Bought kitchen tap from eBay Seller with 8 Year Warranty - 3 Years Later - Broken - But Seller Won't Respond - Am I Screwed?

loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:34

I bought a kitchen tap from an Australian seller on eBay.
When I first bought it, it had an 8 year warranty and I asked the seller to send me an invoice so that if there was anything wrong with it I could get the warranty.

They said, don't worry - if anything is wrong just send us the paypal receipt and we will cover it.

3 years later - guess what? It broke and now they are ignoring all my emails.

I asked eBay and of course - they say, it's nothing to do with them as they are only a platform. They say they contacted the seller, but the seller is ignoring them too.

They say I should go to the ACCC - but they won't give me any details of the seller other than the username. So I can't even take it to VCAT.

The tap was $110 and the seller on ebay is naturebathroom936

https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/naturebathroom936

I'm annoyed because eBay don't want to do anything, seems like their sellers can just do whatever they please without any repercussions. If ebay can't do anything about their own sellers - what hope do I have of getting any help at all?

Am I screwed?
Live and learn to never buy anything on ebay ever again?

Home & Garden

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Comments

  • dcep on 03/10/2019 - 12:37
    +6

    naturebathroom936 is based in China and have been selling on eBay since 2012.
    https://www.topratedseller.com/ebay/naturebathroom936

    • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:39

      I don't understand what you're trying to say?
      Could you give me a little more information to help me, thank you.

      • dcep on 03/10/2019 - 12:40

        does the paypal receipt has seller's address ?

        did you keep record of the Sender's address ?

        • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:49

          I have the paypal receipt but it doesn't have the seller address or anything. Not even a telephone number. Just email address and name.

          edit I didn't keep a record of the senders address (good thinking for the future!)

          • Joe Sixpack on 04/10/2019 - 13:16

            @loginid: Post a photo of it at imgur.com and I'll tell you how to fix it

      • [Deactivated] on 03/10/2019 - 13:07
        +8

        They're saying good luck with the ACCC.

    • Chandler on 04/10/2019 - 08:41
      +1

      Even says so on the sellers page:
      https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/207134/73074/capture.jpg

      OP - did you see item location as (somewhere in) Australia?

      Always click-through to the seller's page and check the location. I've reported quite a few sellers now that list item location as Oz, but seller is in China. They (usually) ship express from China to someone (usually in Chullora NSW) who then on-ships it to you (sometimes through AusPost, sometimes through courier).

      They're usually fast enough at it that any delay most people who don't check would just put to AusPost being slow.

  • onetwothreefour on 03/10/2019 - 12:37

    In what way did it break?

    • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:38

      I'm no plumber, so sorry if the terms are wrong, but the neck part has detached from the base part.

      • onetwothreefour on 03/10/2019 - 12:42

        Did it actually break or did the screw under the benchtop become loose?

        • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:49

          It actually has broken into two parts.

          • onetwothreefour on 03/10/2019 - 12:53
            +3

            @loginid: The reason I asked was I recently renovated my kitchen, I'm also not a plumber but I installed the new sink and tap myself.

            My tap came in two parts, the base and the neck, I siliconed the base to the benchtop to stop water getting under and the neck is just screwed tight to the benchtop so if the screw came loose then the neck would be loose and the base would still be stuck down.

            If it is actually broken then as Skramit says below just buy a new one and move on. Get one from Bunnings or Ikea and you'll have better luck claiming under warranty if things go wrong again.

      • Skramit on 03/10/2019 - 12:42
        +18

        So basically the doozie-wacker has come apart from the gizmo-thingi?

  • Diji1 on 03/10/2019 - 12:41
    +2

    If you paid with PayPal you could approach them.

    The ACCC or AU based rights Government departments cannot do anything if the seller is based overseas.

    • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:50

      That's why I thought I'd contact eBay - but they don't want to have anything to do with it.

  • Skramit on 03/10/2019 - 12:43
    +15

    Seriously, for $110, cut your losses and move on. If seller is not responding, you're gonna waste all this time and stress about a relatively small loss, which lasted 3 years anyway which isn't great but its not horrific either.

    • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 12:49
      +2

      I know what you're saying and I'm leaning towards that. But you know, it's kinda the principle.

      • Skramit on 03/10/2019 - 12:51
        +1

        Speaking from experience where a tradie stole my $750 deposit and vanished, its not worth the stress.

        VCAT will cost you $69 just to lodge the application. Which is not enforcable anyway, you then need to take the VCAT order to a magistrate which costs $149 lodgement fee….. you get the idea.

        Move on. $110 for 3 years is disappointing but it hardly exploded on you after 2 weeks.

    • dcep on 03/10/2019 - 12:51

      Nah, sue the seller to reimburse plumber's fee as well

  • brad1-8tsi on 03/10/2019 - 12:53
    +1

    How does the 8 year warranty compare to similar products at Reece or Tradelink. If most taps have an 8 year warranty then pursue it. If the generally have a 2 year warranty then just buy a new one.

    BTW: I bought a new wall set from Tradelink yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at the $69 they cost.

    • onetwothreefour on 03/10/2019 - 12:58
      +1

      Ikea has a 10 year warranty on the tap I bought from them recently.

      • ATangk on 03/10/2019 - 13:08

        The likelyhood that Ikea vs random ebay seller will do warranty though..

        • onetwothreefour on 03/10/2019 - 13:15

          Yeah you just have to weigh up the pros and cons of buying locally vs overseas, in this case the OP chose overseas which didn't end well so I'd recommend going locally for the replacement. You never know until you try though.

  • skid on 03/10/2019 - 12:55

    Do you know who is the manufacturer of the tap and do they have an Australian contact address or number? If not, chalk it up to a lesson learnt.

    • loginid on 03/10/2019 - 13:01

      Will double check that info tonight on the instructions, thanks for the tip.

  • redfox1200 on 03/10/2019 - 13:25
    +6

    just buy the same thing again, and return the broken one - not as described.

    • TheSmegger on 04/10/2019 - 09:30

      Not sure if dodgy workaround, or best way to deal with scumbag seller.
      Either way, I like it.

    • Spending2Much on 04/10/2019 - 17:34

      Best comment so far.

  • TEER3X on 03/10/2019 - 13:27
    +1

    Did you have a plumber install it?

    You have zero chance of getting anything back imo. What do you expect buying cheaply made crap?

    You're lucky it didn't leak and flood your house, then you'd really by farked.

  • Brooklyn on 03/10/2019 - 13:38
    -4

    Why not do this if the seller is still selling the same tap buy one then when it arrives put in a Paypal dispute that it arrived broken and you will get a new tap and a refund!No to mention some sense of justice!

    • [Deactivated] on 03/10/2019 - 13:46

      Fraud is not justice.

    • Ughhh on 04/10/2019 - 09:40

      Assuming posting a tap to China won't cost an arm and a leg…

  • ihbh on 03/10/2019 - 13:52
    +2

    When you bought the tap, how did you think they would deal with long term warranty issues? Ask you to post back the taps or send someone out to look at them?

  • Ocker on 03/10/2019 - 14:43
    +1

    After 3 years you will have no recourse via eBay or PayPal.
    Just put it down to experience, viz. when you buy products from China you should expect such issues.

  • garetz on 03/10/2019 - 16:08
    +2

    Warranty from overseas sellers is worth less than the effort it took for you to make this post, there is no government body that can hold them accountable, you got 3 years of use out of it, be happy and move on.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/10/2019 - 18:50

    Lol, op your dreamin.

  • Spun on 04/10/2019 - 01:53

    In my experience, warranty on items bought from ebay, unless it is manufacturers warranty or a big reputable seller, is absolutely worthless. They could specify a million year warranty and it would be just as valuable.

    In my case ebay wouldn't help me, nor would Paypal. The seller knew this and just ignored my attempts to resolve the issue.

    As a poster above said, live and learn.

  • Hirolol on 04/10/2019 - 07:30
    +1

    Next time say you need an invoice because you want to put it in your office kitchen or something.
    Don’t mention warranty

  • HeWhoKnows on 04/10/2019 - 09:12
    +1

    Warranties for goods bought through ebay are usless outside the ebay and Paypal protection periods.

    You should however approach the manufacturer if you have the original receipt and warranty certificate.

  • profar on 04/10/2019 - 09:32

    Normally a lot of businesses offering long warranties just shut down and rebirth .

  • Brendoo on 04/10/2019 - 19:02

    So you mean that 50 year warranty on the camera I just bought for $50 from a Chinese eBayer might not be valid years later? Nooooooooooooo

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