buyer failed to return item in 5 business days plus returned a damaged item

[eeeshop]

I sold an item to a buyer in Australia; the item was a brand new sealed Gigabyte motherboard, very expensive, around AU$ 1960.

Buyer received that on 1st of April.

On 21 of May he opened a return request dor item does not working (short circuit which made not to work properly some LEDs on the motherboard).

I approved the return request and provided the buyer details on how to return the item and get refunded.

According to the ebay money back guarantee policy:

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-pol...

Item significantly not as described

• A buyer must request a return no later than 30 days after the actual (or latest estimated) delivery date, or, if the seller's return window is longer, within the return window.
• The seller has 3 full business days from the request date to respond to the buyer or offer a solution. If the seller does not respond or offer a solution, the buyer can ask us to step in and help. Note that in some circumstances, eBay may accept the return automatically on the seller's behalf.
• The buyer must send the item back to the seller no longer than 5 business days after starting the return. If the seller offers a replacement and the buyer doesn't post the original item back within 30 days of the buyer starting the return, we charge the buyer for the replacement.

This clearly says that the buyer is required to ship the item back by 5 business days after the case approval.

The case was accepted by me on 23th of May and on the same day I provided the buyer details on how to return the item and get reimbursed.

On June 2nd I asked ebay to step in and close the case in my favour because the buyer failed to return the item in the 5 business days timeframe.

I received an answer from ebay AU customerhelp saying that they couldn't close the case.

The buyer shipped the item back and provided a tracking number only on 4th of June. The tracking number clearly shows that the item was shipped on 4th of June.

After 2 weeks I received the item back.

It is seriously damaged: the motherboard has thermal glue in one of the RAM slots, the warranty is definitely invalid now, and this is the reason why the motherboard gets short circuit.

I contacted the buyer to get explanation, he did not respond.

I contacted the ebay customer help by chat today.

First I asked why they allowed the buyer to return the item after more than 5 business days.

I've got no answer. This is definitely a breach of contract.

About the fact that the item is damaged they simply suggested me to contact the buyer, which is what I did on 18th of June without any answer from the buyer.

They also said that since I received the item the buyer will be reimbursed and I have no chance to get the case closed in my favour.

So now I will have a motherboard of original value of AU$1960 which will have a value of ZERO because damaged and with invalidated warranty, all this because of the negligence and dishonesty of the buyer.

This is a clear breach of contract, because eBay allowrd the buyer to return the item after the timeframe of 5 business days as it is mentioned in the ebay policy, and because allowed the buyer to get reimbursed for an item that he damaged.

[kopenhagen5]

At times I feel compelled to take my hat off to you Countess...............

[padi*0409]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

At times I feel compelled to take my hat off to you Countess...............

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As do I Kopes, but then Stawks reminds us that I fall over whilst doing that....................

"All for One"

[eeeshop]

Dear Countees,

your help and advices are fantastic!

I really appreciated.

I've spoken to an assistant this morning (midnight in Italy), she put the case on hold and gave me 72 hours to upload photos to show the condition of the item now.

20 minutes after our phone call, she sent me the link to upload the photos, and I did that.

Do you think that I'm done now and just need to wait for a further update on the case or do I'd better call them again?

Thanks so much!

[countessalmirena]

@*eeeshop*,

If you haven't already had a positive resolution, it would be a good idea to phone again.

With any call to eBay (making sure you are using the Have us call you option), remember that you need a strategic outline for the conversation, and the outline must have bullet-point objectives for everything that you want resolved in that call.

The reason why I say this is because eBay CS reps would much rather get the customer off the phone with a placebo response than properly sort out the issue to the customer's satisfaction. Fobbing off the complainant/enquirer/customer means more time will go by, and the more time that goes by, the more likely it is that when the customer follows up, it will be to a "It's too late now to do anything/change anything... The timeframe has passed...", etc.

CS reps have their own call objectives and scripts - even the reps who are a higher level. If you are well organised, and logical, and have evidence, you are more likely to engage the CS rep in a real problem-solving discussion, as opposed to being told something generic and soothing so that you abandon the process.

So... once again... be extremely polite, use a warm tone, stick to the conversation points, get agreement, move to the next point, get agreement, repeat information as needed, quote readily from eBay policies, never show impatience, and work towards your final goal.

(Stay strong!)

[countessalmirena]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

At times I feel compelled to take my hat off to you Countess...............

---

As do I Kopes, but then Stawks reminds us that I fall over whilst doing that....................

"All for One"

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(If you glue your lower half to a heavy chair, you won't fall over. However, people may ask why you're stuck to a chair afterwards... Kopenhagen, here's a surprising hat for you...)