Dispute resolution

[freightcar2009]

Over 2 months ago I purchased a camping knife from a seller. To date it hasn't arrived so I have been trying to contact them to see what the delay is.

No response. Now I can't even seem to send them any messages or will they talk to me at all.

Because I paid with Pay Pal I decided to put in a dispute resolution. Instantly the reply was to contact the seller and the dispute was closed! No questions asked they just closed everything down.

I can’t find any way to talk to E-Bay or to progress this any further.

The amount is not much however the principle is huge... Pay Pal offers peace of mind however they don't care..... EBay talk about ethics but have not it seems.

What should I do next regarding this as it is important. I always make sure I Pay instantly, I never buy anything unless I have the money or talk to the seller and make arrangements if I win the Auction.

What rights do I have and what legal avenues do I have available to me?

[bsal6160]

Did anyone actually think about the item that was supposed to have been posted. A KNIFE. Mostly likely has not been delivered as AP would stop such a postage item. A weapon and all that stuff. The seller should be banned from Ebay for even selling it on here.

[freightcar2009]

I received on Friday the item (yes, it was a camping knife) has been ceased by customs.

I am resigned I do not have a claim however I did receive a message from the seller when I purchased the knife there may be a delay while it comes through customs.

It for this reason and my naivety that I didn't chase any one up as to how long it is taking and when I did try to contact the seller I CANNOT contact them.

Going to their store and trying to message them there is no way to contact them... when I go to send message I get a response they are uncontactable...

They are selling many of these things and to be honest they are very similar to what I can buy in store and what I wanted was a titanium camping knife as they are light and weight when hiking is very important and the knife was a bargain....

so I am thinking because of the original email and the fact I cannot contact them this is something that happens often so now I want to know if I should look at what I can do to stop them selling in Australia?

I am sure after looking at some of the things they sell it would be an ongoing problem of people not getting their purchases.

[lyndal1838]

bsal, how do you think AP would know what was in a parcel posted in Australia?  There is no way AP would be able to stop the delivery of anything unless it was an illegal substance or item.  They would also have to know about it and there is no way they would unless there was a declaration on the package.

However, Customs can/has stopped the item in question as it was an illegal IMPORT.

OP, there is no reason for the seller to be banned from selling these items on ebay. Obviously they sell Worldwide and not all countries ban knives.  It is up to the buyer to know what is allowed to be imported into their own country.

[phorum_junkie*]

Even if you had been within the timeframe for a Paypal dispute you would have lost.

It is entirely up to individual buyers to know the rules for imports into their own country, how could a seller be expected to know that a knife that is allowed into Tanzania is not allowed to enter Tasmania?

It would have been exactly the same if you had tried to bring the knife in through customs at the airport, you would have been stopped and the knife would have been confiscated plus you could have been fined and possibly prosecuted if you did not decalare it.

[tall_bearded]

So I guess you’re saying if I bought a chef knife directly from the manufacturer is say Germany and had it sent to me by post it would be seized as a prohibited import.

Some knives are prohibited imports others are not.  There is also a fundamental difference between carrying a knife onto an aircraft and sending it in the mail.

In any event, even if this particular knife was in fact a prohibited import, and had the reason why it had not been received been because it had been seized by customs, then he would have received a customs notice to that effect.

[rumplebear1951]

I received on Friday the item (yes, it was a camping knife) has been ceased by customs.

They obviously did receive a notice from Customs that it had been seized....ergo it was a prohibited import.

[bsal6160]

I would like to think that at most major mail centres, ALL mail goes through some form of xray check.

[lyndal1838]

It does not matter what you like to think bsal. the simple fact is that internal mail is not x-rayed.

If AP were to have that sort of capacity we would never get our mail as it would be so slow and very expensive.