eBay problems, resolutions, shenanigans, questions and info (not bike finds)

I'm going to see if they'll agree to pay postage first. They have kind of agreed they made a mistake in sending the offer before the question so I'll see what they say.

If anyone is interested, buyer got back to me. Apologised profusely for the unnecessary misunderstanding and their condescending attitude, thanked me for selling the jacket to them and said it's perfect for them.

Weird one.

Haha! Nice result.

Bought some.forks on eBay.
Username checks with a regular retrobike poster. May be on here?

After purchase I realised a-c was not right for me so I sent a polite message to seller asking if they were happy to go ahead with the sale as sale price was v cheap. They wanted to so I paid knowing I'd find a use for them somewhere.

Unwrappwd them today and the forks are out. Not sure if it's the legs, dropouts or both. See pics. Tried with 2 wheels.

Messaged the seller with the photos and they replied that 5mm out is nothing for steel forks. They suggested i bend them back or get LBS to do it.

I suspect they think I'm trying to pull a fast one. The forks are damaged.

But 5mm is not nothing; it’s 5mm. If the seller didn’t state that they’re out then they’re clearly not as described and you’re entitled to a full refund; once you’ve sent them back.
Weird attitude; I’d maybe accept ‘slightly less than completely true’ but 5mm is a lot in my book…

Are there pics of the forks?

Just open a claim and you will either return the fork for a refund, get a partial refund or a full refund. Sadly there is little resolution sending more than 2 messages to the other party

Whoops I thought I'd attached photos

4 Attachments

They were shipped.without a axle brace between the dropouts. I'd expect shipping damage to crush the fork ends. Something else has happened to these forks.

Looks on the ruler like 3mm out, even if it is 5mm, it’d probably have been considered ‘within tolerance’ at the factory.

I think you’ll be hard pushed to argue that they are damaged but with the way eBay tend to side with the buyer then anything’s possible.

eBay will accept a return / refund even if there is nothing wrong as this is the best way to please both sides, product back, money back

I double checked them today and both legs are out so would be fiddly to correct., I was tempted to try though. Seller accepted a return but messaged me basically accusing me fo pulling a fast one to get my money back.
Annoying as I had lined up a nice use for them but hey ho.

I've spoken to a seller about buying something as collection only and arranging my own courier to collect. They're keen for me to give them the 6 digit collection code to release the funds from ebay before it's collected. I'd prefer to give them the code once I've received it, but totally understand their POV. If I give the code before I receive it, do I have any come back if they send me an empty box?
I'd presume not?

You out yourself in hot water like that, give the code to the courier if possible, otherwise you have to wait to see the goods

Sold something on eBay and it's been bought by a German registered buyer with a Russian name and the shipping address is a freight forwarder down the road who specialise in shipping stuff to Russia.

I did free P&P so as it's literally 10 minutes away I'd normally deliver myself - buyer gets it faster, I save monies. But there seems to be quite a high chance of something going wrong here so I think I need the tracking.

That aside, are there issues more generally with freight forwarders?

That aside, are there issues more generally with freight forwarders?

Even if there is, if the buyers put that as the delivery address and you have proof of delivery, it doesn't really matter as it'll be the buyer to pickup with the freight forwarder.

I'd just make sure you've got pics pre packing incase any damage occurs so you can proof it was ok when sent.

Thanks, I would expect that but reading eBay seller threads where sellers are having to follow up with the forwarders...

It's a central heating pump so nothing exotic or expensive. Odds are Ruslan in Russia just needs a new central heating pump and is buying in good faith, but I will take your advice and take pics and make sure I generate paperwork, even if I could just run it round on my bike.

Much prefer dealing direct with sellers!

Not alfaparcel by any chance? Recently sent a frame to them after deliberating whether to send if they bought for someone else. I looked into the buyers name and it seemed it was bought by one of the directors of Alfaparcel so slightly different to your situation(?). I sent using parcelforce and insured to be on the safe side. Could be that the director wanted the frame but most likely forwarded to a buyer in Russia. I was thinking to email/message them. Maybe do that too?

More fucking ebay bullshit this week.
I sold a bag last Tuesday (30th August) Being that RM were striking on Wednesday and I tend to be fairly swift about shipping stuff I sent with Evri on Wednesday afternoon (still less than 24 hours after the sale)
Evri tried to deliver on the Saturday but apparently no one was home.
On Tuesday this week I get an 'item not received' request with the buyer stating 'hi, please advise where the bag is'.
Not a 'Hi, would you mind chasing this up?' or maybe checking the tracking number; no, straight in there with the request; funds on hold until resolved!
So I politely respond that the tracking indicates that redelivery may well be attempted the next day.
No response.
I message again the next day to confirm item is out for delivery. No response.
Item gets delivered.
I message again to say 'Hey, ebay are holding my funds, I've really done all I could do to get you this item as fast as possible, would you mind closing the request'?
NOTHING.
Ebay tell me I have to wait until September 14th for the case to close automatically in my favour.
So the money is basically held for two weeks from when I sent the item.
TL;DR what we all know already; ebay buyers suck, ebay sellers suck, ebay are cunts.

Ebay tell me I have to wait until September 14th

Have you called them up? Its sometimes worth speaking to someone so you can argue your case on the phone as they seem to understand situations better than the chat people.

I bought some wheels on ebay and the seller said it was a 100mm front (turned out to be 110), the freehub body (side not shown in pics) is cooked and will need replacing, the hubs looked to be slightly different colours and but he assured me they were the same (but they are clearly not).

So I initiated a return and haven't heard back ... (seller was pretty responsive to questions during the auction)

how long do I wait, before I escalate?

Sellers are given three business days to respond. This sounds very cut and dry so if the seller decides to bury their head in the sand, ebay will just close the case and refund you.
It could go several ways.
Seller could offer a partial refund.
Seller could say ok fine and issue you a returns label.
Worst case scenario is they accept the return but don't issue a returns label. Legally you're still required to return the item so you'd need to pay to return the item at your expense (if you do so, make sure it's trackable / insured etc.) but ebay will then reimburse you the return postage and the price of the item.

Phoned this morning. They said they can see no reason why the case should now stay open as I've done everything I could possibly do. Then the system wouldn't let them close the request!
It's still going to be a fortnight between the sale and me getting my grubby hands on the cash all because of an impatient and or stupid buyer....

after some weird back and forth, including the line "one of the hubs was left out in the sun so it faded" ... the return has been initiated. But no label ... it says they have till the 15th. Christ this is a slow process.

I closed a dispute or whatever, the item still hasnt arrived thinking the seller would claim they sent another and never would I closed it thinking I could go for a refund instead.
This was naive.
The item still hasnt arrived, but a "fee to pay" card did. Ive checked sellers feedback and this is extremely frequent practice.

Can I reopen a case?
Fuck this guy, Ive paid twice, received nowt and when I do (wednesday) theres an 80% chance its gonna be wrong, Ill have my tenner back thanks.