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Ebay Buyer Protection Advertised but Not Applicable
Hello,
I ran into something new after 20+ years on eBay.
I checked out for a repair service on a BOSE wave radio from a seller named SpeakerHouse in early December. There is a reference on the listing (inserted by eBay) about the Buyer Protection Guarantee.
The seller reported that the item arrived damaged. In order to know whether to file a USPS insurance claim and to determine if I should go through with repair of the circuit board, I needed a photo. The seller never provided one or explained why a photo was not sent.
After nearly three weeks, I informed the seller that I wanted a photo and again without explanation the reply was simply that my unit was "in the cue" (not yet repaired) and would be sent back after repair.
I indicated that if I do not get a photo, I have to assume the damage must be quite severe otherwise I would have expected to have had my photo request acknowledged in some way.
I thanked the seller for letting me know they received it with ship damage, but informed them that if they performed the board repair, it might take a USPS claim off the table (unit was fully insured) . I indicated that if I did not receive a photo, I would contact eBay for help. After that the only response I got was the notice that the seller had obtained an electronic ship label — but nothing has been given to the carrier. (By doing this, however, it took away the option to cancel the order.)
I just got off the phone where I learned eBay does not apply their Buyer Protection to services. I suggested that eBay should add a listing disclaimer or flag in checkout that Buyer Protection does not apply to services but whether that feedback will be implemented, I don't know.
I revisited the listing and sure enough, the statement about the Buyer Protection Guarantee is present. Nothing about the seller's communication or listing prepared me to understand that I may not get my money back on the repair and that I may not even get my unit back at all.
I could see this kind of oversight if eBay was a new platform but they have been around long enough to create "service" as a category and to create a disclaimer at checkout: "Buyer acknowledges that payments completed for services are not covered by eBay Buyer Protection Guarantee".
Has anybody else run into this and what is the solution if the seller should ship back a severely damaged item that may or may not be fully insured but for which the damaged apparently occurred on the way to him vs. on the way back? Am I out of options for USPS claim of damage if the seller refused to provide a photo for that purpose?
These radios aren't cheap, even used. I'm going to be out $200+ on a refurbished replacement if the seller returns something he didn't work on or did work on in a severely damaged unit that realistically I can't continue to use.
My contention is that eBay allows services, therefore eBay should have the proper product category tags and if they have the tags, then the eBay Buyer Protection tagging should not have been on the listing. (If anything, a listing that advertised a service should trigger a change of tags to "Buyer Protection does not apply to services").
It seems that sellers of services can easily exploit eBay's system, in part because eBay's system slaps that Buyer Protection Guarantee statement even on listings to which it does not apply.
