Do I still I have grounds for a claim, if so what for ?

[Gizmo70]

Hi, first time poster, love the site.

My basic question is, do still have a case, having recouped the initial money from the refund he claimed, and if so what for ?

Any other comments ?






I am an ebay seller.

A customer asked to return a product, saying it didn’t match the description, and didn’t fit.

It did match the description, he just bought the wrong product for his use.

However we accepted the return without further discussion.

It arrived back after two weeks, without the external packaging, missing some internal packaging, missing a component, with a postage label stuck to the retail packaging damaging it, and the item itself was damaged.

I wrote to the buyer asking him what he expected us to do, given the condition in which he had returned it, pointing out he was in breach of Ebays returns policy.

He replied telling me to send it back to him.

I confirmed it was on its way back.

I asked him to close his returns case on ebay, he said he would.



He then left feedback on ebay that was factually incorrect and seeking to portray me personally and my business in a negative light.


On the day he received the item back he pursued a refund case against me on ebay, he totally misrepresented the situation, was factually incorrect and again sought to show me and my business in a bad light, this time to ebay with whom we have a subscription for the shop we operate.

Owing to what he told ebay, they decided in his favour, refunded him, debiting our account with them, and they also downgraded our seller status which reduced how high our ebay items show up in search listings and reduced their visibility, impacting sales.

I sent him a letter before Claim, seeking the money back for the refund, the cost of the return postage, the removal of the inaccurate feedback, asking him to correct and restore my standing with ebay, and because he had threatened to slag me off in the online community within which we operate an undertaking that he wouldn’t do this now or in the future.

There then followed an email exchange over two weeks, where without actually replying to my letter, he adopted a drip feed approach where by he offered to pay me the refund he received, then the postage, then after two weeks he contacted ebay to remove the feedback, he eventually also apologised for his behaviour, but at no time in spite of me asking him to five times, did he make any comment to, or attempt to correct my relationship with ebay - I suspect because this would have involved him explaining to them that what he had told ebay previously had been totally incorrect. He works as an IFA, so I guess he would be nervous about how this might reflect on his integrity.


The email exchange provided me with clear evidence to take to ebay to show them that he had totally misrepresented the situation to them, when he pursued his refund case against me, causing them to decide in his favour.

I lodged an appeal with ebay, which I won, they refunded the money they had charged me for his refund - it isn’t clear if they have charged him or done this from their own funds.

They have also returned my seller status to its previous level which has had an immediate impact on sales, so it would appear no lasting damage, sales are slowly building again.



Over the two week period my seller status was down graded the impact on my ebay business has been devastating, my products having fewer views, lower search rankings etc resulting in lower sales.

This has caused me considerable stress and anxiety owing to worrying about the impact on my business and how I was going to pay people at the end of the month.

I personally won’t be able to take any money out the business this month.



My costs at this stage are the return postage for the item going back to him £5, appropriately £300 in promotional fees for a promotion we ran over the two weeks to try to get sales flowing, that didn’t work, and around £5000 in lost sales based on run rate & last year.




Do I still have a case against him, having recouped the initial money from the refund he claimed, and if so what for ?




Any other comments ?




Thanks

[echat11]

Hi Gizmo70,

I think you might have your 'hands tied' by EBay's Terms and Conditions as to what you can do regards further 'redress'. I'm not 100% sure, but check the Terms and Conditions.

[Gizmo70]

Thanks for the quick response ECHAT11
I wouldn’t be looking for further redress from ebay, but from the buyer.
It’s been the buyers dishonest behaviour that has caused this.
I have been through the Ebay Ts&Cs and there’s nothing there that protects the buyer if they have behaved dishonestly, or that prevents me from taking action against them.
thoughts?

[echat11]

I think you can, providing you have the evidence to back up the monetary value of your claim. The other consideration is your ongoing relationship with EBay and how they perceive yours actions against the Buyer.

I think you've been genuine but unfortunately run into a Buyer acting in 'bad faith'.

[Gizmo70]

Oh he’s certainly acted in ‘bad faith’ throughout.
I can certainly back up what I’ve said about my losses/costs.
Any comments about how I would word a claim ?

[echat11]

Before you do anything have a read of the CPR. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...es/civil/rules

You must make sure you follow pre action protocols - Letter Before Action (include details of your loses), send it Recorded Deliver. See what he has to say, if he doesn't respond send another, to give him a final opportunity.

Here is an example, you will need to amend it -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/la...-court-action/

[islandgirl]

How do you prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the drop in revenue was wholly due to the bad review? No drop in sales due to Covid and the impact of lockdowns? I personally do not think you would be able to claim more than actual proveable losses - nothing wrong in asking for him to pay them but if he does not I would advise a chat with a solicitor before you throw good money after bad.

[Gizmo70]

Thanks ISLANDGIRL, it’s not because of his bad review, I think that had little if any impact, it didn’t make him look good either.
It is Ebay downgrading my seller status as a result of him getting them to decide his refund case against me that has driven the fall in trade.
When my seller status was down graded, my items don’t rank as highly in search results and fewer people see them, so fewer people buy them.
My seller status was impacted for 14 days before I won my appeal with ebay and they restored my seller status.
I can run reports for this 14 days, against the same 14 days in previous months and previous years or previous 14 days.
They show Sales £ and items, they show Impressions - how many times my items appear in search, and Views - how often someone clicks on those impressions.
All these metrics dropped off a cliff for the 14days, and are now bouncing back to levels pre this event.
These were my quietest 14 days in the last three years.
The impact is that clear.

I saw somewhere that I can claim for consequential losses, just direct losses, I’m not clear on the difference, any views?

[EXC]

In my view you don't have a chance. It's a question of establishing liability and the customer cannot possibly be made liable for decisions made by ebay, in my view.

[islandgirl]

I agree with EXC - I think you will have to put this down to experience

[echat11]

EBay's 'Seller Status' isn't great if one review can cause the OP to lose business in the way the OP describes. The OP can't be the first Seller this has happened too. Send the evidence to EBay, see what they have to say.