Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

I bought an item in December 2020 from a seller in Germany. By February 2021 it had not arrived and I bought the same item elsewhere. I complained to the seller who refunded my money. So far so good. Then the item arrived. The seller then contacted me saying it had arrived, they wanted their refund back. They didn't say where to send the money. I replied saying I had bought another, I had no use for their item, and offered to pay half. They replied saying they hadn't been paid and they were starting legal action. I again replied offering half. No reply. Today I get a letter from a debt collection agency in Germany demanding the cost of the item (EUR23.73) plus about EUR65 in debt collection fees. 

The Ebay dispute resolution center won't let me commence a chat because the item number has now dropped off the system.

 

I don't think I have any responsibility towards the seller's debt collection fees. What should I do?

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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.


@springyzone wrote:

 

 

I guess my reply would be-why should the buyer be responsible? He has done nothing wrong. He paid for an item that obviously went some way over the expected delivery time frame, otherwise the seller would not have refunded him, he would most likely have asked him to wait a little longer.

 

 

 


"Why should the buyer?" doesn't automatically = the seller has to, though. That's part and parcel of buying online - I know buyers like to think the risks and liabilities should nearly all be the the sellers', but that's not reflective of reality. If you buy online, you're taking a risk that mistakes can be made, that delivery takes longer than expected, that it isn't quite what you were looking for and so on - and, IMHO this is change of mind - the timeframe may be longer than usual, but it still boils down to "It took too long and I don't need it anymore" - that can happen to a package that is 2 days "late", 2 weeks, or 2 months. Not knowing what was in the package and opening it doesn't diminish that. 

 

Just to address one of colic's points about the seller not meeting their obligations - delivery times are estimates, not promises or guarantees, so refunding under the assumption an item is lost is not the same as a refund because it wasn't received in a promised timeframe - as in, part of the contract is not "get it within eBay's estimates or it's free", it's "get the item or a refund if you don't" as in, never receive it at all, and in this case, the item was ultimately delivered as per the seller's obligations - though, yes, admittedly I am speaking from a seller's perspective and from a moral standpoint, more than a legal one (in that I have profoundly more grounding in the former than knowledge in the latter ๐Ÿคฃ).

 

 

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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.


@colic2bullsgirlore wrote:

bbl's ??
Is that your board standard scare tactic? What are these BBL 'S you speak of?
Big Bad Loopholes?
Binary Babble Leach?
Boo Boo Logic?
Boss Board Loony?

This isn't my first rodeo.... This ID has been a PARTY list star for ages but unless I was looking for a new strawman to fit my sock puppet I doubt that the blockers are selling anything that I am looking for.

re the OP no contract no pay bluff will get you nowhere


Seriously??

You don't think a seller would block a buyer who openly advises they won't re-pay for a late item ?

Good luck to you

Message 42 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.


@springyzone wrote:

 

 

I get the feeling the seller may have been a bit abrupt in their demands, just demanding payment and not discussing solutions. I feel sure that digital ghost in the same circumstances would word things better to her customers and that is probably why she has such good outcomes.

 

 


I just wanted to add i do agree that the seller doesn;t appear to have handled this very well - though perhaps they had tracking notifications and saw the package was delivered, but received no contact from the buyer about it. 

 

My situations go so well because the items I'm referring to are - 99% of the time - untracked, which means if a buyer contacts me to let me know they received the item after all, they are doing it completely of their own volition, which is why I also tend to look extremely favourably on it and, in cases where I do accept repayment, I provide a very good discount. If I saw through tracking that a refunded package had gone on to be delivered and the buyer didn't get in touch at all, like not even a "hey, so the package actually arrived after all this time, what should we do", I would not be inclined to look upon them so favourably - I still wouldn't do as this seller has,  but I'd definitely be salty.

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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

I always tell sellers when an item arrives after a refund, even when the items are not tracked, and a couple of times the sellers even let me keep the items just because I had been honest (when the items were untracked). I think that the problem with the OP is that the seller felt like he didn't have much of a choice and was irritated.

The best solution, of course, would have been to recognize the parcel (as it came from Germany) and to have sent it back unopened, as this would have been free of charge and really the best option for both the buyer and the seller.

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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

Thank You Kats, 

 

You have stated this plain & simple,  .... OP must Remember that he/she is liable for agreeing to Purchase said item, under ebay Rules & Regulations. You Bought.... You Pay !!!  Does not matter if the Seller is in Double Bay, NSW, or in Mannhiem, Germany,...You still Purchased the said item using the eBay Portal.

 

OP You cannot have your Pizza, & Eat it as well.  Time to Pay the Chef !!!

I would have a cheeky suspicion here, OP that you because of your uneven "Playing Field that you Created", you may "Find yourself" on a number of Aussie BBL's.

Stop the Grief,... Do the Right and Honourable Aussie thing and " Pay Up " OP !!!

Stop Thinking about Yourself, and Your "own Pocket" and Do and abide by Your Original Buying Agreement. 

Stop "Playing your End Games", by your inaction's, You have made the rest of us "Look a Bit Questionable,

"Are All Australian's Like This"  ....  No, Just this " Numb Nuts."  ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ

 

Message 45 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

So let's just clear this up one board furphy at a time

 

Australia post only offer a free RTS service for unopened (ie in the original packaging) letters and only intra Australia.

 

Check the link below for parcels and who pays. 

 

https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/manage-your-shipping/manage-parcel-returns

 

Select who pays - choose whether you or your customer pays for return postage.

https://auspost.com.au/sending/returns

 

2. Pack and label your item

Your retailer may have supplied a prepaid return label, or instructions on how to buy or download one.

If not, you can purchase a prepaid label or satchel at a Post Office.

 

 

 

 

 

atheism is a non prophet organization
Message 46 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.


@digital*ghost wrote:

@springyzone wrote:

 

 

I get the feeling the seller may have been a bit abrupt in their demands, just demanding payment and not discussing solutions. I feel sure that digital ghost in the same circumstances would word things better to her customers and that is probably why she has such good outcomes.

 

 


I just wanted to add i do agree that the seller doesn;t appear to have handled this very well - though perhaps they had tracking notifications and saw the package was delivered, but received no contact from the buyer about it. 

 

My situations go so well because the items I'm referring to are - 99% of the time - untracked, which means if a buyer contacts me to let me know they received the item after all, they are doing it completely of their own volition, which is why I also tend to look extremely favourably on it and, in cases where I do accept repayment, I provide a very good discount. If I saw through tracking that a refunded package had gone on to be delivered and the buyer didn't get in touch at all, like not even a "hey, so the package actually arrived after all this time, what should we do", I would not be inclined to look upon them so favourably - I still wouldn't do as this seller has,  but I'd definitely be salty.


all the quote ^^^^^^ up there has not appeared i dunno why... you  will hve to red DG original post yourself

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The contract was voided when the seller, at the buyers request, agreed to pay the refund. When the package finally turned up the seller should have arranged the return. its their (or their agents) bad


re you perhaps....
How do you know that the seller and the buyer did not both think that the package was lost?
How salty do you think the buyer felt when the seller said "it's turned up...now pay up"?
The seller could have acted to have the slooooow package redirected if it ever resurfaced..... why didn't they?

 

DG you put your own seller spin ie the way you treat buyers on this particular situation and that's understandable.

Here's my buyers spin on this particular situation

 

I buy many car parts from OS for my customers as they are not available in Australia.

 

It is, unfortunately, necessary due to the cessation of the car manufacturing business (and therefore its
suppliers) in Australia. 10% of the time o/s purchases are based on price 90% of the time it is availability

 

So the purchases are generally time sensitive.

As an aside I get my customers to prepay so they too are vested in delivery within parameters

 

This is what I ask every time when I purchase from overseas after searching their feedback.

Have you sent many parcels to Australia recently?

What is an average timeframe?

 

The important thing here to understand is that from the sellers answers to the questions above I have then given a time estimate to my customers.

 

I have an obligation to my customers too.

 

If the seller says 4 weeks average I track the item and give my customer a 5 to 6 week timeframe before I start getting a little pushy and if the parcel is still in the black hole week 7 day 1

 

Then I need a refund and I buy elsewhere....alibaba and China here I come....with my piste off customer hot on my tail and now I am paying premium express freight......... grrrr

 

If at some time in the future the original item turns up then I contact the seller with an irate "your item has arrived arrange to get your item picked up.....before I start charging you storage."

 

I am not running a charity nor a numpty seller training centre. Imagine the audacity of a seller expecting any profit from a defunct contract that supplied an extremely tardy service?

 

Salllllty much.

 

If a seller was arrogant enough to send me an email saying "The item has turned up ....now pay up" message I am tossing up whether I would send them a video back of my tow truck running the sucker over or just not interacting with them at all

or ......

perhaps I could just contact ebay and forward the message from the seller offering a trade outside of the ebay system and let them deal with it.

atheism is a non prophet organization
Message 47 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

People can refuse delivery of any parcel. That's what it actually is rather than returning to the sender.

 

CaptureRefuseDelivery.JPG

Message 48 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

But delivery was made in this case...and in both cases the original sender picks up the bill. It is not free

atheism is a non prophet organization
Message 49 of 56
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Seller has ignored my email, handed over to debt collector.

I know that it was made and that cannot be changed. I was saying that if he had refused delivery that would have been an acceptable solution for both him and the seller. Maybe he (or others in similar situation) can consider this in the future.

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