Expert: Rob James - 1/2/2008

Question
I live in the UK.  Five days before Christmas I bought 2x512mb memory modules for my son's pc from a UK seller on e-bay, they were sold as a 'matched pair'.  This was to enable the pc to run faster.  I paid by Paypal.  I received the modules just before Xmas, but upon putting them in the pc, one module did not work.  I tried them together - but no go - however when tried separately with the 128mb memory module that was already in the pc, one of the 512mb modules would work fine and the other one only gave a blank screen.  I contacted the seller and asked could a 50% refund of the bid (not including postage) be given or a replacement 512mb module be sent.  SHE apologised for the problem and asked me to return the faulty module, she would arrange a refund or a replacement if she could get hold of one.  She did introduce her hubby at this point and said that he could maybe help out if it was a BIOS problem with the PC as he knew a bit about them.  I gave this some thought but replied the next day thanking her for her advice but said that I really did not want to start messing with the BIOS as I was totally in the dark and that I would prefer a refund or a replacement.

Once she received the faulty module (between Xmas and New Year) her husband took over the communications and said that he had run several tests on the memory module (quoting AMD beds and some other equipment) and it was working fine.  He said that he was in a 'difficult situation' as the module was ok and he had offered me help which I had refused.  He offered a refund of a third of the original winning bid (£12 UK).  I e-mailed back and said I was in a difficult position also, as the module did not work for me.  I asked if we could meet half way on the refund (£15.50 UK) and that I would be happy with this outcome and would leave positive feedback accordingly.

On New Year's Day I received an e-mail from him that really upset me.  He basically said that he had done all he had to do as a seller, he had offered me help which I had refused, that he had offered me a refund that he did not need to do and that he did not appreciate me 'blackmailing him with negative feedback whilst haggling over any refund' and that e-bay would be advised.  Also that I needed to make a decision - did I want the refund he had kindly offered or did I want the module posting back to me and I would be charged postage?  Also that he did not actually need to do anything at all and could invoice me for the time and help he had given (??) and this would be at £40 UK per hour which would total a lot more than the 'frugal' £12 UK refund.  He also finished by saying that any feedback left would be reciprocated accordingly.  And many thanks for my understanding.

I was shocked and really upset as I had in no way been trying to 'blackmail' him, I would not have left negative feedback and certainly did not imply this.  My son is thirteen, he wanted an Xbox 360 for Xmas which I cannot afford, so I had run a scan on the crucial website to see if his old pc could be made to run any better.  I was only trying to get a decent refund as I certainly did not want to pay for the module to be sent back to me.  I e-mailed the seller with a one line - 'I request the £12 refund as kindly offered'.  I was too upset to get into a slanging match with him.  I lost sleep over this problem that night.

I have looked at feedback left by this seller for other people.  He sells quite a lot of pc hardware.  He is fine unless they have any problem at all and then he calls them stupid, a cretin and idiot to name but a few.

I have the sellers surname as I had returned the faulty module to her and the hubby was signing himself off as Ben.  I did a search on google and found out that this guy is actually a Wireless Product Engineer with a University Education. What is more shocking is that he is one of the advisers on THIS website (AllExperts). I feel he is totally condecending and that he was actually using bullying tactics.

I have received a refund of £11.97 back into my Paypal account this evening.  I really would like to tell him what I think of him, but don't know if it would make me feel better or worse.  Am I best forgetting this and putting it down to a bad e-bay experience or is it worth contacting e-bay to complain (which I have never had to do before).  I have a 100% feedback with nearly 200 transactions to my name, so I am not a newby - but have not come across this sort of person before.

Many thanks for any advice given.
M

Answer
Hello M,

Wow, that's some story! It's not uncommon to run across situations like this. I've had them myself both as a seller and a buyer.

In your situation it sounds as though you had a valid concern about the product you bought. On the flip side, the seller did try to assist you in solving the problem before you sent the item back. So it's a tough call. I try to do anything I can to help a buyer if they have questions or concerns, which is what any good seller will do. In your case, however, not being comfortable with computer bios settings etc., I would expect the seller to help you in another way, which would be to replace the item. If, in fact, he does sell a lot of these memory modules and the one you sent back tested good, he should have had no problem sending you a replacement and just reselling the one you sent back. But, for some reason, he didn't.

The exchanges you had with him via email were probably the best thing you could do to try and resolve the situation. However, you may still want to contact Paypal and let them know what happened. If you still have the emails you sent and received from him it may help you get the refund you feel you deserve. If they deem the situation to be in your favor, they will refund your money from his account.

Contacting eBay will probably do nothing as they don't get involved with disputes. However, if there is unwarranted feedback left, you can request a mutual withdrawal of the negative feedback if both parties agree.

In my opinion, since he did give you a partial refund, you have to look at the time spent dealing with this against the money lost. Is it worth the effort to continue on? Probably not. You can leave appropriate feedback if you desire. In these cases I usually leave none so as to not create more grief. I would just chalk it up to a bad experience knowing that the majority of them are not like this. As always, check the sellers feedbacks very carefully in the future before you buy so you don't end up in this kind of situation again.

Hope this helps!

Rob