Not happy with eBay responce

[dhufish05]

Hi there,

Several weeks ago I searched for some new car parts and ended up on eBay to buy 10 Holden window slide for a price of $36.00

I have a screen show of the eBay page I used, where by I hit the buy it now button and entered a contract to purchase through eBay.

I paid promptly and then found the item I bought reverted to 4 items and through contacting the seller they would not sell me the 10 items and then cancelled my order stating" not in stock".

i have rang eBay talking for 90 minutes only for them to say that there was a catalogue error and that I could be offered a loyalty voucher. Nothing happened.  I then chatted online with eBay only to be promised the same think and then also nothing.

I believe I have been falsely advertised by eBay with the listing and should have protections under Australian Consumer Law section 18

but yet nothing, no voucher or action to amend this by eBay.

I would like to talk to eBAy and resolve this issue but struggle to get anyone to take my complaint seriously.

i will email them directly but not sure if it will be actioned.

Does this sound normal?

regards Dhufish

[digital*ghost]

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@dhufish05 wrote:

I believe I have been falsely advertised by eBay with the listing and should have protections under Australian Consumer Law section 18

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Deceptive and misleading conduct, for those who can't be bothered googling   ("A person must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive")

A seller simply running out of stock does not count as "deceptive or misleading conduct" - it happens all the time in retail, both online and in stores. How a business handles the situtation when they are out of stock is the important thing, not the fact that they ran out in the first place. Your seller informed you of the shortage and provided a refund. 

eBay is not the seller of the item(s) you purchased - honestly you weren't even "owed" whatever loyalty voucher they promised - that's a bit like the Westfield corporation giving you a gift voucher because you went to store in the mall and they'd run out of whatever advertised special you went there for....but since they did promise one, they should deliver it.

Whenever someone from eBay tells you something over the phone, get them to copy it to an email and send it to you, so you have proof in black and white of any promises they make. 

[dhufish05]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.  I do have a transcript of the online chat.  A section of the chat shown attached.

eBay has not provided me with any voucher and this was ovr 2 weeks ago now. 

I did ask the seller to check with eBay why I was able to hit the buy it now button and purchase what was listed as 10 items but they cancelled before I could take it up with eBay.  They only wanted to supply 4 items at that price, which is what the bid history reverted to after I paid.  eBay is responsible for the listing error.

The URL I used is still active and lists 10 items still for the price and updates the delivery times.

[imastawka]

eBay is responsible for the listing error.

Incorrrect.

All sellers must take responsibility for their listings.

On every listing are the words -

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

[repentatleisure1952]

"Does this sound normal?"

Spending 90 mins talking to eBay,then engaging in online chat with eBay, looking up Consumer Law & worrying about a 20 buck voucher sounds abnormal to me.

[digital*ghost]

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@imastawka wrote:

eBay is responsible for the listing error.

Incorrrect.

All sellers must take responsibility for their listings.

On every listing are the words -

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

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Listings and site errors aren't the same thing, though (or eBay deciding to relist items, add additional quantity to listings - I've had that happen, through the out of stock option, instead of ending, the listing ticked over for 2 cycles, like it was meant to, but didn't end on the third, it relisted with the original quantity. the first I knew about it was when someone purchased from the listing. That didn't necessarily happen here, especially considering it sounds like the listing is still live with a quantity of 10).

dhufish05 - can you supply an item number or title? I've never heard of a purchase quantity being reduced after buying, and thought it might be worthwhile taking a look at the listing you bought from. 

[imastawka]

Any money says it's a Chinese seller.

[dhufish05]

I searched using Google then used link to buy it now page.  The URL is below:

https://www.ebay.com.au/p/10x-Genuine-Holden-Commodore-Window-Regulator-Slides-VN-VP-VR-VS-VT-VU-VX-...

After hitting buy it now it went to payment page, where I paid and then it listed it as 4 items instead of 10.

Seller said it was an older listing as it had a different ebay listing number but if it was an old listing why did it update the postage times and allow me to buy it now and proceed to checkout?  The link still works.  The seller thinks that they are not required to honour any older or cached pages.  I did not search out to try and catch out anyone.  The seller did refund payment after cancelling the item but, I was still under the impression I was commiting to buy 10 items for the listed price, thats what it said with in the ebay website.  Is it possible that the seller had an older listing and changed the number of items and the price?  I have found items in this way before that have not allowed to buy it now as it reverts to a current listing from the seller.

When I called eBay they said it was a catalogue error, but think as the seller refunded my payment it is all fine.  It is not as the webpage with the buy it now button, listed 10 items and allowed me to enter a contract to buy and hence false advertising on the listing.

[dhufish05]

Just looked back through the thread and saw that my attachment showing a screen shot of eBay chat that states they will provide a voucher has been deleted by a moderator. Have I inadvertently breached any rules?

[repentatleisure1952]

I see four(4) in the link you provided.