Buyer beware

[graeme7518]

I bought a complete kitchen on eBay.  It was expensive. I then spent a day organising people to help me dismantle it, transport it and reassemble it.  I entered into a contract to sell it and install it. I spent hours measuring and planning. The seller then cancelled and refunded.  I am several thousand dollars out of pocket.  EBay said that because I got a refund - maybe I did, but it seems likely to take five days or so to happen - I have no rights. Ebay threatens buyers that they are entering into a contract that they must honour. There is no means of contacting them except by chat because the 'purchase was refunded'. Ebay's chat doesn't work - the minutes count down then when it gets to 1 minute it freezes. There is not even an email address to record disappointment. Be aware that when you purchase on eBay you are on your own.  There is no redress other than refund. In any legitimate market the law of contract would allow redress through the courts.  eBay is designed to ensure that can never happen. Draw your own conclusions, but beware.

[countessalmirena]

domino, I will see you on CS about that.

OP, if you’re not out money, then your loss is counted in the currency of time and disappointment.

We’ve all been there. 

[graeme7518]

If you sell a kitchen to be disassembled and removed by the purchaser they have to enter your house. I have police checks and working with children. Where did the 'heap of guys' come from. If you don't want the buyer in your house, don't sell the thing on those conditions. The 'on sell' wasn't known to the seller - no way that person could have found out.  It was being done as a community service at no cost anyway. Dishonesty is dishonesty - enough of this nonsense. EBay is a disgrace.

[domino-710]

[janeababe]

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@graeme7518 wrote:

If you sell a kitchen to be disassembled and removed by the purchaser they have to enter your house. I have police checks and working with children. Where did the 'heap of guys' come from. If you don't want the buyer in your house, don't sell the thing on those conditions. The 'on sell' wasn't known to the seller - no way that person could have found out.  It was being done as a community service at no cost anyway. Dishonesty is dishonesty - enough of this nonsense. EBay is a disgrace.

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Oh for god’s sake….. does this ring a bell? 
*…I spent a day organising PEOPLE to help me dismantle it, transport it and reassemble it*

People =plural! 

Just face it…… you’re butt hurt because you think eBay owes you something, but they don’t! 

Give it a rest. It’s over, move on! 

Oh, and DON’T send me anymore private messages, or I WILL report you to the moderators! 😑

[graeme7518]

Which is precisely why I suggested the warning. So we have a platform where someone buys something, pays for it, and the sale is cancelled at a later point - not immediately - all care and no responsibility? You don't know the circumstances, so your other comments are not particularly valid. I would be be confident in court for reasons that I am under no compulsion to explain to you. I probably wouldn't bother with the courts, but my point is EBay is cowboy territory.  I have been on EBay for years, and have bought something most days. I have bought several kitchens with great success.  However, this exercise has more than balanced that positive group of experiences.  From what I have seen this seller was clearly dishonest, so why are you so enthusiastically supporting her? Your comments support my warning. As you say 'they have zero way of enforcing anything'. That isn't quite true - If they wanted to, EBay could at least exclude dishonest sellers.  But it isn't even possible to complain to them.  Your comments provide a perfect validation for why I am leaving EBay and warning others.

[davewil1964]

I have police checks and 'working with vulnerable people' (the correct term if you actually have one). Nothing to do with a tradie, or several, entering a house to remove items, even a kitchen. Why do you try to deflect from the fact you haven't a leg to stand on re consequent 'loss' by dragging up irrelevant 'facts'?

[graeme7518]

Yes all of that is true.  But in any other market forum the seller is known, not hidden and uncontactable.  EBay simply encourages bad behaviour with anonymity.  I am perfectly well aware of the court system, and after forty years in the courts I would venture to guess I probably understand the system better than you. A magistrate once said to me 'you must never bring a matter to court on principle'.  He was perfectly correct on a practical level, but as I said to him at the time 'If you aren't prepared to stand up for principle, what is left?' I did win that case. But all of that is moot.  What I find amazing here is how much effort people are putting into supporting dishonesty. Why do you do that? Your reason is not why such cases are not proceded with -  it's more because EBay provides a wonderful sea in which everyone is anonymous and dishonesty is rewarded. So I reiterate - by all means buy cables for your iPhone on eBay - for that it is fantastic. For large scale purchases give it a wide berth - you are at risk.

[graeme7518]

It isn't a 'case'. Except it is a 'case' of dishonesty.  I don't have to detail the disadvantage to you.  My question to you is "why are you so enthusiastic to support dishonesty?'

[graeme7518]

Trust me I tried to leave negative feedback, but because the sale was cancelled and money refunded it was impossible. I think I have found a way around that, but not sure.  What do you think I am being untruthful or less than fully truthful about? I feel like I have entered a hostile parallel universe here. I used the kitchens I bought myself - how can that be at a 'useful profit'? I answered the question about why I did not leave negative comment - comments are not possible for cancelled sales.  My question to you is why are you so eager to intercede on behalf of a dishonest seller?

[padi*0409]

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@graeme7518 wrote:

Trust me I tried to leave negative feedback, but because the sale was cancelled and money refunded it was impossible.

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Then who was this for then ???