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Unsure if this is a whinge but it appears more and more I only hear about bad eBay stories and recently 3 awful transactions out of my last 4.
TLDR: I am an idiot who didn't open an intended Christmas gift (office chair), check each part, test assemble, find out it was an incorrect part, lodge an "Official eBay Refund Request" within 30 days. Anyone else have regrets with online purchases over the Christmas period?
Most recent and stinging purchase was a computer chair, purchased from an "Australian seller, stock in Australia". Arrived 1 day later than latest estimated delivery date (I was happy it arrived before Christmas at all, so not bad). as this was bought for a Christmas present, it arrived early December and put away until Christmas. Trying to assemble it Christmas eve, one of the parts doesn't fit. Tied multiple times, realised the part in question is from a different model chair. The part is pretty much the 90deg support that attaches the back of the chair to the seat, so it is integral to having a chair be a chair in this case.
Contacted the seller, slow to respond, asks me to redrill holes to fit. I said no thank you, please supply the correct part, replacement chair, refund/return. Next reply was asking if I would take $20 refund. I said no again, asking for the same as before. $40 refund? No, thanks, same requests as before. At this point I received a long winded story about the stock not being resalable by them as opened, the factory wouldn't accept it back, they had already paid eBay fees, stock, delivery etc and they can not afford to… you get the idea.
At this point, I raise the request for assistance directly with eBay. They don't respond as the seller and I are discussing back and forth. I ask them and they said they can't help. As I raised the request 2 days after the 30 day eBay money back guarantee period expires, therefore my only recourse is to discuss with seller and hope the get a resolution.
I read up on some other forums that this is not uncommon and the tactic of trying to placate a buyer until the end of the 30 days is more common around Christmas where people buy items earlier to get stock in time but then lose out on any eBay assistance with a faulty/misleading/damaged item. Is this as common as it seems? I know people don't join and post rave reviews about eBay and negative opinions on most things are louder.
Anyone else have a similar experience and get a decent resolution? It's not so much the $120 chair that can't be used but the feeling of being ripped off, even though I am the idiot who didn't check in within 30 days to start a refund request on the eBay site. I have discussed this with eBay support, explained in detail, checked dates, corrected times with them, still 2 days short and they won't do anything.
TLDR: I am an idiot who didn't open an intended Christmas gift (office chair), check each part, test assemble, find out it was an incorrect part, lodge an "official eBay refund request" within 30 days. Anyone else have regrets with online purchases over the Christmas period?
I bought from some furniture place and it was missing the screw holes or something, the thing wasn't welded on when it should have been. I wish I just bought from eBay so I could PayPal refund it. The furniture store wanted me to send the thing back and it was heavy and I couldn't be bothered.