Fake free postage is NOT a problem

[sea.breeze]

Let me be clear, it's not a problem for you.

I bought a TDS meter a couple of weeks ago, $6.95 with free postage. I did see that feedback seemsed to indicate unhappy customers who paid excess postage. But that's not really a problem, it was sold with free postage and eBay today is not the eBay of 15 years ago.

I duly found a card in my letter box to collect the parcel, which in itself is unusual as normally it would be left in the box. Upon presenting at the post office I was told there's another $7.80 to pay. I did not take possessin of the parcel. And while it's not necessary I would suggest not taking possession because it's not your problem.

OK so I then wrote to the seller, who pretended not to understand me, I did not muck around I just put in a return explaining that the item was not as described namely it was described with free postage.

The replied to the Return ... not through the return messages but through the normal message system. 

Hi, We are sorry for the inconvenience brought to you. Could you please close the request for us? And can we communicate through the ebay message directly? Which can help us solve your problem quickly. Are you going to pick up your parcel or not ? If yes , we will refund extra postage $7.8 to you . if you don't want to pick up the parcel , we will full refund your payment $6.95 to you . Pls let us know , thanks .

Once a return has been opened DO NOT reply to any more messages except on the actual Return messages.

I wrote back to them telling them not to send me any more messages except through the official return message system and that I have a better idea, how about they refund me the full $6.95 cost of the item and I will collect it from the post office.

They agreed to that and asked me to close the dispute, I said when I get refunded the dispute will be closed.

IF EVERYONE DID THIS, ALL THIS **bleep** WOULD END PRETTY SPEEDILY.

[sea.breeze]

Just to be extra clear here.

That a seller has complaints in their feedback for excess postage, you need not worry about that, it could be to do with anything. It's not a reason not to buy from them becasue eBay WILL enforce the contract.

The reason they WILL enforce the contract is that there are no grey areas at all. 

If the item is described with free postage then that's the contract. It is very much a part of the description of the good. So the correct dispute is for Item Not As Described.

Once the dispute is in progress you need do nothing more other than say that the item is described with free postage and that's what you paid for. End of. 

You will not only be helping yourself if you do this but you will be helping everyone else because this practice will end pretty nearly if sellers begin to see that they cannot win this.

The very fact that you see this complaint in their feedback, is not a reason not to buy from them, it's a reason not to argue with them because they clearly are serial offenders, Just put in the dispute for 'not as described' and do not take possession of the item, although that shouldn't really be a problem.

Once the dispute is in because it's an item not as described, the seller's only options are to pay for return postage which ebay will force them to do in this instance, or pay for the excess postage.

This needs to be stickied. At least sticky it in your mind.

[gutterpunkz05]

I think you may have out smarted yourself.

[sea.breeze]

Please explain.

[kopenhagen5]

I think you will find the eBay's terms state the INAD is pertaining to the item/s not the transaction.

Your argument would never stand up legally.

But it's a good solution for eBayers dealing with shonky sellers.

Good on you for sticking to getting a refund before closing the case.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@sea.breeze wrote:
Please explain.

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Your tactic might work if the seller is not very experienced or it was a genuine mistake.

In all likelyhood, the item you have refused to collect, will not have a return address and you will be unable to provide proof the item was returned.

Using  INAD, relating to postage, could be a risky proposition, even if ebay  do apply it to postage, in all likelyhood the listing stated free standard post, the seller has probably shipped the item at letter rates, and  AP have deemed it to be a parcel.

Hopefully you get your money back, but I just dont see it being a blanket solution.

[imastawka]

Seller is posting as a letter when it should be parcel rate, and they're being caught.

Seems as though they're smart enough not to have a return address on them though.

Otherwise they would be the ones getting the bill for extra postage, as well as a fine 

from Auspost

[gutterpunkz05]

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@imastawka wrote:

Seller is posting as a letter when it should be parcel rate, and they're being caught.

Seems as though they're smart enough not to have a return address on them though.

Otherwise they would be the ones getting the bill for extra postage, as well as a fine 

from Auspost

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Dang, it was so obvious that I overlooked that point

[sea.breeze]

Let me even more clear, remember there is a thread about this so it appears that people are not clear.

Ebay is very different to how they were 15 years ago even though all the people helping sound like one and the same person! Anyhoo, I have found that it not necessary for ones case to stand up in a criminal or civil court, although it certainly would.

No, eBay have powers far above anything a court could impose, they can for example as they just did, force a client to refund me the full price of a fake item advertised using a trademarked word and if you argue the point in a clear way they will make a unilateral decision, especially if you keep your sense of humour and are polite. Granted you need to be able to hold a thought and follow some reasoning, but if you do it the correct way without ranting then they are incridibly helpful and on your side, but you have to be straight up. 

They way you go about it is this, when you see that excess postage is a problem on their feedback, then that works in your favour, you simply explain to the ebay person or on the form, that you bought an item with free postage. Always best to talk to a person first because then the record of the call will be lodged and will make the return process virtually painless.

I'm just saying that if everyone did this the problem would vanish pretty quickly. 

[hbrih3]

In that case ignoring the AP notice and not picking up the item is the way to go. AP should automatically suspend shipping of items with incorrect postage and if a sender's address is not provided then the item should be send into storage area to be held for a period, say 3 months, then have it sold at action if sender is not claiming it.   

The main issue with asking the buyer to pay on pick up is that without a tracking number you'll receive a notice from AP to pick up an item but haven't got a clue of what is supposed to be.  Then once you pay your $7.80 and open the parcel it may only be an item worth $5 so no longer such a good deal. Now you have to wate time and jump through loops to recover the postage paid. 

Meanwhile eBay is allowing the practice to go on unabated because for every transaction good or bad they collect their fee.

In my  case the item ended up at AP in the next town so I informed them I wouldn't be picking it up and also provided the details of the sender. Most likely they won't bother to try and recover the costs from sender since its much easier to just increase postage fees on everything.