Right, I am getting rather narked at a problem I have encountered with an Ebay seller. This will be a bit of a rant as I am a little frustrated!
I unfortunately scratched my centre console when I was fitting Sport seats into my car. I decided I could not live with it, and went on the hunt for a new console. I found a console advertised on Ebay here. As you can see it was listed with the aluminium trim still attached. I noticed that they were selling the aluminium dash trim separate (which I found odd) so I send them the following message -
"I am interested in the centre console, but I don't need the silver trim that is attached. I hope you don't think I am being rude, but I have a suggestion that may benefit both of us!
I have noticed that you are selling a set of dash trims from what I think is from the same vehicle (listing number 170826080392). These might be difficult to sell as without the silver console trim attached to this console they are not complete. Would you consider removing the silver trim from this console and selling me the console without it? You could then use the removed trim to complete the dashboard set. If so what price would you consider selling the console minus the trim for?"
They reply -
"£40 + Post? If you're happy we'll get it done for you. Let me know."
I ask -
"Can you confirm that there are no marks/scratches on the console? If so £40 sounds good to me. How much will you want for postage?"
They reply -
"It's not scratched- its in good condition. Postage is £8.99. To big for Royal Mail- it'll be with FedEx."
Lovely job. I order and pay for the console, and I receive delivery a few days later. I open it up to find there are two holes drilled onto the passenger side of the console, presumably for a mobile phone holder of some kind. Now I am a little bit frustrated by this as while I didn't specifically ask if the console has holes drilled into it, I would have expected to be told this as I would have thought that would be considered a mark at least! So I send an email to them saying -
"I have received the console, thanks very much. However I was disappointed to see that the console has had two holes drilled into it on the passenger side (presumably for a mobile phone holder). I asked if the console had any marks or scratches prior to purchase and I was told it was in good condition. Had I been informed the console had any holes drilled into it I would not have ordered it. I would be grateful if you could let me know how we can resolve this. I would ideally like the console replaced if you have any in stock?"
No reply for two days. I send the same message again, still no reply a day later. I send the same message again this time twice. I get the following reply
"We don't have another, sorry. Please feel free to return it if you wish".
Marvellous. As you can imagine this is quite a large item, and it isn't something you can just drop off at the post office. I would have to arrange for a courier of some kind which would be a pain to organise. I was also a bit miffed that there was not so much as an explanation as to why I was sent a console with two holes in it, especially as I had specifically asked about marks and scratches. I send them another message saying
"Thanks for your reply. I am sorry to hear you don't have another one. Could you explain why I was not informed of the two screw holes when I asked about the condition of the item? I would like to return this item for a refund as I was looking for a console without any marks/scratches. Can you please inform me how this return will be arranged?"
I send this in with the rather naive hope that they would arrange the courier and cover the cost due to their cock up. They reply -
"The only explanation is that it obviously wasn't noticed, which is regrettable, and for which I apologise. We do handle thousands of parts weekly, occasionally mistakes do happen".
I reply
"Thanks again for your reply. I understand mistakes do happen, however it is very frustrating for me especially as I specifically asked if the item had any marks etc. It is also rather inconvenient that I will have to take the time to package this item and take the time to organise a courier back to you. I am probably be right in assuming that you are also expecting me to pay for the return as you have not made any mention of covering my postage cost? This is also very frustrating as this is due to an error at your end that could have easily been avoided.
Can you please confirm that I will be issued a full refund including postage costs? Will there be any contribution to the postage costs that I will incur in sending this back to you? I will arrange for this to be returned as soon as possible. I look forward to your reply to the above questions".
They then send me this reply
"Respectfully, we don't consider there to have been an error. The part was listed as used-and if you recall it included the metal trim panel, which we consider to be around 90% of the items value. If we took the trouble to remove the trims usually, its unlikely we would list the plastic part for sale. We only removed the trim because you asked us too, and if i'm perfectly honest, (and again-respectfully,)I'm starting to wish we hadn't got involved!
Because the metal part forms the valuable section, our photographer would have concentrated his efforts in describing that part. As I say, we are sorry the two tiny holes were overlooked-and are happy to accept a return. I assume you have checked to see if the holes are covered when its all installed? Because I don't recall a Phone Holder/Bracket in that car.....
We will refund what you paid for the part in total. We don't refund return post, but if you can still use the part we will give you a 50% refund to draw a line under this. I'm sure you don't want to be emailing repeatedly about this part-and I know we don't, so hopefully we can agree on either a return or a partial refund and put it to bed".
I understand there are more important things to worry about in life and I will be sending the item back for a full refund (at my cost in inconvenience). However I do find it really annoying that they have cocked up, and are basically saying that I am now being unreasonable in wanting an explanation and costs covered due to this cock up!
On another note, does anybody know of a courier that I can drop this item off to? I will be buggered if I am going to take a day off work for this to be collected...
I unfortunately scratched my centre console when I was fitting Sport seats into my car. I decided I could not live with it, and went on the hunt for a new console. I found a console advertised on Ebay here. As you can see it was listed with the aluminium trim still attached. I noticed that they were selling the aluminium dash trim separate (which I found odd) so I send them the following message -
"I am interested in the centre console, but I don't need the silver trim that is attached. I hope you don't think I am being rude, but I have a suggestion that may benefit both of us!
I have noticed that you are selling a set of dash trims from what I think is from the same vehicle (listing number 170826080392). These might be difficult to sell as without the silver console trim attached to this console they are not complete. Would you consider removing the silver trim from this console and selling me the console without it? You could then use the removed trim to complete the dashboard set. If so what price would you consider selling the console minus the trim for?"
They reply -
"£40 + Post? If you're happy we'll get it done for you. Let me know."
I ask -
"Can you confirm that there are no marks/scratches on the console? If so £40 sounds good to me. How much will you want for postage?"
They reply -
"It's not scratched- its in good condition. Postage is £8.99. To big for Royal Mail- it'll be with FedEx."
Lovely job. I order and pay for the console, and I receive delivery a few days later. I open it up to find there are two holes drilled onto the passenger side of the console, presumably for a mobile phone holder of some kind. Now I am a little bit frustrated by this as while I didn't specifically ask if the console has holes drilled into it, I would have expected to be told this as I would have thought that would be considered a mark at least! So I send an email to them saying -
"I have received the console, thanks very much. However I was disappointed to see that the console has had two holes drilled into it on the passenger side (presumably for a mobile phone holder). I asked if the console had any marks or scratches prior to purchase and I was told it was in good condition. Had I been informed the console had any holes drilled into it I would not have ordered it. I would be grateful if you could let me know how we can resolve this. I would ideally like the console replaced if you have any in stock?"
No reply for two days. I send the same message again, still no reply a day later. I send the same message again this time twice. I get the following reply
"We don't have another, sorry. Please feel free to return it if you wish".
Marvellous. As you can imagine this is quite a large item, and it isn't something you can just drop off at the post office. I would have to arrange for a courier of some kind which would be a pain to organise. I was also a bit miffed that there was not so much as an explanation as to why I was sent a console with two holes in it, especially as I had specifically asked about marks and scratches. I send them another message saying
"Thanks for your reply. I am sorry to hear you don't have another one. Could you explain why I was not informed of the two screw holes when I asked about the condition of the item? I would like to return this item for a refund as I was looking for a console without any marks/scratches. Can you please inform me how this return will be arranged?"
I send this in with the rather naive hope that they would arrange the courier and cover the cost due to their cock up. They reply -
"The only explanation is that it obviously wasn't noticed, which is regrettable, and for which I apologise. We do handle thousands of parts weekly, occasionally mistakes do happen".
I reply
"Thanks again for your reply. I understand mistakes do happen, however it is very frustrating for me especially as I specifically asked if the item had any marks etc. It is also rather inconvenient that I will have to take the time to package this item and take the time to organise a courier back to you. I am probably be right in assuming that you are also expecting me to pay for the return as you have not made any mention of covering my postage cost? This is also very frustrating as this is due to an error at your end that could have easily been avoided.
Can you please confirm that I will be issued a full refund including postage costs? Will there be any contribution to the postage costs that I will incur in sending this back to you? I will arrange for this to be returned as soon as possible. I look forward to your reply to the above questions".
They then send me this reply
"Respectfully, we don't consider there to have been an error. The part was listed as used-and if you recall it included the metal trim panel, which we consider to be around 90% of the items value. If we took the trouble to remove the trims usually, its unlikely we would list the plastic part for sale. We only removed the trim because you asked us too, and if i'm perfectly honest, (and again-respectfully,)I'm starting to wish we hadn't got involved!
Because the metal part forms the valuable section, our photographer would have concentrated his efforts in describing that part. As I say, we are sorry the two tiny holes were overlooked-and are happy to accept a return. I assume you have checked to see if the holes are covered when its all installed? Because I don't recall a Phone Holder/Bracket in that car.....
We will refund what you paid for the part in total. We don't refund return post, but if you can still use the part we will give you a 50% refund to draw a line under this. I'm sure you don't want to be emailing repeatedly about this part-and I know we don't, so hopefully we can agree on either a return or a partial refund and put it to bed".
I understand there are more important things to worry about in life and I will be sending the item back for a full refund (at my cost in inconvenience). However I do find it really annoying that they have cocked up, and are basically saying that I am now being unreasonable in wanting an explanation and costs covered due to this cock up!
On another note, does anybody know of a courier that I can drop this item off to? I will be buggered if I am going to take a day off work for this to be collected...
