Suing Ebay Australia for freezing my funds due to a seamingly endless beauracracy limbo

[azrinsani81]

I sold a Laptop for $1000 on Ebay. The buyer then complained the laptop was not good and wanted to refund back the purchase. My Paypal funds were frozen for this.

The buyer than sent the item back to me (I had to purchase the shipping labels)

Later, the buyer said he changed his mind and wanted the laptop back. He purchased the shipping labels and asked me to send the laptop back to him.

I sent the laptop back to the buyer.

It's been almost a month since the buyer received the item and until now my Paypal funds are still frozen. I can't get the money out.

I have contacted Ebay via chat but unfortunately they are unable to do anything other than wait.

I'm am now thinking of taking legal action in small claims court in Western Australia since Ebay is a registered business entity in Australia.

Question:

1) Have anyone experienced similar situation?

2) Have anyone successfully sued ebay on this?

Thanks

[azrinsani81]

I've spoken to a Lawyer and was advised to send a Letter of Demand to Ebay.

just done so.

If this isn't met I will have proceed to lodge a formal Civil Claim.

[davewil1964]

For future reference, I suggest you read eBay's FAQs, at least on selling.

Once the laptop was returned to you, that should have been the end of it. At which point, if you didn't block the buyer, any subsequent sale should have been a new transaction, verifiable in eBay.

I wish you well in your claim, but don't hold out hope that it will be successful.

Please update us, either way, as it will be valuable information for all sellers.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@azrinsani81 wrote:

I've spoken to a Lawyer and was advised to send a Letter of Demand to Ebay.

just done so.

If this isn't met I will have proceed to lodge a formal Civil Claim.

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It may have been prudent to seek proper legal consultation, which is not going to happen in a five minute chat, before going off half cocked with a letter of demand.  By the way, how long did it take your lawyer to read and comprehend all of ebays user agreement and subsequent policies, T & C's that you have agreed to abide by.

Did your lawyer also advise you to send a letter of demand to your buyer.

[jellybirddesigns]

When you received the item back, you should have refunded the buyer. This would have closed the dispute and finished the matter.

When the buyer changed his mind, that should have been an entirely NEW transaction/purchase. 

Having said all that, I would NEVER have sent the item out again to such a buyer - I'm surprised you didn't see the red flag when he complained about it the first time around. I would have refunded and blocked. Now you're in this real tangle and I'm not sure how this will work out for you.

[azrinsani81]

Generally, natural cause of law/justice presides over T&C's. Above all, Ebay have indicated they favor my position and will be releasing the funds.

I'll just be going through a small claims court. An attorney is not allowed in these courts.

[azrinsani81]

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@jellybirddesigns wrote:

I'm surprised you didn't see the red flag when he complained about it the first time around. I would have refunded and blocked. Now you're in this real tangle and I'm not sure how this will work out for you.

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I was very skeptical. The thing is, ebay themselves told to me to send the item to him the second time. They read our conversation messages.

[davewil1964]

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@azrinsani81 wrote:

Generally, natural cause of law/justice presides over T&C's. Above all, Ebay have indicated they favor my position and will be releasing the funds.

I'll just be going through a small claims court. An attorney is not allowed in these courts.

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If eBay will be releasing your funds, you won't need to go through any legal process.

It also might pay you to understand that ANYBODY you contact through eBay is a Call Centre operative in the Philippines, reading from a keyword cheat sheet. They have less idea of how eBay works than you, and definitely less idea than 90% of the people who post on these threads

[twyngwyn]

you are better off going to 'live chat'....then you get a transcript, which would be admissible in court

[gutterpunkz05]

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@azrinsani81 wrote:

Generally, natural cause of law/justice presides over T&C's. Above all, Ebay have indicated they favor my position and will be releasing the funds.

I'll just be going through a small claims court. An attorney is not allowed in these courts.

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Generally, natural cause of law/justice presides over T&C's.   Oh, I didn't realize that ebay is wasting all there time and money, with large scale teams of lawyers, drawing up user agreementsa etc, that they can not enforce, what rubbish.

Ebay have indicated they favor my position and will be releasing the funds.   Then why are you carrying on here and sending a letter of demand., which I can guarantee you, ebay will not look favorably on.

Anyway, best of luck with ebay, but if they don't  release the funds to you, your claim should really be against the buyer.

By the way, why did the buyer change their mind, essentially agreeing to pay full price for an item they have allready returned as defective,

[countessalmirena]

@azrinsani81,

When you click onto the "I agree" or "Yes" button or field in a digital/online T&C document such as the T&Cs/user agreement on eBay, you are effectively signing a contract in which the terms and conditions are specified in advance and will not be varied by eBay.

Contract law is clear.

Unless the terms and conditions abrogate your rights under Australian consumer legislation, or would be considered unfair contract terms as decided by a court, the contract can be enforced. If it is decided by a court that something under the T&Cs are unfair (under the specific meaning of "unfair" under contract law), then that term will be treated as if it had not been part of the contract. It doesn't nullify the entire contract unless the contract cannot operate without that term.

That's why it's much better for you as the party without negotiating power in any agreement with regard to eBay to be fully aware of eBay's user agreement, its T&Cs, and its processes. That will involve quite a bit of reading. You can also talk things through with fellow eBay users on these boards, to clarify any point before you go ahead with transactions on eBay. eBay can be tricky to navigate in respect of the correct process in the event of a dispute or request for refund, and you'll get lots of excellent advice here.

I agree that there were red flags here with the buyer's behaviour. Were I selling on eBay (disclaimer: I do not), hell would be festooned with tinsel and magic baubles before I would send back a laptop to a buyer who'd already sent it back for a refund.

I hope that the situation will be resolved in your favour, but if so, it will be in spite of your not following the right procedures. Fingers crossed (metaphorically speaking, because I can't type with crossed fingers, and I'm also not superstitious.)