Newbie needs advice on giving seller feedback

[lancelotlink666]

I am inexperienced on eBay and would like to get some advice on what the accepted etiquette is for handling my particular situation.

I recently bought a cat toy called Undercover Mouse. It has a central hub with a processor and a motor, and a detachable arm that swings around. On top of this is a circular "blanket" so that only the very outer tip of the arm is visible.

The toy was sold as used, but has a fault not mentioned in the description: namely, that the arm keeps coming off. Even without my cat playing with it, the arm falls off on its own. 

The Undercover Mouse toy is no longer made (there are knock-offs, but they're not supposed to be as good). The original item, the one I purchased, is very hard to come by, and the price at which it was sold was not unreasonable. I am hopeful the fault will not be too difficult to fix: I have already ordered replacement arms from a supplier. Given all this, I do not want to return the purchase.

Nevertheless, the product does have a fault serious enough to require repair, and which was NOT mentioned by the seller.

What is the accepted etiquette here? Do I just leave negative seller feedback?

[kopenhagen5]

Feedback is voluntary.

However if you feel the need to leave feedback, consider whether the seller was unaware of the fault or not.

You could perhaps contact the seller and they may offer a part refund.

I consider a negative very serious on a sellers account and would only consider leaving such if a seller was totally unhelpful.

Therefore maybe a neutral is more appropriate with a factual comment.

At the end, it's up to you if you want to leave feedback to describe the transaction on ebay.

[bsal6160]

firstly, you should have opened a Not As Described dispute. Before leaving an feedback or buying a repair item, have you contacted the seller and let them know you are not happy with it. This will be the milestone for what feedback is warranted.

[lancelotlink666]

First, thank you to both of you who replied.

I would rather give the seller an opportunity to resolve this before leaving feedback, so I think I'll launch a "not as described" dispute as was suggested. Is there some specific formal way of doing this, or do I just message the seller?

[lancelotlink666]

Actually, once I had the phrase "not as described" I was able to find this document, which talks me through what to do:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/buy/item-not-received.html#talk

Unless someone wants to add anything further, I think I got what I needed. Thanks again to kopenhagen5 and bsal6160.

[2106greencat]

You may want to go and have a look at the 'selling' board - Is This Feedback Extortion

Small world huh ?

[harley_babes_hoard]

why would you do this?

[robinsonmarineparts]

Hi,

I'll say to you what i said to the seller  "I would suggest that the two of you work together to solve the issue.".

Please don't leave feedback untill you have worked out an agreeable solution with each other.

I believe the item was sold in good faith by the seller, we as sellers don't sell broken items because it's dishonest (unless stated), and these problems will arise which no body needs.

[medalsbadgespatches]

Hi, return the item for a full refund if you consider it is faulty and/or not as discribed.

If you are prepared to keep it then the decision to repair is yours alone.

Use the Resolution centre and discuss this with an ebay representative.

[2106greencat]

What did I do ???

If I wasn't meant to call attention to the seller's thread sorry, but everyone was bound to find it at some point and put buyer and seller together.

oooops