Bad product/past return period/contacted seller twice-no response
Summary: charlottpric-9 shared their frustration over purchasing a tanning product labeled as 'brand new' which turned out to be dried up and unusable, with the seller not responding to their complaints. Although beyond the return period due to late use, they sought an apology and a cautionary action against the seller. kathiec and others explained the limits of eBay's Money Back Guarantee and suggested trying to contact the payment provider for a chargeback. gurlcat argued that the seller might not have been aware of the product's condition, suggesting it's the buyer's responsibility to check items upon receipt. mudshark61369 emphasized the importance of inspecting purchases immediately upon delivery to ensure they match descriptions.
I purchased 4 boxes of a tanning product that was quoted as “brand new”-it was not-at all. Product was dried up & unusable. Contacted seller twice-no response. Am past return period as purchased to take on beach holiday, but this is a totally unacceptable purchase and think seller should be responsible for selling old, unusable product with false claim of new. It wouldn’t have mattered when I opened it-it was too old at receipt. Should mention that I have purchased product before and know what the condition should be upon opening sealed packet. At the very least,I would like to report seller as unreputable but can’t find out where to do that on the site and the ‘customer service bot’ is of no help. Thx
mudshark61369
·1 month ago@charlottpric-9 ,
While the last reply may seem a bit harsh, it is essentially correct. When you purchase an item on ebay for future use, you should check it out on receipt of it to make sure it is as described, working, undamaged... etc. The Money Back Guarantee (MBG) time frame for filing a not as described dispute is only 30 days from the date of delivery.
If you paid for the item with a credit card you can try contacting your card provider to see if you can file a charge back for the purchase.
gurlcat
·1 month agoI think it would be pretty cruddy of you to report the seller or even give them negative feedback, when they probably didn't know the product was dried out either, or they wouldn't have sent it to you. You said yourself it was in a sealed container, so it's not like they could have checked it before shipping. Whereas you could have checked it before your MBG window expired.
This is entirely your own mistake.
charlottpric-9
OPJul 17, 2026 at 5:23 PMThe product is in a cardboard box and packets are sealed.when touched it feels v dry-meaning not useable so it would have been easy for a check. Product listed as ‘brand new’ but no dates on product (they have been on other packets purchased in past)
I requested an exchange or credit but heard nothing. Understand on 30 days & said so but thought I should at least get a reply after 2 notes to seller. Didn’t ck as have never had an issue w/product in last 4 yrs. My fault and have lost faith in eBay going forward.
gurlcat
·Jul 17, 2026 at 8:17 PMWell if you can find anywhere that has a longer return window than 30 days, it sounds like that's what you need. Good luck!
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 month agoYou had 30 days after it was delivered to open a case, if you missed that deadline eBay isn't going to do anything.
kathiec
·1 month ago@charlottpric-9
You have 30 days from the date you received the package to open an item not as described return under eBay's Money Back Guarantee. If you're beyond that deadline there's nothing eBay can do for you. You may still be able to dispute the charge with your payment source.
You can report the seller here but it's doubtful eBay will take any action. It's MBG cases that net sellers defects on their accounts.
charlottpric-9
OPJul 17, 2026 at 5:24 PMI understand the return period and said so, I was looking primarily an apology and hopefully, a word of caution to seller to be more careful when listing ‘brand new’
kathiec
·Jul 17, 2026 at 7:35 PMThis forum is made up of buyers and sellers. EBay's not here. So no one here is going to apologize nor does anyone have a way to caution the unknown seller.