Seller cancelled order for Best Offer citing item not working

[ryz05]

Hi 

I recently won a best offer an item where the item was advertised as working (and ironically had a video of the item working).

A few days later I got a message from the seller saying

"I have some bad news, I got the remote out of storage to ship it to you, but unfortunately, when I tested it, it did not work!I have put new batteries and cleaned it (no corrosion), but it still did not work!so I am going to cancel your order."

I mentioned that the item wasn't cancelled yet so please action now (which i now regret)

I later offered to purchase the item (under the idea reversal of the cancelation with a partial refund was possible) and was told;

"Hello, no I will try to fix it and relest it as working.thanks"

My first thought is that the seller had second thoughts on the price they accepted the offer for and wanted to resell for a higher price.

Is this suspiscious activity from the seller? Why not give the buyer the option of waiting for the item to be fixed, rather than re-selling.

[ryz05]

Most of what you say makes sense, but I don't understand the "clock ticking"  point.

You simply ask the buyer "I can fix it but it make take some time, or if you're not happy with that I can refund you now" that would have been the most sensible option. Takes all of two seconds to send that message. 

Just to re-clarify this was an item where the offer was ACCEPTED and PAID and then the order was cancelled after the fact. I think because the item was accepted $25 cheaper that the initial buy it now price is why the seller has second thoughts.

I can't leave feedback for this seller (I don't have a massive issue with this as it's open for buyers too that can be idiots) but really it's a loophole for people for sellers to change their mind without consequence.

Again, if you feel under pressure about time constraints, put better energy into maintaining your inventory better. Saves everyone time and hassle.

[sandypebbles]

eBay are all about the buyer

Just because eBay are not going to make the seller send an item does not mean they are looking out for sellers, and this seller in question has less feedback than you do

And as you have been told, there will be consequences for the seller for cancelling with the reason they did

You say you are tsking the high road but your comments here do not reflect that at all

[ryz05]

Wow. Like to think I've been respectful to everyone's here and haven't outwardly bashed the seller.  I'm trying to figure out the logic and just met with passive aggressive answers with little substance. 

Take care guys be happy.

[imastawka]

I have another scenario in this case.

It's been known that ebay has accepted an offer automatically on behalf of a seller before now.

We have had sellers coming here and complaining about this happening to them.

I'm not saying that this is what happened, but it's a possibility, and a $25 discount may have been too much for this particular seller.

[ryz05]

That would make sense, but if that was the case, the seller would have messaged prior. There was a few back and forths with the offers to.

[countessalmirena]

The “clock ticking” aspect is to go with the fact that eBay can and do take action against sellers who don’t send an item within the required timeframe. Action can include seller having their account limited, fees increased, etc.

If the seller has been honest with you about the item having a problem, they probably did the best thing in cancelling.

If the seller hasn’t been honest, they’ve gone about it in an ineffective way; they could have cancelled with a reason that wouldn’t have cost them anything… but they didn’t. This is counter effective if they were unhappy about the offered price.

My own perspective is that I’d accept the seller’s explanation in good faith.

[ryz05]

I've accepted that point,  but not sure why my counterpoint to the 'clock ticking' is getting overlooked here.  Takes all of 2 seconds to give buyer an option, that suggestion isn't unreasonable and pretty common when an item isn't available.

Considering I've sent 4 follow-up messages in the last few days without reply, inclined to believe the seller has made a one-off action that is potentially disingenuous and is usually reasonable.

Happy to disagree with the regular posters here, I understand this ultimately isn't the place to get potential issue resolved and is more about generic advice for those who aren't familar with eBay.

Happy to leave it there. No-need for further replies. Thanks for your time everyone.

[sandypebbles]

It is a place to get factual advice, rather than you contacting eBay and getting a scripted response which makes false promises just to get rid of you

Far from generic advice, thank you,  hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of issues have been resolved though the information/links/advice provided by other members

If you do not want other members to reply, you need to self report and ask a mod to lock the thread

Someone with a similar issue may find factual information helpful, even if it is not what you wanted to hear

[ryz05]

Respectfully disagree. Like I said, happy to leave it there.

[gutterpunkz05]

The joys of dealing with electronics, one minute they work fine, the next they don't, and then you get into smart electronics that fail to recognize/diagnose any faults, followed by a catastrophic failure.