Reply With QuoteWhen did he get the watch and what does he say is wrong with it?
There’s not much you can do, so part refund or get them to return it and then take it from there.
I buy and sell bits and bobs on eBay and come across the odd goon, but, it’s mainly good
I sold a £180 watch May 2nd - sent to USA and all was good. I had an email today saying it wasn’t working - he’s had nigh on 25 days to work that out?
It was fully revised by Steve Burrage less than 12 months and was working perfectly when I sent it, so, frankly I don’t believe him
2 questions?
What chance of PayPal upholding this?
I I have it returnEd - what if he’s knackered it. What recourse do I have?
I don’t mind the odd bumpy deal on eBay and remain phlegmatic…. It’s 97% good on there with a fine dusting of muppets to keep it interesting!
Ta
Ben
When did he get the watch and what does he say is wrong with it?
There’s not much you can do, so part refund or get them to return it and then take it from there.
1. PayPal will side with the buyer 99% of the time. It will be nigh on impossible to prove it was working when you posted. Other than your exemplary eBay record, there may be no evidence to suggest the buyer is lying.
2. Continue dialogue with the buyer to find out what's wrong. Be polite but firm and keep all corresponding messages to show you tried to help. Ask him to send current photos of the watch from all angles so you can assess the condition. Does the buyer have good feedback? He might be genuine and these things happen? He could, of course, be trying to claim money back for repair or whatever.
3. If he really won't let it go after you've tried to help I would ask him to send the watch back, but only after you've received photos, and it must be posted by a tracked, insured and signed-for service. If he doesn't do this then I think PayPal/Ebay may dismiss his claim if it goes missing. And make sure you initiate the returns process through eBay.
I'd rather receive the watch back than allow him to hold me to ransom. You at least then have some physical evidence if you need to counter claim/defend against him.
Thankfully, I've not had a muppet for a long time but I'm always expecting it. Good luck!
Watches can arrive not working very occasionally (the shocks of transit). If you are unable to reach some kind of compromise with the buyer then, assuming it was sold as fully working, he'll raise a 'not as described' case with ebay and you'll have to accept the return. Once you get it back then you can check the watch over and if it's been tampered with you'll have to argue it out with ebay. An outcome could go either way tbh......depends on what he says and what you say! Watches are a tricky one if things go wrong tbh.
If he paid by PayPal, then he has up to 180 to raise a SNAD claim.Originally Posted by Wolfie
While the Seller can certainly ask the Buyer to provide photos, etc, there is no requirement for them to do so. And the return postage will be paid by the Seller, not the Buyer, so they are the one who needs to choose an appropriate service.
It’s stopped apparently…. But taken 25 for it to stop?
I have an immaculate eBay record…. Maybe just accept the return…. Means I’m out of pocket for postage…. If it’s wrong when I get it back then maybe I will have something to say about it…
I guess i’ll cross that bridge when I see the state of it…. I suspect it will be absolutely fine…. But, we’ll see!
Ok…. In summary I will take it back and assess…. It’s the 25 days elapsed that I find befuddling
Another question…. How do I avoid import duty? Coming from the states?
I think the buyer can fill in a customs form to declare it is a purchase return so no import duty to pay. Whether he's willing to do this or not is another matter
Are you on eBay Concierge?
If you are you can contact them, or request them to call you, to discuss issues like UK customs issues and the problems you're having.
Was the watch a vintage piece ? If so he may have robbed parts from it to get his watch working ! 25 days for a watchmaker to harvest parts, sounds about right
I remember some listings in spares or repairs mobiles that I used to buy and fix, some sellers had problems with people buying there working, cracked screen phones to take broken, I cloud locked motherboards , then send them back the phone with there broken motherboard.Paypal side with buyer and they get a working phone for nothing, priceless !!
Sadly not!
It is and he says it’s gone to hi watchmaker and needs parts
Ask him what parts and make sure you keep all this correspondence to eBay messaging in case you need to use it to help your case.
Ok
I wouldn't be happy since its now been opened up by someone , they should have contacted you first before doing that , and whilst you may be out postage so are they
If he's taken it to a watchmaker without discussing that avenue with you or before making you aware that there was a problem, then he's 'bought the farm' imo. As mentioned above keep all of your messaging within the ebay system. I think that the situation is now firmly in your favour.
I just sold some expensive printer cartridges on eBay the clown that bought them claimed they were out of date raised a complaint with eBay didn't even bother to contact me first, then wouldn't respond to my messages, just kept getting snotty messages off eBay asking weather I was sorting it out.
In the end I just refunded them I was out of pocket by about £10 but knowing how eBay treat private sellers and the buyer was twat it wasn't worth the hassle it's why I sell hardly anything through eBay now.
It is and he says it’s gone to hi watchmaker and needs parts
Agree that if he has tampered with it, that ought to mean he can't return it. Hope it goes your way. Really annoyed at the shysters you get on eBay who will do anything to con a few £.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/m...policy?id=4763
"If a buyer needs to return an item, it must be returned in the same condition in which it was received ..."
If he has put in writing that it's had the back off, I hope eBay tell him he's forfeited his rights.
Last edited by David_D; 1st June 2019 at 11:05. Reason: Added
PayPal will always side with the buyer so if he says he wants to return it because it's not working etc then you are stuck with it. It's up to him to pay for shipping and he must use a tracked method.
However! As mentioned though,he has told you that he has sent it to his watchmaker. This means that the watch has now been 'tampered' with by a third party and is no longer in the same condition as it was sent.
This means he is stuffed and shouldn't be able to return it.
Phone EBay customer services up and discuss it with them if required.
(And having typed that I've just seen the post above which basically says the same thing)
Sorry, no. For an SNAD dispute, it's the Seller who has to pay for the return postage, not the Buyer
If it was a change-of-mind return (which a Business Seller has to accept, and a Private Seller can choose to accept), then it's normally the Buyer who pays the return postage.
Yes - that's the basis that the Seller should use to dispute the claim. It's still not guaranteed that the Seller will win (the Buyer could claim that they had brought it to the watchmaker to obtain independent evidence that the watch was not working), but it's the best defence available.
I feel for you OP on this one , I recently purchased a Longines Ultra chron late 60s ,on Ebay, seller was based in Italy. The watch arrived and it was not working correctly winding wrong ( crown problem ) , date not working. It never mentioned this in the listing! I contacted the seller who was surprised as all working when it left him.
I informed him that I was going to send it to a watch maker , he said that i could return it to him as he wanted his watchmaker to look at it. I really liked the watch and was disappointed ,as it wasnt what was described.He had recently regulated the watch only ,no service was completed .
So this looked genuine to me , I told him to change his watchmaker as he would have definitely known about these problems !
I have kept the watch as I got it for a good price keeps excellent time and its currently in for service with Simon Freese, looks to be a fairly simple job from what he said.
You always roll the dice with buying vintage from ebay/gumtree , I always buy them knowing they are going to need work unless otherwise stated, seems that some people buy vintage for cheap prices expecting a fully serviced new watch!
Good luck with this and I really hope that you dont end up out of pocket .
Bye the way I gave the seller good feedback, as overall I was happy despite the issues.
I pay return postage…. He’s paying to send it back and I have to refund it
Never mentioned a thing (see his not below)
Will await its return and see how to proceed with eBay as I’m not happy that it’s been fiddled with as it was working immaculately
It’s one of those 50/50 ones…. I have to bare in mind that he could be telling the truth!PayPal will always side with the buyer so if he says he wants to return it because it's not working etc then you are stuck with it. It's up to him to pay for shipping and he must use a tracked method.
However! As mentioned though,he has told you that he has sent it to his watchmaker. This means that the watch has now been 'tampered' with by a third party and is no longer in the same condition as it was sent.
This means he is stuffed and shouldn't be able to return it.
Phone EBay customer services up and discuss it with them if required.
(And having typed that I've just seen the post above which basically says the same thing
You were very patient! I just got a Longines ultra chron diver from Italy - it was perfect in every way!
Here is the note from the seller…
“Hey there man...sry to bother you...just to let you know the watch hasn't kept time much since I had it then finally it just stopped working completely....I brought it to a watchmaker to see if I could fix it but he told me it needs parts that he cant find and it's not worth keeping it....any thoughts? Or anyway I can send this back? Thanks bud....no hard feeling gs at all....just for the price I paid I was disappointed....I thought it was ok here and there so I didnt say anything, but its def not lol”
Reading that message from him, it's clear he's a jack ass.
I would refuse the return because he's admittted someone opened the back. Who knows who the 'watchmaker' is?
Probably too late now, but his messages change everything for me.
I would contact Ebay as if it has been interfered with them hopefully as others above have pointed out that may work in your favour.
Its going to be really hard to prove that its been tampered with unless it comes back in bits! I would video yourself opening the returned package /condition ect
Its a arse covering exercise from now on for you, im afraid !
You will probably need before and after photos to provide ebay/ Paypal with to prove the point that there was nothing wrong before you dispatched . Its a sad state of affairs when its obvious from the message that there is some buyers regret.
I bet he bought it because his mates have vintage watches and its the thing to have , once he got it hes found it a bit small and wants out or needed some parts for his own watch!
On another note would love to see some pics of your Ultra chron diver , they are on my radar at the moment as I think they are great value divers watch, with a fantastic movement .
I have accepted it now so probably too late…
Yep…. Will call them Monday….
As bad as it sounds I got the wrong impression from him from the beginning. My radar buzzed at my first interactions with him, but, I gave him the benefit of the doubt…. More fool me
The worst outcome for me is that he’s genuine…. Simply because his written English is a little ‘interesting’ doesn’t mean he’s a scoundrel…. I’ll check the watch out in return and I suspect it’ll be fine…. I’ll write it off to experience…. I’ll talk to eBay get their view but suspect I will take it on the chin
The Ultra Chron diver
An update
“Hey man...I brought the watch to one more watchmaker to see what he thinks...if he can fix it for a reasonable price do you want to do a partial refund? I can tell u what it would cost monday then show u a receipt if it's not too much..let me see what he says first anyway...or if u just want the watch back that's cool too”
He’s clearly a player…. Bugger!
What do I I do lob him $50 and hope he goes away?
Maybe the best option, cost of relisting it, return postage and also taking the chance you don’t get an empty box returned, maybe the $50 is worth it.
Real predicament here. Might be worth seeing what his watch repairer reports, could save you the hassle of waiting for a return but then he has evidence that you authorised somebody to have a look at it.
If you do decide to maybe explore the repair option, once you know the costs offer to pay half on the basis that as far as you are concerned the watch was working with no issues before it was posted. Don’t make the offer of half before you know the costs as he may well get the costs inflated if he is trying it on.
I have only sold a few things on ebay and there is no way on earth that I would post something to a total stranger who will almost certainly receive strong back up from ebay in the event of a dispute.
I always insist on collection and it's either cash or BP.
Basically ebay prefer commercial customers selling new products in volume that are professionally packed and sold with a warranty.
A private seller putting a parcel into the post to an unknown buyer is just not worth the hassle.
I am just surprised that this is not sinking into the heads of private sellers.
pretty much why ive not bothered with ebay for a few years as its now ridiculous as a private seller , forced warrantees on used items and the only time ebay wont side with the buyer is if they hold a photo up saying 'i stole this item' - and even then theres a chance they will still side with them , the place is just heaven for people looking to rip others off.
Personally I think it boils down to what you think . If you think he is trying it on I would ask him to post the watch back, if you think the watch could be damaged I would consider a partial refund (Who wants a broken watch returned).
As a buyer if I bought a faulty watch on ebay it would be sent straight back i wouldn't be running it around to various repairers would you ?
@ Mick P and Pugster
I agree with your points , BUT there are still alot of genuine people buying on Ebay ( including myself ) ,who will stand by and understand what they are purchasing . Unless its a complete ripoff or stolen goods !
I’ve told him to find out…. Will offer half but will payout the lot if needs be…. Just to avoid hassle
I don’t doubt he’s trying it on…. What can you do?!
I’ve had many great experiences on eBay…. So, one duff one won’t put me off
Now he's on record as given the watch to at least two people who are outside of the EBay transaction I would choose to ignore him. If he chooses to push for a refund then I would just point out that the watch cannot be in the same condition as it was received as two different people (at least) have had access to it.
I have sold a fair bit on EBay and rarely come across chancers but I am of the firm belief that when you do come across them you should at least make life as awkward as possible for them.
I take your point…. Let’s see what he comes up with…. I will have a chat with eBay maybe…. Or if he comes back with something not too outlandish i’ll Simply do a partial refund…
Total chancer trying to scam you into a partial refund imho. Doubt it's been near a watch repairer. Will be give you some contact details for the people?
Nonetheless it may not change the calculation in that you've got to weigh up the cost of return postage against offering him a few dollars.
Indeed
Gave him €100 this morning and it’s all gone away! The repair was going to cost $300 apparently b@llsh@t!!!
All closed on eBay and I’m now free of it as I just don’t have the time or patience to try and fight the good fight!
Ho Hum!
You live and learn ,glad it's all good .
Bye the way ,loving your ultra chron diver.😎😎
You do indeed…. It won’t put me off eBay…. It’s just a shame you have to deal with doughnuts every now and then…. Unavoidable hazard
Pretty cool isn’t it?!!! I love it!
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