller with track number. Then after seller receives item you go to open case and see eBay cheated you removed original confirmation and now it says you received a refund and seller says you don't need send back garbage item you can keep it. This cunning policy you end up paying for all return of garbage you purchased from eBay. See my case posted here yesterday.

I'm not sure why that happened and why they told you to pay and be reimbursed. As I said above, had you had asked ebay to step in...I think that you can do that in 5 or 6 days... they should have required the seller to refund you without returning the item.

They obviously didn't explain that to you and I"m sorry that it worked like it did. You could phone them and if you can show them that they told you to pay for the label yourself and that you would be reimbursed...ask for a courtesy refund for the postage from ebay.

reallynicestamps · ‎11-07-2015

The seller's policy is one thing, but if you paid by Paypal, you have 180 days from payment for a Dispute.

But contact the seller first.

Some sellers will accept photos of damaged items. Some will want the unwanted item back. The decision is the seller's.

If you have to return it, you should use tracked/Confirmed Delivery shipping.

Is the seller in Canada?

If so he can send you a return shipping label.

Is he in the USA or another country?

He can't send you a return shipping label, no matter what eBay says. The international postal system doesn't allow it.

So if you are returning anything to a foreign seller, you will be working on trust.

Start by being very polite in your communication with the seller. Schmooze. The ideal would be that he send you a replacement for the non-working parts.

But.

Be aware that some overseas sellers will promise and promise replacements that never come.

You really want your money back.

In the same way, some sellers will not refund you the return* shipping. EBay and Paypal have no way of enforcing this requirement . Are you willing to risk it?

I find it unclear whether you bought one system as parts from two sellers, two systems one of which is unacceptable from one seller, or two systems one of which is unacceptable from two sellers.

EBay is not a seller. You don't buy from eBay anymore than you buy from the newspaper when you see an ad there. Each seller is an independent entity.

In addition to eBay and Paypal protections, you have the chargeback policy of the credit card I hope you really paid with. (PP is just a useful mediator.)

And generally, sellers are not willing to give partial refunds. Unfortunately, demands for partials is also a recognized scam on eBay.

Try to keep all your communication with the seller polite. It really does help if both parties are coming from a position of good will.

You have 60 days to leave feedback.

*Requiring the seller to pay for return shipping is a very new and very unpopular policy. Many sellers believe it has opened the return process up to scams and to 'buyer's remorse' claims that are no fault of the seller.

freeman11ca · ‎11-07-2015

I should have mentioned I already emailed the Seller over a week ago, but the person thinks I don't know what I'm doing and claimed the receiver worked. I just filed a claim 2 hours ago and I also claimed the receiver had a circular scratch mark around the LNB IN connector port back of receiver. I mentioned it to the Seller in that email over a week ago but the person ignored my complaint about the scratch. The scratch mark proves the item was used and not what the Seller described as brand new, unused and unopened package. I uploaded 2 photos in my claim showing that scratch mark, but somehow those JPEG photos are not shown in my eBay claim. They are JPEG and under 5MB and it did upload, but now I don't see them at my end. Is this because only the Seller and eBay employees can see them and now I can't see them anymore? Here is one of those photos

reallynicestamps · ‎11-07-2015

The scratch mark proves the item was used and not what the Seller described as brand new, unused and unopened package.

Is the seller in North America?

It is very possible he is selling products that were returned to the original (authorized) dealer. Those are often resealed after the dealer makes sure all the parts that should be there are in the box.

But it is, at best, dumb to claim that as 'new'. At worst...

freeman11ca · ‎11-08-2015

My claim page shows the Seller is located in Ontario, but somehow the parcel was delivered to my address from Montreal. I bought the second receiver from another Seller in Canada, and so far it is working great. It looks to me the LNB IN port on that defective receiver was for some reason removed with a tool and then put back in. Somebody was doing some work on this machine and left behind some sloppy evidence. I don't think the Seller will be back until Monday to reply to my claim. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

momcqueen · ‎11-08-2015

Interesting.

This sounds to me like a 'faulty' case for Return via the Resolution Centre and ebay has somewhat altered their method of handling cases of these kinds in recent months, if the other seller discussion boards are to be believed at face value.

Be persistent but remain level-headed in your dealing with the seller on this.

If it looks like you're getting nowhere fast or will lose the case, call ebay Customer Service to have a real person examine the circumstances around it. I have a theory around what happened here with your product but it's purely speculative and it would be unfair to your seller for me to share it without evidence.

freeman11ca · ‎11-10-2015

Disappointing how this Seller is using tricky words in his reply to my request "nevertheless we do have a return policy for 30 days, as long as the item is new and it's not been used then you can send it back for a refund," The Seller made no mention of the refund amount and no return label, and totally disregarding the photos of the scratch mark on back of receiver without any explanations. It looks like eBay will have to step in but they say I have to wait until this weekend before they can do anything on my behalf. PayPal would have done it a lot sooner. I may have to return the whole kit with this defective receiver because of eBay policies and get another satellite dish kit from somewhere else. I'm totally sick of eBay Sellers and eBay policies, I think Amazon and their Sellers are a lot better!

freeman11ca · ‎11-10-2015

I don't understand what happened...the Seller accepted the return, then the Seller could not send a return label, and now eBay is forcing me to return the whole kit asking me to pay for return shipping cost and then eBay will ask Seller to reimburse the shipping cost. Doesn't that sound familiar, like the other guy said above, he never got reimbursed after paying for return shipping. Now I know for sure eBay is NOT a good place for online shopping because this is where Sellers can take advantage of us Buyers with defective items and get away with it! EBay is the LAST place for me to go shopping from now on!

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-10-2015

What do you mean by forcing you to send the item back?

Have you been able to ask ebay to step in yet? I would wait until you can do that.

momcqueen · ‎11-10-2015

I think too much of the Item Not as Described process gets caught up in the automated Returns process which doesn't make much sense at times. As a buyer, I'm dealing with my own Item Arrived Damaged issue elsewhere on eBay and I have to tell you it leaves much to be desired.

freeman11ca · ‎11-11-2015

I was able to phone eBay customer care and found out that the returning process which said "Send the Item Back" does not mean what it says it means. I thought that instruction meant I was required to return it promptly and pay the returning postage and then just hope that the Seller will reimburse the postage later on. The eBay employee said it means I still have time to wait until Thursday before eBay employees can step in to ask the Seller for a return label and they will see the photos and take some real action. I had to write back to the Seller to clarify some details...does he want me to return the whole kit or will he accept the return of only the defective receiver...and how much is the refund amount? The Seller vaguely accepted the return request and then he can't provide a label for some reason, a Seller with over 30,000 feedbacks.

momcqueen · ‎11-11-2015

If the seller is from Canada, he should be able to send you a Return label BUT like I mentioned earlier in the thread, the Returns process we are all using now is relatively new and one size does NOT fit all. I don't know how many Returns issues are straightforward but as soon as there is some kind of actual issue at play, the process seems to derail. And, really, if the message or screen from ebay says 'return this item to seller' then as both a buyer and seller, one should be able to trust that is the thing to be done. Otherwise, how are we supposed to know what to do if we're not actually supposed to do what they tell us?

I'm in the same boat right now as a buyer with my own purchase from another seller elsewhere eon ebay and, I tell you, the process in my case makes little to no sense.

freeman11ca · ‎11-11-2015

Yes, the return process is very complicated at eBay, when I saw the message that said return it back, I thought I had to return it back and pay the return postage and not get the guaranteed reimbursement. They should at least give more details on that return page and say if you want to wait 'til Thursday to get eBay employees to step in and take more action, you have that option. I don't see that option on my Request page but the eBay employee who I talked to on the phone said that option is still there. The Return system needs to be overhauled and fixed, because like the eBay member mesbah.javid above mentioned above, he paid the return postage and eBay promised to *ask* the Seller for a reimbursement of return shipping cost, but the Seller, for some reason, is not required to pay unless he voluntarily gave out the return label earlier during the process. It's a dumb system that needs fixing.

freeman11ca · ‎11-12-2015

My case is now opened, eBay will now give the Seller 5 days to send over the Return label, and I will have to return the whole kit after the Return label is issued, not just the defective receiver! I just ordered another satellite dish and LNB at Amazon, and after I get the refund and get the case closed at eBay I will send a negative to the Seller and close down my eBay account for good!