Ebay disbute. Seller did not send the item as auctioned. Pls help

[Daaviz]

Ebay disbute. Tricky issue. Pls help

What is the name of your state? Louisiana

I bought a computer on Ebay and got it cheap because the seller never put a reserve price. For a few times the seller refused to sell to me, try to change my mind and ask me to buy other computer on his website and even try to cheat me by telling me that the CD rom is not included even though it was listed on the auction.

When I got the computer, some of the items were not the same on the listing. I emailed to the seller and the seller told me that I should not complain. I replied by telling him that he broke the Ebay rules and regulation. He in return replied that he will not respond to my email and that he has forward the case to Ebay.

So I email to Ebay but Ebay told me to file a disbute to AMEX becasue I paid by AMEX. For 3-4 months, the seller never respond to AMEX inquiry, in the end AMEX refunded my money while the computer is still with me. The seller never contact me or AMEX at all. All I want is the seller to replaced the parts that was listed. And Ebay never contact me even though he said he forward the case to Ebay.

For more than a year, I never heard from the seller until recently I was contacted by the police . The police told me that I have violated the law.

Now here is my question, the seller did not send me the correct parts, he never informed me that other parts will be used before he shipped it out. I tried to resolve the issue with the seller refusing to act. The seller never contact AMEX to resolve the disbute. And now I have violated the law??

Does anyone knows anything about Auction law and how it affect the seller? Didn't the seller himself broke the law in the first place?

Thanks

 

[TazLady]

Hi,

I trade on ebay and don't really find what happened to you that unusal. But I can tell you that, at least in california, you cannot have both the money and the property. If AMEX refunded you the cost of the computer after what was an obviously bad deal, then you should have in turn, returned the computer to AMEX or the seller. It would be my guess that AMEX went after the seller for the money they refunded you and thats why you have supposidly "broke the law." You still have the merchandise.

Get in touch with AMEX and ask them if they want that computer or if they don't, ship it, issured and trackable back to the seller. That should release you from any further responcibilty. In your post you say that all you want is what the seller promised. The rest of the parts for the computer. But you were already paid back for the computer you bought and have pocession of AND you still have the property to boot. You can't have both.

Hope this helps.

 

[warlock]

I have traded often on Ebay and think that you should post your question on the site's message board. I have been given really good advice from the fellow Ebayers who are often sellers and can give you first-hand instructions on similar or even identical situations. In my own personal opinion, however, I believe that you should have a printed copy of the transaction. The listing, what the price was, the shipping you paid, to whom you paid and how. I would assume that the listing would contain the complete description of the product you purchased. It would also be a good idea to get together copies of the emails and complaints that you have made in this matter thus far. I agree that you need to return the merchandise since you have no longer paid for it because of the reimbursement from Amex, BUT, considering that the seller did not provide the product as listed, you should not have to pay to return it to him. The tracking of the item is important, but what I am afraid will happen is that the seller will claim that the missing parts were omitted by you in the return of the item. That is, unless you have any correspondence that shows the seller acknowledges the missing items were not sent to you in the first place. I would in the meantime, fax all of your "evidence" to the police officer that has contacted you along with your statement of events. You do, indeed, need to return the merchandice, but you need to make sure that it is done in a way that will not allow you to be held liable for missing parts or the shipping charges. This can be worked out either with the seller or the police officer investigating the supposed "violation" in the event that the seller continues to act childishly and not respond to your attempts to contact him. Good luck!

 

[Daaviz]

Thanks for the information and help. I appreciate them.

I know that there is no such thing as a free computer but taken the fact that the seller never bother to resolve the issue the moment the problem was discovered and only after more 1 yr than did he try to solve it. He did not even try to contact me to resolve but rather call the police instead. ANd given the fact that he told me that he will not respond to my email anymore.

Warlock- I did talk to some members on Ebay but was given mixed signals. I contacted BBB, BBB refer me to FTC. FTC said that it is a small company so they don't take on. And Ebay told me to contact AMEX.

I have a question about auction. Say I sell something, and someone bought it at a price that I am not happy about. So I decided to send the winner something that is sligthly different from the one that he who so that the buyer will complaint and ask for a refund and a return. Isn't that wrong.

I once hear about seller telling the buyer that he broke the vase that the buyer won so he just refund the money. What I am trying to derive is that seller can just null their responsibility by telling the buyer that the item is broken when they are not happy at the price the buyer won.

 

[warlock]

"I have a question about auction. Say I sell something, and someone bought it at a price that I am not happy about. So I decided to send the winner something that is sligthly different from the one that he who so that the buyer will complaint and ask for a refund and a return. Isn't that wrong.

I once hear about seller telling the buyer that he broke the vase that the buyer won so he just refund the money. What I am trying to derive is that seller can just null their responsibility by telling the buyer that the item is broken when they are not happy at the price the buyer won."

I understand that you are disappointed about the transaction, but the seller does not have any responsibility to sell you anything unless he takes your money and keeps it, which in this case, he did not, although he apparently would have if Amex had not intervened. Is this ethical? No, of course not. But it is not illegal anymore now that you have had your money refunded. Ebay, while obviously not perfect, does make attempts to protect potential buyers from less-than-ethical sellers. Once this transaction is over with and the incomplete computer is back in the hands of its rightful owner, leave him a scathingly negative feedback. If this is his normal business conduct, yours will probably be one of many. If he did it just this once and is otherwise a decent seller, your feedback may help the next buyer to make an informed decision when deciding whether or not to bid on his items. Good luck! Remember that on Ebay and any other "amazing deal" you believe you are getting, sometimes if it looks too good to be true, it is. Buyer beware - no matter what!