Since I’m rocking a projector, I needed an extension cable for my Wii sensor bar. The major retailers don’t sell one (I now know why) so I went to ebay based on a recommendation from a coworker. I found a seller with 40k (yes, thousand) positive feedback and purchased one for $10, including shipping. The following is our communication chain, which has taken place over the last 3.5 weeks. Note that I’ve condensed my emails for the sake of easy reading but can assure you the full versions are much more verbose and polite. His are nearly verbatim so suffice to say, all his responses have been two sentences… tops.
Me: The item is defective, please let me know how I can get a replacement.
Him: Please make sure the cable is fully inserted. Sometimes you have to push it in hard.
Me: I tried again, it didn’t work. When I attempted to disconnect it, the end of the cable broke off and stuck in my sensor bar cable.
Him: Sorry to hear that. We can ship a replacement out without you having to return the defective item if you provide your address. If you would like to return it in “brand new condition” we can refund the purchase price.
~At this point I had zero confidence the replacement would work, so I bought a wireless sensor bar from Best Buy.~
Me: I purchased a replacement because I didn’t want to wait another week to use my Wii. The item is not in new condition, because it’s defective, can I still get a refund?
Me: (3 days later) Please respond to my previous message, I would really appreciate a refund.
Him: Did you return the item to us yet?
Me: Am I required to pay return shipping on a defective item?
Him: The item must be return to us, yes.
Me: I have decided to request a replacement for the item. Please ship it to me at…
Me: (4 days later) Have you shipped the item?
Me: (1 day later) If I do not hear from you within 48 hours I will open a dispute with Paypal.
Him: Waiting on the defective item before the replacement gets shipped.
Me: Your original email stated I could get a replacement without returning the item. I am not paying to return a defective item if I’m not going to get reimbursed. It is the responsibility of the seller to make right without additional cost to the buyer..
Him: After rereading your email, you stated you wanted a refund. Let me know!
Me: I did, until I found out I’d have to pay to return the item. If that’s true, I just want the replacement item.
Him: If you would like to return the item in brand new, unused conditions, we can refund the purchase price.
It’s like talking to a brick wall. I eventually filed a Paypal complaint and was informed I would have to pay to send the item back. Rather than pay for return shipping, I asked the seller to refund me the difference so we could just part ways and they eventually did. In the end, I paid $6 for a broken item and I really have no recourse other than to leave negative feedback and poke a minuscule pinprick in his feedback rating. He would then retaliate, knocking my currently perfect feedback down to something like 95%.
Now I realize it’s not ebay’s fault this guy is a tool but I think it speaks to a larger problem. The site has become so infested with large scale vendors that the little guys get the screw job. With increasing regularity, transactions are not person to person and those who sell dozens of items a day don’t care to spend the effort on customer service. The site can still be a good source for those hard to find items but it’s definitely not as “garage sale” as it used to be and that’s a sad thing.