Return policy, another side.

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

From my perspective, there should be a longer time limit on feedback and returns.  At least an option for EBay to investigate and reconsider.  I purchased 5 items and two were defective.  That's a 40% rate.  Why was 30 days not long enough?  The items were ordered on Nov 4, 2017 but were not delivered on schedule.  I'm not talking about three days or a week.  I'm talking about January 2018 and not just the first week of January, it was later than that.  I had reported this item as "not recieved" and opened a case.  Recieved a lot of messages saying "please no negative feedback" etc.  I did not leave feedback negative or positive.  I recieved the items and the case was closed.  I used the first one and it seemed to work properly.  Likewise the second.  They are humidity controllers WH8040 shipped from Malaysia.  I use them in controllers that I build.  I get to the third one and open it and it is defective as well as the fourth.  Then I check the fifth box and the item seems okay.  I contacted seller and showed pictures.  No damage to the box, no damage in shipping.  It's nothing like that.  It's clearly a case of improper assembly at factory.  Basically on one, the entire button pad was installed upside down and the pictures prove it.  The other would not power up.  Now I suppose a customer could lie about things and cause damage to items after they are recieved.  But really, I think the record will speak to the truth.  I attempted to contact the seller directly without giving negative feedback.  I excercised patience for a month.  Same answer every time.  "Thank you for your patience, please no negative feedback, we will do everything for the customer".  My original request was to obtain the contact information of the supplier to discuss defects.  I was promissed by the seller that they would contact the supplier.  So I wait and wait with no results.  I again request contact info for the supplier.  The item was "unbranded" and I had no other way to contact the manufacturer.  Basically the seller delayed and delayed till the time limit was up.  Then no other responses.  I'm resolved to the fact that I will most likely loose that money and sobeit.  But serisously, if I can't leave feedback at this point then other people will never have the benefit of the picture and proof of defects and they will end up with defective items also.  Go ahead and tell me I'm complaining too much or that I should have taken other actions, or that I didn't try hard enough to resolve the issue in private.  I expect some comments like that.  But hopefully some people will read this and find it at least interesting if not helpful.  But as for me, I'll happily go on with my life and count it as a loss and just never order from that seller again.

Have a great day,

Thanks.

[duggmills]

Welcome to buying from somewhere in some distant land where sellers who aren't concerned with or bother responding to feed back as long as they can string you along until the fat lady sings. They win. You lose. We see this scene played out weekly.

Admittedly, I didn't bother reading your entire unmoving tale of woe. I lost interest when your autobiography runs on without the occasional break for a fresh paragraph.

You've done a commendable job of documenting the level of component  product failures. This strongly suggests there's more to assembling your products with the cheapest stuff you can find.  It says your products are only as good as the worst component you have incorporated. 

Maybe you should raise your component quality specs rather than requiring the millions of the rest of us who sell on eBay to lower our standards for your benefit.

Simply stated; Buy Better Quality.

[ed8108 · Accepted solution]

If payment was tendered with PayPal you can open a item not as described case, you will most probably have to return the item, to receive a refund.

If you don't file a paypal case, & payment was by credit card you could possibly do a chargeback ?

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

duggmills,
Thanks for using paragraphs.

No need for you to read the entire post, you catch on quickly.

I did not use the cheapest stuff I could find, I won't use this item any more.

My quality requirements have not changed and will not. Therefore I will no longer use this item.

I believe you when you say this scene is played out weekly. Maybe that means no one is supposed to mention it. Maybe that means everyone should know the quality of a product before they purchase it. If that is the case then why even have a return policy or a feedback system? Apologies for the long paragraph.

Your solution to "Buy Better Quality" does not immediately solve the problem with items advertised with implied quality and a "not so cheap" price.

I know the quality of the product now. But others don't. Your solution to buy better quality will eventually work if customers have the ability to determine the quality before purchasing. And that was the point of the post. Apologies for the long paragraph.

In hindsight, i should have titled the post "Feedback Policy".

Kind Regards.

[duggmills]

I think the only place you should be getting perpetual care is in a cemetery, not eBay sellers.

I rather take exception to the idea that if things don't go just right, you would encourage someone to resort to the unethical practice of opening a claim or claims against a seller.

If a product fails, is the buyer entitled to some sort of remedy that isn't stated or implied by a seller?   

[sam9876]

You should blame yourself for waiting so long.

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

Admittedly I was wrong. You did need to read the entire post and you didn't catch on.

Not all people in cemeteries get perpetual care. I did not ask for perpetual care.

I never suggested opening an unethical claim. That's just fake news.
Did I really ask for a remedy? I contacted the seller with a question. I did not demand a refund, rather I asked for information that would help me resolve the issue by other means.

Maybe you're a seller that only sells products of the highest quality. Maybe there are some other sellers that also sell high quality products. Maybe it would protect sellers with quality products if sellers with low quality products were easily recognized.

Seems like that's what feedback is about. If your implying that I asked for some type of entitlement then you are indeed mistaken.

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

Indeed I did not blame anyone. Did I wait so long? What was I waiting for? Ebay suggests working to resolve issues before making a claim. Isn't that beneficial to sellers? It's impossible to know if an item is defective until it is received.

So one answer is not to make an unethical claim which I did not. And the next solution is not to wait so long to file a claim or leave feedback. Not sure that any of these fill the bill.

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

ed8108
Thank you for the response. I did contact PayPal. If it works then fine. If it becomes a big hassle then I'll drop the whole issue. I was pretty much resolved to that.

[vintagemoth12]

I have heard of sellers just stringing buyers along until time runs out on getting your money back. Sorry this happened to you. Did you know that you could have filed a SNAD and the seller would have had to refund your money? He wouldn't even have wanted the items back because it probably isn't worth shipping them back due to the cost. 

At least you tried to get in touch with the manufacturer but in this day and age, it's probably futile. 

[wrwara.rxttm6j]

Thank you for your post. That's exactly what happened and I fell for it. I really don't like giving negative feedback because I've seen some that was ridiculous and unfair (or seemingly so).

The seller no longer offers the item for some reason. Maybe the seller learned something.

I've worked over 35 years in the design and manufacture of technical equipment and have been very involved in Quality and Corrective Action. I know I could have helped the manufacturer also.

I won't be dealing with this seller again but in the future, I'll continue to at least attempt to work out a reasonable solution. I will however watch the calendar a bit closer.

Thank you for the suggestion of filing a SNAD. I will use that option if no other option exists.

[7606dennis]

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@wrwara.rxttm6jwrote:
Thank you for your post. That's exactly what happened and I fell for it. I really don't like giving negative feedback because I've seen some that was ridiculous and unfair (or seemingly so).

The seller no longer offers the item for some reason. Maybe the seller learned something.

I've worked over 35 years in the design and manufacture of technical equipment and have been very involved in Quality and Corrective Action. I know I could have helped the manufacturer also.

I won't be dealing with this seller again but in the future, I'll continue to at least attempt to work out a reasonable solution. I will however watch the calendar a bit closer.

Thank you for the suggestion of filing a SNAD. I will use that option if no other option exists.

---

If you have missed the 30 deadline for eBay's MBG program and the item was paid for using PayPal, you can file up to 180 days.  Of course, the item must truly be SNAD since if a defect was mentioned in the listing it would not be SNAD and the SNAD dispute would not be justified.  Sellers can and do dispute unjustified SNAD claims and win.

[lcw987]

The time for your return option started counting the date of delivery, which should be documented in the shipping tracking record and fed to ebay, too. It is gracious to communicate directly with the seller before "opening a case" (made easy enough by ebay to do without even the intention) and allow a remedy to be discussed and provided, but you should keep your own interests in mind, too, and not allow the return period to time out before making your return request officially entered. By making your requests clear in ebay messages related to the item, you are providing a useful, documented record, available to review by an ebay CSR to back your case when needed.  Unfortunately, some sellers will only do what they are forced to do, even when they have not provided the product as described.