Ebay sellers hiding behind paypal

hoppo1963
Contributor
Contributor

I recently purchased a $500 surveillance system from an AUSTRALIAN seller. It stated in the ad it was and AUSTRALIAN seller the ad even went so far as to state it was all local australian warranty as well. , the item was posted from Regents park in sydney and arrived 3 days later. I installed this surveillance system in a customers premises (4 days work cabling all the cameras) after 1 week one of the cameras failed. I went to the premises ( a 5 hour drive from my home) and checked out the camera, found it to be faulty and removed it and took it home. I contacted the seller and explained the camera was faulty. the first email back from the seller asked for the serial number of the DVR (not the camera, the DVR unit) I explained it was the camera that was faulty not the DVR and gave them the serial number of the camera. second email says I have to get the DVR serial number. I explain its a 5 hour drive and the 3rd email says I have to get the dvr serial, I explain that they know which dvr it is as they sold it to me. the 4th email says they know that but they have sold me numerous dvrs and need to check its the right one. Im getting very frustrated by now as they only send 1 email per day. I leave negative feedback and almost instantly a get an email saying they will send me a replacement camera ONLY if I revise my feedback, I say I will after they send the camera and they insist I do it before they send the camera. (we are at about 15 emails now ie 15 days) They also say I can open a paypal case if that would suit me better. SO I open a paypal case asking for half of the original amount (I know its only one camera but there is also labour involved in installing and removing)  1 day later i get an email from paypal stating they have found in my favour and I will get a full refund IF I SEND THE WHOLE SYSTEM BACK TO CHINA. CHINA? not Sydney. also its only 1 camera thats a dud. this seller refuses to send me a new camera unless i revise the feedback (extortion?) I cannot go back to my customer and say I have to remove the whole system to get a refund then purchase another system and reinstall another system. They would laugh at me. Paypal thinks its perfectly ok to do this. SO  My legal rights to warranty are being denied by ebay, paypal and the seller. my only option is to look like an idiot and ask my customer if I can remove the whole system to send it to china for a refund.

I know I can simply buy another camera and be done with it. Its only $50 or so. but the principle of this is that a seller can just make it impossible to get warranty whilst sprouting how good their warranty is. Its illegal whats being done to me but what can I do. Im actually over Ebay now. Its nice and shiny on the outside but as soon as there is a problem you discover that there is actually no help at all for buyers.

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2 REPLIES 2

nevadasmith
Advisor
Advisor

well,you can file dispute with Ebay if it is not past 30 days.

Ebay may make the seller pick up shipping,not sure,go read its policy.

when y ou buy online,you know there is always the possibility you have to return the item.

as for warranty,is he a licensed dealer?

  

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hoppo1963
Contributor
Contributor

Yes he is a licensed seller, and no, thanks to the more than 20 emails once a day, im over the 30 days now. My only option now is through Fair Trading. hopefully they can enforce the warranty.

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