Dodgy Seller?

[b5mech]

I recently purchased an item and as it was pickup only went and picked up my item. The person who sold the item wasn't there so I collected it from his father and paid. After looking at the item I noticed parts were missing but they were clearly shown in the pictures of the listing. I spoke to the seller who said they forgot to give it to me and so posted them to me. I received the envelope today and he has sent an envelope with nothing in it. He has put a piece of paper in the envelope which was presumably wrapped around the missing spanners. You can clearly see nothing was ever put in the envelope as the spanners would make an imprint on the paper.

I sent the seller an email and got a rude response from him accusing me of lying. What should I do next - I guess I should talk to ebay.

[phorum_junkie*]

Sorry but there is absolutely nothing you can do. There is no buyer protection for pick up items even if you pay with Paypal as it is the buyer's responsibility to check out and/or test the item before accepting it. Once you have done so it is yours as is just the same as if you bought it at a garage sale or out of a newspaper ad.

[lyndal1838]

There is nothing you can do.  You picked up the item and paid after inspecting it.  There is nothing that ebay/paypal can/will do for pickup items.

All I can suggest is see if you can buy the spanners at a hardware store.

[repentatleisure1952]

As PJ said there is nothing youcan do except learn from the experience.

Talking to eBay certainly won't help.

Why did you not carefully check the item before handing over the money?

Do not rely on listing photos-carefully check the body of the listing & ask questions.

Works for me!

[b5mech]

Thanks for your quick replies. Unfortunately this is what I thought. I did check it carefully and noticed they were missing but as the seller was not home and his elderly father conducted the transaction there was not much I could do. It was a long drive to his house. I guess I should have sat around and waited for him to come home or would this be stalking haha.

[b5mech]

What kind of feedback would you give?

[lyndal1838]

Personally I would not give any feedback.   You are as much to blame as the seller.  At the most a neutral to make other aware of his rudeness.

Did you actually mention to the father that the items were not there?

[b5mech]

Yes I mentioned it to his father but he was old and had no idea what his son was selling - basically it was not his problem. As all of your comments suggest there seems to be a loophole in ebays system. If you pickup the item and pay cash you have absolutely no protection I wonder if sellers are becoming somewhat savy to this idea. If I was to pickup an electrical item such as a washing machine should I be demanding to see it in action - I guess a full cycle would be appropriate. Oh well I guess in those cases the seller wins and the buyer won't use ebay again. 

[trulyspecialgoodies]

Yes when picking up electrical items you must always ask to see them plugged in and working - otherwise you're just buying a pig in a poke.

The reason there's no seller or buyer protection for pick up items is that you have the advantage of seeing the item and checking it personally before paying for it and if it's not exactly as described you walk away with your money. There is no obligation to proceed with the transaction if you're not satisfied with the item. It's not a loophole in the system - just common sense.

[phorum_junkie*]

 there was not much I could do

You could haver walked away without paying, it is not a loophole, it is common sense, as no seller can have proof of delivery for a pick up item if it was covered by buyer protection every one who paid with Paypal could just claim their money back as soon as they got home with the item. There is also no way a seller could prove that the buyer had not damaged the item within minutes of buying it so in fairness to all the buyer has the ability to examine and the option not to pay.

You chose to hand over the cash and accept the goods As Is. No different to buying a second hand car, you hand over the cash and if the wheels drop off round the first corner it is your problem, to hand over the money when you could see the wheel nuts were missing would hardly be anyones fault but your own!