"Phöènix" mindyouownbusiness wrote:

Suffice to say they waited until after christmas (maybe twenty days after
purchase), found the spec was under requirement. They spent about well over
£300 with Ebuyer of which this item was £150. They asked if they can return
this unopened item at their own cost and purchase the next model up (for
around £180) instead.

Had the item proven to be faulty they'd be covered by SOGA but DSR is
quite explicit in defining the period of cover and no longer applies.

You are therefore relying entirely on goodwill on the behalf of
eBuyer.

They have not received a helpful response.

If they have indicated they would accept the goods back with a
re-stocking fee it is more than they're obliged to do so I wouldn't
regard them as being unhelpful.

I guess that is the end of the matter unless the item turns out to be faulty
or unless someone has a suggestion.

Ebuyer have offered a solution above and beyond their legal
obligations, it's up to your friends decide if they will accept the
offer. If they consider it unacceptable they're free to use other
avenues to dispose of the unwanted goods and obtain replacements.

Ebuyer obviously took the marketing option over xmas not to act like many
high st stores, and the likes of Amazon, with respect to extended returns
periods.

Those companies I suspect are on somewhat higher margins and enjoy
larger volume of sales than eBuyer so can probably afford to fund the
inevitable cost of such a policy. Had your friends wished to exploit
an extended "no quibble" return policy they should of ordered from a
company offering one, and paid the premium for doing so.

My friend was a bit naive and ignorant and has paid the price. BUT
it does seem daft that Ebuyer be so willing to lose a customer and gain
further negative references when the option to upgrade the item at the
customers cost would have had a very different result and promoted positive
feedback.

Ebuyer, like many mail order companies, rely on large volume of low
margin sales. If your friends is only doing a few hundred pounds
worth of business them, even if they do a similar amount every year,
I'd wager ebuyer will NEVER recover the cost of doing "the right
thing" in this particular case so it may well work out more
cost-effective to write-off a potentially expensive customer. It's
unfortunate when you're on the receiving end but "managers discretion"
is entirely that; the management have the right to choose if they wish
to retain a customer and bear the cost of doing so; they're equally
entitled do decide they don't want your custom.

I'm sure this isn't the first or even the thousandth time that Ebuyer have
been accused of needlessly being their own worst enemy wrt customer
relations.

They do have something of a reputation for it. People buy from them
and will continue to do so because they're cheap. They have a record
of abysmal customer service which is almost certainly a commercial
decision to adopt minimalist customer service policies to maintain the
low operating costs that allow them to compete on price.

The items sells on Ebay for around £140 inc delivery and the replacement can
be sourced from elsewhere cheaper than Ebuyer so the loss may not be too
bad, just annoying and inconvenient.

That's life, and the cost of placing business with a vendor based
entirely on price. At some point buying "cheap" will cost you more!

--
iv Paul iv