eBay not allowing buyers to cancel items

[kaibacorp*]

This has happened to me twice recently.

Note: What I mean buy accidentally buying an item is that a second after I press the final confirmation button I no longer want the item.

I have tried to close the page as soon as I realise that buying the item was a mistake, but strangely, the order still goes through. On other sites closing the webpage will cancel the transaction.

After accidentally ordering an item I have cancelled the item seconds later. Strangely, eBay are now giving sellers the option to reject or to allow buyers to cancel orders. Which I suspect might be breaking consumer laws.

1st time this happened to me, I cancelled the order and contacted the seller. The seller admitted that he hadn't posted the item and that he stands to lose nothing by cancelling the order. But, he still decided to post the item because it was to his financial advantage.

On this occasion I decided to let it slip.

It happened to me a second time just then. I cancelled the item seconds after I purchased it, I got eBay's message "You are at the mercy of the seller." So what does the seller do? They completely ignore the cancellation reqest and days later, posts the item.

So, I contacted eBay live help and they said "on this occasion, we will refund your money." But, they made it clear it's a once off.

And they refused to explain themselves.

I am extremely suspicious that eBay is breaking Australian consumer law and as a buyer I think it's outrageous.

I'm also pretty sure that this new rule they have is only a few months old. The previous rule they had gave the buyer 3 days to cancel an order if it was a mistake.

I don't really have any questions for the community about this, I'm just making a statement.

*If eBay ever refuse to cancel my orders for no good reason I will take it up with CBS.*

[davewil1964]

Lyndal is a bloke's name? Hardly. A 3 second search would show she is not a seller. Two fails in one post. Maybe Lyndal is not the one who needs to lift her game.

[padi*0409]

 Beat me to the (metaphorical) punch Dave.........................

[lyndal1838]

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@quesevery-0 wrote:
Your comment was really jaded and I am really glad you were not the kind of person I was dealing with in the instance I mentioned. If you think for any reason you can bully customers and strong-arm them in any way then it is small surprise you have had so many bad encounters with them. Lift your game sir.

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Maybe my comment was jaded but it does not come from dealing with customers who feel entitled.  It comes from dealing with posters on the boards who think sellers owe them everything no matter how many silly things they do.

Where do I say that I have had any bad encounters with buyers?

As I am not a seller my encounters with bad buyers is confined to those who find their way to the boards to complain about sellers.

[countessalmirena]

@quesevery-0,

There are aspects to buying and/or selling that are "technical and complex", that's true. While the basics of looking for an item, clicking onto and making the payment via PayPal (the most oft-used payment method currently) are straightforward so that even a child (or a goldfish - in-joke!) could do it, if there's any hitch or problem with the order there are all sorts of things that the buyer should have noted, considered, done, been aware of, etc., before the purchase, and which the buyer must be aware of, do, follow up with, etc., after the purchase.

I am aware that most people don't read T&Cs or User Agreements. There's no use my bewailing it or launching into a spiel about how foolish it is for any of us to sign off on an agreement without even having skimmed through it, let alone taken it in in detail, because the reality is clear. We do not read T&Cs. (Citizens Advice - Written Evidence (UK Parliament); Obar, Jonathan A. and Oeldorf-Hirsch, Anne, The Biggest Lie on the Internet: Ignoring the Privacy Po...; Deloitte: Global Mobile Consumer Survey.)

Spoiler

❝Terms and conditions: terms and conditions are opaque, long and confusing so it’s no surprise that approximately only a third of consumers report that they read terms and conditions.  This rate varies between surveys, and actually people are likely to be over-claiming, if you look at evidence from devices which give us an idea of the actual time spent reading terms and conditions, the figure appears closer to 1%.❞

Spoiler

❝91 percent willingly accept legal terms and  conditions without reading them before installing apps, registering  Wi-Fi hotspots, accepting updates, and signing on to online services  such as video streaming. For ages 18 to 34, the rate of acceptance  of terms and conditions, without reading them, reaches 97 percent.  The language of the vast majority of terms and conditions is  understandably too complex for many.❞

Spoiler

❝Qualitative findings suggest that participants view policies as nuisance, ignoring them to pursue the ends of digital production, without being inhibited by the means. Implications are revealed as 98% missed NameDrop TOS ‘gotcha clauses’ about data sharing with the NSA and employers, and about providing a first-born child as payment for SNS access.❞

However... when it comes to anything where you're risking your money, it is unquestionably a good idea to read the relevant information. eBay's User Agreement is 6,363 words long. It's a good starting point, but there are additional pieces of information that you should know, through searching and reading through eBay's Rules and policies (overview - you still need to click onto the specific policies to acquaint yourself with the particular policies that apply to your situation). eBay's Money Back Guarantee is something you must read in detail, and take due note of timeframes and conditions.

Also - because we're not fools, are we? - we should also be aware that in spite of eBay's rhetoric on the subject of Intellectual Property rights, in many many cases eBay does not act to protect you from purchasing fake items - and indeed, eBay's UA explicitly has you agreeing not to hold eBay responsible.

Spoiler

❝We are not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. We have no control over and do not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of items advertised, the truth or accuracy of users' content or listings, the ability of sellers to sell items, the ability of buyers to pay for items or that a buyer or seller will actually complete a transaction or return an item.❞

That's why it's essential for buyers (and sellers) to know how best to protect themselves on eBay. We must also know how to deal well with our trading partner (buyers with sellers, sellers with buyers), so as to make them feel happy about being in a transaction with oneself... not being ridiculously demanding, not being annoying, not expecting things that are beyond the scope of the other, etc.

Then... it's also a terrific idea to check through various of the threads on the Buying board. There are some threads which give specific information, demystifying some of the legalese and breaking down the language, as well as giving examples and personal experience. If you're not sure which threads are the most useful and up-to-date, post a question asking for help, and various responders are sure to jump in to provide the most useful links.

You say in your post that ❝the seller who was not financially put out by my mistake❞. It is easy to assume that that's the case, but often it can subtly affect the seller. (There are too many ways to describe here. That's possibly a topic deserving of its own thread.)

I cannot emphasise too strongly that we as buyers must exercise due diligence before we bid or buy.

[fpv209-0]

Had same issues & even messaged seller well ahead. After number of time cancel button. Doesn't exist eBay.... EBay Sux & can't forward a complain.

[springyzone]

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@fpv209-0 wrote:
Had same issues & even messaged seller well ahead. After number of time cancel button. Doesn't exist eBay.... EBay Sux & can't forward a complain.

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My goodness, what a sense of entitlement.

Okay, so you are saying you had the same issue as the OP.

That seemed to be that he bought a couple of things which he almost immediately changed his mind about and wanted to cancel.

You also seem to expect a cancel button to exist. This is a bit of a bizarre expectation, I don't see why 'ebay sux' just because it doesn't have something that I have never seen on any other buying site either.

And I buy a LOT online.

I buy from numerous different sites and after I order and pay, there is no magic cancel button.

The closest I have seen to it is on vistaprint where after placing an order, you can go in for one hour afterwards and make alterations. That would normally mean correctling spelling on a card or whatever.

I was once (with a photobook company) able to ring up and sort something out where they held up an order to allow me to insert a photo in a different format.

But that's it. You can see from my examples that they were not cancellations. I didn't get money back, I was given a chance to change a small aspect of an order.

It's the same on ebay. If you make a mistake you can always ask a seller if you are able to change it eg change a size if they have mulitiple sizes available. They may be able to help.

But if you go buying stuff that you change your mind about, that's your problem, it isn't the fault of the seller. Some sellers will oblige you with a cancellation but they don't have to. Nor do all bricks & mortar stores either.

So just be careful before you actually buy.