buyer to pay postage for returning faulty goods

colcarry
New Community Member

Why should I have to pay return postage[must have tracking number] for item which I received faulty and unusable?  Already paid postage to have the b/ thing delivered,

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27 REPLIES 27

Pat8485
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

You should not have to pay postage costs for the return of a faulty item. Sellers are not perfect and will sometimes make a mistake , but reputable sellers will always refund the cost of a return if the item is not as described or faulty.

Complain to ebay if you have not had your postage refunded, or if you haven't yet posted it ,refuse to do so unless the seller is willing to credit your paypal account with the amount needed to return the item.

As a last resort you can leave whatever feedback you think is appropiate to warn other buyers.

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PayPal_lucy
Moderator
Moderator

Hey there,

 

If the case has been opened on PayPal and you have been requested to return the item, the return postage is something that you do have to pay for. The full amount that you sent the seller will be refunded but we are unable to take more out of the sellers account than you actually sent him.

 

If he item is not returned, as Pat8485 suggests doing, the case will be found in the sellers favour and no refund will be issued.

 

I do understand that it may not be cost effective to pay for return postage so do request this from the seller. If the seller does not provide this however, I regret that it cannot be covered by PayPal. 

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angel270982
New Community Member

Any policy given or implied by any company (including paypal) in this country must not affect our statutory rights.

 

That is the LAW!!!

 

 

I wish to draw your attention to r.14(6) of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (SI 2334) Which specifically states that, 
where goods are returned as a right due to a breach of a term implied by statute (specifically s. 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979), 
the rights, given by r. 14(5), of a seller (yourselves) to require the buyer (myself) to bear the cost of a return is dis-applied.

As such, the cost of bearing the return cost lies with yourselves. 
I therefore expect that you will fulfil your contractual and statutory obligation to refund my full costs including postage.

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angel270982
New Community Member
Default Re: Who Pays for Return Postage on Faulty Goods?

If they are faulty
Where the goods are returned due to being faulty the consumer is entitled, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended), to return the goods within a reasonable time after purchase and claim a full refund plus any other losses that have been incurred as a direct result of faulty goods being supplied, such as the costs of postage. Where faulty goods are returned the refurbishment charge, and/or delivery charges cannot be deducted from the consumers' refund.

If you change your mind
Additionally under the new Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations October 2000 you have the unconditional right to cancel an order. The law says that:
* You must inform them within seven working days starting with the day on which they are delivered
* You must ensure that you take reasonable care of goods and return them.
* They must refund the money as soon as possible and at the latest within 30 days of receiving written notice of your decision to cancel.
* You may only be charged at most for the cost of returning goods.

So in summary if the goods are faulty they pay the postage, if they are not then you pay the postage.
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PayPal_lucy
Moderator
Moderator

Hey there angel270982,

 

Welcome to the community.

 

I have read your posts there and I can understand your frustration in relation to buyers having to pay for the return postage.

 

You mentioned in your first post “seller (yourselves)”. However, PayPal isn’t a seller. PayPal is a payment processor and does not sell anything, we simply move the funds at the buyers request.

 

We can only return the amount of the original transaction sent to the seller. We can’t take more funds from the sellers account without the seller permission. 

 

Lucy

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ICarr
Contributor
Contributor

This is a very poor PayPal policy, and it should be changed, NOWYou make a big deal out of protecting purchasers properly, but this policy just encourages sellers to treat purchasers badly.

 

In my case, I bought an electrical item for $90 and it did not work on arrival. The seller asked me for photos to prove it was not working (OK ...), but despite that the retailer wanted me to return it at my cost ($26 cheapest method) before they would issue a refund. This is clearly uneconomic. After much discussion I made a PayPal claim. PaypPal's 'resolution' was to ask me send it back by a tracked system (cost $80) before they would make a $90 refund. That is worse than useless and gives no protection whatsoever against the retailer

 

By not insisting that retailers pay for return postage costs when goods are delivered faulty (or become faulty in a short time), PayPal are encouraging them to avoid their responsibilities. Consumers do accept that faults happen, but retailers should be taking on that risk and sorting it out. PayPal's system does not give retailers any incentive to offer good service - they could deliberately  send out shoddy goods with all resultant costs being met by the innocent consumer.

 

Please change your policy so that it actually protects consumers

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vonoise
New Community Member

Hi Icarr, i am exactly in your same position. have you had this matter resolved?

 

I agree with you that paypal are completely out of line on this and will not be using them any longer as there is no protection in these cases.

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

As has already been said paypal are not allowed by law to dip into another persons account and force them to pay more money back to the buyer for return postage costs...............they can only force a seller to refund "money that was processed by paypal to the seller" and that is the original payment and not return postage costs.

 

As a buyer i rarely buy expensive items internationally for that very reason, but i know that if i buy from a "business seller" in the UK that they have to refund return costs if the item was faulty and if not then i have the small claims court option.

 

But if its a private seller you don't have that option..........you need to be aware of this before you start buying.

 

Paypal gives you "some" buyer and "some" seller protection but it cant' do everything for you.


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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cugsy
Contributor
Contributor

I recently had a similar experience where a US seller sent me some rubbish goods. I complained and they offered an exchange. I insisted on a refund but they wouldn't refund the postage (both original and return postage). I tried a dispute resolution paypal farce and got a partial refund after some bullying from paypal.  Nice to know tht paypal has an army of arse kissers on this forum to police it for them.  The resolution system is not in the buyer favour in my opinion unless you're USA based.  Trading standards need to check these people

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