Should I start refund process while parleying with seller ?

[sacblanc]

Hi there,

First time poster. Hoping to find some advice within this community.

I recently purchased a piece of pro audio equipment en eBay. The purchase was made on December 7th 2019 and I received the item on December 18th 2019.

I finally had time to test the item today (January 10th 2020) and found out there is an issue with it. As it is quite a vintage and fragile piece of equipment, it is not unreasonable to believe it might have been damaged during the transportation.

After doing some research, it turns out it also is possible that what went wrong could easily be fixed, but I'm not sure about it yet. It is a rare piece of equipment that cannot simply be replaced by another one, so I would prefer fixing it (if the fix is easy and not too expensive) than sending it back.

I'm currently in contact with the seller, who seems well intentioned. We are trying to find a way to solve the problem together.

The thing is, like I mentioned earlier, the purchase was made more than a month ago and I received the item some 3 weeks ago.

My question is : is there a time limit to request a refund via eBay's system ? If so, can I start a refund request while still parleying with the seller (in order not to exceed the protection delay) and cancel it if we were to find a way to fix the item ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Etienne

[femmefan1946]

If things go pear-shaped with the seller, the deadline for eBay Disputes is 30 days from DELIVERY.
The basic question in a Not As Described dispute is who pays for a tracked return to the seller.

The seller is not required to refund without a return of his product.

The seller can refuse to make a partial refund, for example sharing the cost of repair, and instead demand return for a full refund.

There are a lot of details with this-- but that's the basic.

However, with Paypal, assuming you paid by PP, you have 180 days from PAYMENT to start a Dispute.

However, PP demands that the buyer (you) pay for a tracked return and will not refund without proof of delivery.

If you back your PP account with a credit card, there is a third level of Buyer Protection in the card's chargeback policy, which varies from card to card.

TL/DR :

You have about a week before the eBay deadline.

Use Proof of Delivery if returning.

[sacblanc]

Hi there,

Thanks for the thorough answer.

If I was to start an eBay dispute in the next few days, while still discussing with the seller about ways to fix the unit, could I cancel the dispute if we were to find a solution to the problem ? If so, how long will I have, after the dispute is started, to cancel it ?

[femmefan1946]

Keep in mind that if you cancel a Dispute, you cannot reopen it.

You would still be able to "appeal" with Paypal or your card.

[ddawson108]

Your best bet is to decide how bad you want the item. If this were any old item you could easily replace than I would say open the case as there is no point in wasting too much time on it. In this case you state it is rare and not easily replaced so you just need to decide if you are willing to keep it and pay for the repairs yourself. If you are not than open a case and send it back. If you are than continue to work with the seller. Many good sellers will come to an agreement with you but even if they don't the question is are you good with the price you paid for what you got. It really just comes down to if you are willing to live with things the  way they are or if you want to just walk away and live without the item.