An eBay dispute

Former Member

I'm having a slight problem on eBay. I sold a clock and the buyer was unhappy with the item when received. First of all he couldn't figure out how to open the clock and change the battery. Instead of trying to actually open the clock properly he was accusatory with me. I have tried to calm the situation, and he has now demanded a refund. Please see the conversation below. He has not responded to my most recent message in a few days - should I continue to follow this up, admit defeat or what? I understand the buyer has most of the power on eBay, and since I have a fairly low rating so far, I want to play this very carefully so he doesn't give a spiteful negative feedback.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Buyer wrote:

RE: Clock. Please could you tell me if this is supposed to work? You omitted to say that it was not working. Where do you put the battery and how do you adjust the time or set the alarm? Is there actually an alarm? Has this item been mis-sold?

Me wrote:

Hi there,

Yes the clock was previously working fine. To remove the clock part, put your fingernail under the green rim and pull out the face. You can then access the wheel to adjust the time, and remove the metal back piece to replace the battery.

There is no alarm on the clock - as described in the item listing, the clock has "decorative alarm bells". If the clock had a functional alarm I would have listed it as such, and in the alarm clock category.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Kind regards

Buyer wrote:

Hi. Have tried removing back, but to no avail. You described the clock as being 'like new', but failed to say 'not working'. Why did you not put a battery in? I would like to return the item for a refund, failing which I will take it up with Ebay and PayPal.

Me wrote:

Hi there,

If you look at the back there should be a place to insert a screwdriver or similar object to prise it open. If you cannot carry out this procedure, a watch shop will be able to do so for you.

It was not necessary to put in a new battery myself since it is quite straightforward for someone else to do so. The clock is perfectly functional besides a battery. People do not equate 'not working' with not having a battery, which is quite different. The condition of the clock is 'like new' as described, but this doesn't wording indicate anything about the battery.

As said before the item has not been 'mis-sold'. I would much prefer to resolve this without a refund, since I know the clock works fine. I appreciate you may be worrying you've been 'ripped off' but I can assure you I am a completely honest person, and your accusatory tone in the previous two messages is uncalled for.

I am happy to transfer the price of a battery by paypal if you take the clock to a watch shop? Otherwise if you insist on a refund without first changing the battery, I will carry out your request.

Kind regards

Former Member

i think you are in the wrong tbh and should refund him. if i bought a watch as new id expect it to be working straight off, plus I dont think you should have mentioned the alarm bells if theyre not actually alarm bells.

Former Member

I disagree. If I purchased a new clock on eBay, and it was shipped to me, then I'd not expect the battery to be fitted. But I'd expect one to be included in the box.

It sounds like a case of the bidder not reading the listing properly. Do you have a link to the page, so we can see the listing description and a picture of the clock?

Chances are, whether you're in the wrong or not, that Paypal will find in favour of the buyer. eBay and Paypal are as bent as a corkscrew these days...

Former Member

To the OP - I think it's PICNIC (problem in chair, not in clock). If you were lucky enough to have taken a picture of the battery compartment, then you can Photoshop it with arrows / pointers and send it to the buyer. If you didn't have a clock rear picture, then see if you can google it for pictures on the net. For certain though, I'm siding with the OP.

Former Member

I have a clock like this - were you have to get a srewdriver to get it open, and TBH it's not rocket science!

I wouldn't expect a battery. I'm on your side with this one, it doesn't sound as if they have read what was written.

Former Member

SuzyCreamcheese wrote: »

i think you are in the wrong tbh and should refund him. if i bought a watch as new id expect it to be working straight off, plus I dont think you should have mentioned the alarm bells if theyre not actually alarm bells.

I used the term "decorative alarm bells" deliberately to distinguish between functional and decorative alarm bells.

This is the original description:

eBay wrote:

The clock is metallic blue with a green face and has red and yellow decorative alarm bells on top.

The clock was bought from the Harrods store in London and is high quality.

I honestly did not think a battery should be included - just like a manual, box etc were also not included. I have offered to pay for a battery anyway. Waiting for a reply now - trying to tread carefully as I can't afford to have negative feedback.

Former Member

It could go either way really. If you said "decorative alarm bells" and it didn't specifically say that there was no alarm, then a person could believe that there was an alarm on it. Personally I'm not sure why someone would make a clock with bells on it that don't actually work, but who understands clock makers these days, I mean it's a whole different world.

Personally, though, I think he's being a picky arse. There's no reason why you would have to include or even pay for a battery, and if he can't manage to open a compartment, well, there's no hope really.