E Bays Responsw to something that could kill you or your horse!!!

TheEngineer

TheEngineer

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Some of you may have read my post re: Dangerous clippers on E Bay and I feel the need to share their response with you all. Bear in mind that I contacted E Bay and told them a seller was selling a product that did not comply with UK electrical regulations and could kill its user. This was their reply, so bear this in mind with any product you wish to purchase and observe their "dont give a damm attitude"!!

Hello,

Thank you for writing back to us about item (320277483606) PET ANIMAL
HORSE CATTLE CLIPPER SKIN CARE KITS 160W that you reported to us.

I can understand your frustration at the item not being removed, and
would like to explain further why we didn't remove it.

First let me reassure you that it's our top priority that eBay remains a
safe and reputable place to shop. We appreciate you taking the time to
send your report and we fully investigate any reports that we receive.

After carefully reviewing this item's description and images we
concluded that the item the seller describes in the listing doesn't
breach eBay policy.

It's clear from your email that you're confident this seller is selling
an item that breaches eBay policy via an apparently innocent listing.
However, since we don't possess or examine any of the items listed for
sale, we can only base our judgement on the information included in the
listing itself.

If you have material proof that this seller has sent or intends to send
an illegal item to a buyer, please don't hesitate to contact the police.
eBay will always fully cooperate with police investigations.

Thank you again for your report and for your help in keeping eBay a safe
place to buy and sell. Please continue to report any listings that you
suspect breach eBay policy.

Kind regards,

Ita Gray
eBay Trust & Safety

So if any of you are killed or maimed by a product sold via e bay, this is the response you can expect!!
 
Oh, I forgot to add, that I mailed the seller and informed him of the faults with the machine and politeley suggested he remove them from sale, so not only do E Bay not give a damm, neither does the seller!!
 
Could you obtain - one way or another - some clippers from this seller, then give them to Trading Standards to examine. Surely, TS would have an obligation to force ebay to remove them.
 
To fair, I don't think the onus should be on ebay to check all items sold on the site as they are not endorsing any products simply providing a means of trading. It's no different to buying something at an auction or car boot sale. The responsibility should lie with the purchaser to check the suitability of their purchases. Is anybody really stupid enough to believe that a set of clippers can be safely produced for £12?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is anybody really stupid enough to believe that a set of clippers can be safely produced for £12?

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, the answer seems to be YES
crazy.gif
 
i have to agree with the engineers assessment of ebays attitude, particularly if a the other party is a power seller or shop.
last december i ordered a camera (quite a flash one) from a power seller. It said the item was in the UK, the setter was registered in the UK (apparently) and there was a britsh customer service number. i do alot of ebaying (or i did then) and had a 100% feedback score so i check that sort of thing.
anyway the item did not arrive on time and when it didnt i called the number provided which diverted to a foreign place. I expect you all know where this story is going.....!!
anyway when the thing finally got to me it turned out to b an asian copy, and worse than that the charger etc were not a plug system i have ever sen in Europe or the USA/Canada and some sort of travel plug converter was included in the box.
I complained to the seller, asked for a refund, left the appropirate feedback and went through the channels to bring this to ebays attention. They couldnt have cared less, i got no response from either them or the sellers despite repeated attempts until in desperation, i quite openly bid on an another of their items so high i couldnt fail to win it and told them in advance i was having a laugh and had no intention of paying for it. my dispute with them had been runnig for at least a month by then. however it only took five minutes after the end of the auction for them to report me and less than an hour for ebay to give me a years ban.
in the end i took the camera to the official manufacturers here who checked it out , they said without dismantling it they culdnt tell for certain but they did give me the appropriate chargers and cables. this still didnt persuade ebay.
part of this nearly £500 pound purchase was a large memory card which looked real so i used it but I suppose no-one will be surprised if i tell you that it gave up the ghost unexpectedly less than six months later. as it was full of show pictures for a report i was doing at the time i wasnt too impressed that neither i or a tech friend could retrieve them. That didnt convince ebay either though even if you buy an own brand memeory card from tesco its guaranteed for a year.
There will be many people who have had no trouble with ebay and i hadnt til then but when my ban is up, i will never buy anything electrical from them via a powerseller or shop that does not have a uk based address that i can visit. A box number is a bad sign.
 
I am sorry to hear of your bad experience but that is exactly why I never buy from eBay. I can't say what I really think on here because of libel laws but eBay don't want people to contact them when they have problems is all I shall say.
 
I have to say that as an Internet seller they have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the end user, whether it be for business or personal use, I dont know how they can do it, perhaps FORCE people to take pictures of the BSEN number (not sure if thats right), then we would know that it is less likely to be fake, if the item doesnt have this, we can all go and winge to paypal! Personally, they could... if they wanted block the SELLERS ip address to their website, that way it would make it more difficult for them to sell!
x
Without upsetting admin... I feel a hate campaign coming on haha
 
Well, just to let you all know, they are still pontificating and the clippers are still for sale! Whilst I would agree slightly with "Kanter", that one cannot expect E Bay to check every item on its site for sale, that is not the issue. The issue is, they have been told and are not doing something about it. They have recently been on the receiving end of massive fines in France for allowing counterfeit goods to be sold on their site, perhaps that should have taught them a lesson? However, I am of the same opinion of "Lucretia" over E Bay, I used them for a while, but found they are very quick to cover up for bad sellers, but also very quick to ban buyers who try and get some retribution. I think it is about time that Trading Standards made E Bay responsible for everything sold via its site, then we might see a cleaning up of their act!

IMHO, of course...
 
its nice to know i am not a special case. i have to say i couldnt have tried harder to resolve the issue peaceably and i have discovered that the seller in my case uses what i can only describe as 'strong arm' tactics if you leave bad feedback for them, which ebay didnt care about either, so their rating looks better than it is after they 'persuade' people to withdraw their bad comments.
 
I agree about E-bay bieng run by t*ssers. Im not judging peopl but, Lets home the USA crowd get a pair, cause if they go wrong for them; WELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be a case for Judge Judy

thegodfathervu0.gif
 
Trading Standards have a "hot line" to ebay - they got a fraud problem sorted out for me after weeks and weeks of ebay saying it didn't infringe their policies. One TS phone call and they refunded me within 24 hours - for us mere mortals there are shades of heads and brick walls.
Speak to your local ones - a swift phone call from them will probably sort it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have to say that as an Internet seller they have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the end user

[/ QUOTE ]

They are not sellers, though, they are just providing a place to trade. The fault, if any, is with the vendor.

What if you saw a horse advertised in Horse and Hound as a quiet ride, but you had seen it rear. Would you expect H & H to withdraw the advert?
 
The nearest equivalent is a market hall - do owners not have a duty to ensure that the sellers within their space are acting within the law? I suspect they do, as facilitators.
 
I think the main point, is that they have been alerted and ignored my comments. Ok i could be a "sour grapes" competitor, but they must have a "duty of care" to their customers to investigate?
 
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