Power Seller with lots of negative posts about broken items, how has he still got his ratings?

[hipchicmck]

I just bought a lightup sword for my son, and had to return it because the battery housing was corroded and the sword was damaged, not shown in listing. Listing said it would light up and make noise. 

Seller refutes this, saying it was working when it left him. I don't see how, as battery housing doesn't corrode in just a few days, that's caused by leaving leaky batteries in for ages. 

Anyways. I look back through his feedback, and I'm not the first. There's lots of others complaining about the same problem but as they're over a year old eBay showed me that his feedback was 100% squeeky clean before I bought the item. It's not until you page through and see there's a consistent problem that it shows up. 

How is someone like this allowed to keep Power Seller status? Lots of complaints about non-working toys, and lack of communication when challenged about broken things. 

He's now stating the damage is somehow my fault. I returned it the day I got it.  I send photos of the problem so not sure what he's saying - implying I've caused the damage myself or swapped it for another sword?

I'm clearly not the first buyer he's done this to. 

Any advice? 

[sandypebbles]

You might be better off asking on the forum for eBay UK

Different countries have different rules, so no point me going on about what to do when this happens to buyers here 

[springyzone]

I don't know how the power seller thing works so I can't answer why he still has that status. I can only presume the current 100% feedback rating works in his favour. Maybe he sells so much the negs haven't made much of an impact in the past on his %?

But with your current situation, you may havebeen better to go through an official ebay claim for item not as described, rather than get  into a debate with a seller who won't accept photographic evidence taken the day the item arrived. As you said, corrosion takes time to develop.

If you haven't already, open a claim and I also hope you sent the item back with tracking so you can provide ebay with details and get a  refund. Then give feedback & his 100% won't remain & it might get some customers more inclined to check it out before buying.

[*tippy*toes*]

If his feedback is 100% and he has sold over 100 items in the last rolling 12 months, then he'll be a top rated seller with power seller status. Once it's been more than 12 months since a neg was given, they no longer count towards anything. They are gone.

[paper-jack]

---

@hipchicmck wrote:
.........

I'm clearly not the first buyer he's done this to. 

Any advice? 

---

Do a quick check of seller's feedback before confirming a purchase. Negative feedback is left to warn others but is only useful if read.