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.

[countessalmirena · Accepted solution]

---

@ryz05 wrote:

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.

---

I’ll respond re this point as it seems I wasn’t clear in explaining.

Irrespective of how nice or reasonable a buyer may be, and what they may say in a message, the seller would still be open to a punitive outcome. If a listing states the item is in working order, and the buyer receives it in non-working order, the listing description trumps buyer messages automatically. eBay’s processes are bot-driven. A claim of not as described is going to go badly for the seller in this scenario.

Ditto for the question of delayed shipping.

An offer to parley post-sale isn’t a good idea in most circumstances. eBay is set up to follow the usual pattern of a transaction.

There is every incentive for a seller to cancel the sale in that case. Seller cannot provide you with the item as agreed prior to the sale. Proceeding would simply be fraught with pitfalls.

[ryz05]

That's actually a reasonable explanation, I guess it's the flip side of buyers potentially taking advantage of decent sellers. Shows the system isn't perfect and doesn't cover every scenario. It's a shame that the considering the fees paid by selling don't go towards better support and systems for both sellers and buyers.

That being said,  would have preferred the seller try and say their concerns rather than completely ghosting me though after the cancellation. I've had a lot of good experiences over messages the last couple of weeks so it was a shame to go through this, especially with someone with a 100% feedback rating.

[imastawka]

Considering I've sent 4 follow-up messages in the last few days ....

The seller may now look at you as a problem buyer.

If they didn't reply after the first message - leave it alone. 

4 messages would be annoying to me.

You are obviously desperate to get this item because you got it for a bargain price from what I can see.

Don't be surprised if/when the seller re-lists and you are blocked from buying.

Just sayin'

[ryz05]

Bought it from elsewhere today and happily paid more without fuss. Actually had some fun interaction with the seller over messages as well.

Would have thought this experience would demonstrate id have no interest in purchasing from the seller I had the issue with.

[davewil1964]

The point of this forum, like most member fora, is to get advice from people with more experience than you. There are plenty here who know all the ins and outs of eBay. Far more knowledge than call centre staff reading from scripts.

[ryz05]

Totally agree which is why I get brand new stuff from Amazon and split my second hand niche stuff from Facebook Marketplace/Gumtree/eBay.

[davewil1964]

Your point?

Your complaint is as a buyer. I think.

But you were expecting, before you agreed to my point, eBay to respond.

[ryz05]

That at least for brand new items, better to go through Amazon, because as you said, the community have more knowledge than eBay staff. Whereas you get a direct line to Amazon straight away via call or chat. 

I double checked my messages and can't see where I was expecting an eBay staff member to respond.

[davewil1964]

Not trying to vent here but I really don't understand the point of this forum. eBay staff don't obviously view it. 

You inferred you were wanting an eBay response

[ryz05]

I still don't, and if I were going to be honest it would come off as combatitive or unappreciative (as noted by the accepted solution and response to that post to the user who took the time to give a well written response whom I very much appreciate) I don't really want to waste mine or anyone elses negative energy, so again will leave it there.