Hi everyone, 
I’m new and this is my first post and I’m really hoping you can help me out. My problem (and the issues behind it) is a bit longwinded I’m afraid so apologies for that and thanks in advance if you stick with it! So, here we go…
I bought a set of vintage metal lockers on Ebay for £799 + £65 courier costs. I wasn’t there when they arrived (I had explained to the seller I wouldn’t be) otherwise I wouldn’t have signed for them. When I did get to see them a couple of days later they were atrocious! From the outside they were okay-ish (as well as the several issues mentioned in the listing there was also a broken key stuck in a lock, a missing set of keys, a door that had a part missing….) but the inside was a nightmare of major proportions. While the outside had been stripped, the inside had not been touched (for about 30 years I would say!) and was at best manky, smelly and downright disgusting. I was devastated!
I bought the lockers from what I thought was a reputable seller (he did have a few neutrals and 1 negative) who also has an online company by the same name as his Ebay ID – lovelyandcompany .co.uk so I thought I was in safe hands, especially when their website says they sell “Vintage for the modern home” and “ .... It’s a simple philosophy: first and foremost, we buy what we like – things we’d like to have in our home (and in most cases do)….” and when we were negotiating a price he told me “I have had a lot of interest in this as it is and did a lot of work to it in order to achieve the finish its in, which we feel is lovely.” I think it’s pretty safe to say they didn’t have these particular lockers anywhere near their home and “lovely”? NOT a word that could possibly describe their condition!
Can I just say at this point I am not a vintage novice. I have literally dozens of reclaimed and reconditioned vintage pieces and this is the first time I have been sent something that is so poor.
I contacted the seller and advised my issues and asked to return the lockers to him as they were patently not as described. To be fair to him (after initially saying all the needed was a bit of Mr Muscle!) he offered a discount for the lockers to be cleaned but as I explained to him, we don’t live at the property where they were located which is in the middle of nowhere and I simply did not have the time or resources to get it organised locally. In my opinion they needed to be professionally stripped on the inside to match the outside as they are thick with oil and grease and decades of dirt. I wouldn’t put tools in them never mind clothes which is what I’d wanted to use them for. He reluctantly agreed and also to pay the return delivery cost.
I now know I should have opened a PayPal dispute but he seemed to be genuine so I thought we could handle it between ourselves. By the time I realised my mistake it was too late.
The lockers were returned to him via a reputable haulage company on a pallet. This was on Friday 16 March at 11am. Despite several requests for confirmation the lockers had been received, I did not hear from them until the following Monday at 20.40 – nearly 4 days later. He said he hadn’t seen them but had been advised that the lockers were damaged, that the back foot had been broken off and he would send me photographs. I queried this as the lockers didn’t have any feet and they had been signed for (their own website states: “freight items delivered via third party delivery services must be checked thoroughly and approved by you when you take receipt of them and any problems notified to the driver at the time of delivery.” So to say I was surprised is an understatement! No photographs arrived. I asked again and still no photographs. To this day I have not received any blooming photographs!!!
Eventually he refunded the purchase price but neither of the delivery costs and has even had my –ve feedback removed (my landline is broken so I cannot ring customer services yet to find out why). After threatening to take them to small claims and post on consumer forums such as this for help, I got the most abusive email from the seller’s wife where she accused me of being belligerent throughout, a liar, a bully and malevolent! It was soooo nasty I was gobsmacked, I still am! The husband and I had been courteous to each other all the way through our correspondence and all of a sudden this she devil appears and basically rips me apart! I was and still am absolutely horrified to be receiving messages like that from anyone, let alone someone who I believe is totally in the wrong and owes me £118!! I haven’t replied to her yet as I haven’t had time but I plan to, oh yes I plan to.
So, my questions are this (if you’re still with me!):
1. Am I entitled to chase for them for the original delivery costs of £65 – do the Distance Selling Regs apply to Ebay sales (I think it was a buy it now)?
2. Am I entitled to chase them for the return delivery cost of £53?
3. Am I right in assuming I can ignore the ‘damage’ as they haven’t provided any evidence, photographic or otherwise and according to their own t&c they should have checked them prior to signing for them? I took all reasonable care etc.
4. Can I report this awful woman to Ebay for the abusive email she sent me?
5. Does anyone know if I’ll be able to get my feedback on them reinstated? I’m sure it went something like this: “Dire product, dire service, dire comms. Still owes me £118. AVOID.”
6. Any other thoughts as to how I can get redress? (legal ones!!)
This is a very brief synopsis as obviously there’s not the facility to give you the full details but it pretty much sums it up. Any questions, please ask!!
I so appreciate you guys even taking the time to read this whether or not you can offer any words of wisdom. It helps just to write it down and ‘get it off my chest’!
p.s. Just remembered. She says her husband is undergoing tests for cancer and while if this is true (you wouldn’t make that up would you?), they have my unreserved sympathy but why did she need to tell me that and should I let it make a difference?
Thanks again.
I’m new and this is my first post and I’m really hoping you can help me out. My problem (and the issues behind it) is a bit longwinded I’m afraid so apologies for that and thanks in advance if you stick with it! So, here we go…I bought a set of vintage metal lockers on Ebay for £799 + £65 courier costs. I wasn’t there when they arrived (I had explained to the seller I wouldn’t be) otherwise I wouldn’t have signed for them. When I did get to see them a couple of days later they were atrocious! From the outside they were okay-ish (as well as the several issues mentioned in the listing there was also a broken key stuck in a lock, a missing set of keys, a door that had a part missing….) but the inside was a nightmare of major proportions. While the outside had been stripped, the inside had not been touched (for about 30 years I would say!) and was at best manky, smelly and downright disgusting. I was devastated!
I bought the lockers from what I thought was a reputable seller (he did have a few neutrals and 1 negative) who also has an online company by the same name as his Ebay ID – lovelyandcompany .co.uk so I thought I was in safe hands, especially when their website says they sell “Vintage for the modern home” and “ .... It’s a simple philosophy: first and foremost, we buy what we like – things we’d like to have in our home (and in most cases do)….” and when we were negotiating a price he told me “I have had a lot of interest in this as it is and did a lot of work to it in order to achieve the finish its in, which we feel is lovely.” I think it’s pretty safe to say they didn’t have these particular lockers anywhere near their home and “lovely”? NOT a word that could possibly describe their condition!
Can I just say at this point I am not a vintage novice. I have literally dozens of reclaimed and reconditioned vintage pieces and this is the first time I have been sent something that is so poor.
I contacted the seller and advised my issues and asked to return the lockers to him as they were patently not as described. To be fair to him (after initially saying all the needed was a bit of Mr Muscle!) he offered a discount for the lockers to be cleaned but as I explained to him, we don’t live at the property where they were located which is in the middle of nowhere and I simply did not have the time or resources to get it organised locally. In my opinion they needed to be professionally stripped on the inside to match the outside as they are thick with oil and grease and decades of dirt. I wouldn’t put tools in them never mind clothes which is what I’d wanted to use them for. He reluctantly agreed and also to pay the return delivery cost.
I now know I should have opened a PayPal dispute but he seemed to be genuine so I thought we could handle it between ourselves. By the time I realised my mistake it was too late.
The lockers were returned to him via a reputable haulage company on a pallet. This was on Friday 16 March at 11am. Despite several requests for confirmation the lockers had been received, I did not hear from them until the following Monday at 20.40 – nearly 4 days later. He said he hadn’t seen them but had been advised that the lockers were damaged, that the back foot had been broken off and he would send me photographs. I queried this as the lockers didn’t have any feet and they had been signed for (their own website states: “freight items delivered via third party delivery services must be checked thoroughly and approved by you when you take receipt of them and any problems notified to the driver at the time of delivery.” So to say I was surprised is an understatement! No photographs arrived. I asked again and still no photographs. To this day I have not received any blooming photographs!!!
Eventually he refunded the purchase price but neither of the delivery costs and has even had my –ve feedback removed (my landline is broken so I cannot ring customer services yet to find out why). After threatening to take them to small claims and post on consumer forums such as this for help, I got the most abusive email from the seller’s wife where she accused me of being belligerent throughout, a liar, a bully and malevolent! It was soooo nasty I was gobsmacked, I still am! The husband and I had been courteous to each other all the way through our correspondence and all of a sudden this she devil appears and basically rips me apart! I was and still am absolutely horrified to be receiving messages like that from anyone, let alone someone who I believe is totally in the wrong and owes me £118!! I haven’t replied to her yet as I haven’t had time but I plan to, oh yes I plan to.
So, my questions are this (if you’re still with me!):
1. Am I entitled to chase for them for the original delivery costs of £65 – do the Distance Selling Regs apply to Ebay sales (I think it was a buy it now)?
2. Am I entitled to chase them for the return delivery cost of £53?
3. Am I right in assuming I can ignore the ‘damage’ as they haven’t provided any evidence, photographic or otherwise and according to their own t&c they should have checked them prior to signing for them? I took all reasonable care etc.
4. Can I report this awful woman to Ebay for the abusive email she sent me?
5. Does anyone know if I’ll be able to get my feedback on them reinstated? I’m sure it went something like this: “Dire product, dire service, dire comms. Still owes me £118. AVOID.”
6. Any other thoughts as to how I can get redress? (legal ones!!)
This is a very brief synopsis as obviously there’s not the facility to give you the full details but it pretty much sums it up. Any questions, please ask!!
I so appreciate you guys even taking the time to read this whether or not you can offer any words of wisdom. It helps just to write it down and ‘get it off my chest’!
p.s. Just remembered. She says her husband is undergoing tests for cancer and while if this is true (you wouldn’t make that up would you?), they have my unreserved sympathy but why did she need to tell me that and should I let it make a difference?
Thanks again.