Anyone else been scammed by Ebuyer? Bought a CPU off of them in November as a Christmas present. Only found out yesterday it was defective when we opened the box and the pins were squished in the packaging. Ebuyer said they only offer RMAs on unopened items. Looking at the flood of negative reviews on Trust pilot it seems they are strapped for cash and refusing to pay out on any defective products. Also comments on Review.io saying they are black mailing negative reviewers to remove reviews before paying refunds.
I really didn't think ebuyer was such a crooked and scammy company. When did they go so dodgy?
I really didn't think ebuyer was such a crooked and scammy company. When did they go so dodgy?
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sorted byTrustpilot and other customer review sites inc. the like of reviews on Amazon are helpful, but you always have to filter and read the 1 and 2 star reviews. See what people are really complaining about, if it's just stuff like DOAs that were refunded, or slow postage, no big deal, but when you see multiple complaints about fights for refunds or no response from customer service, then you know to avoid.
Remember also that when you buy stuff, invitations to do a review are common, often incentivised with promises of being entered into a prize draw if you do leave a review, so you will get a lot of positive reviews from people who didn't have an issue. 4.3 is a garbage score on Trustpilot. I look at the negative reviews for all stores I don't know, but if it's anything less than 4.8 I'm really going to look closely to see what the recurring issues are. (edited)
They were once cheap and that was the main deal. In early 2000s they sold a lot of computer parts for extremely competitive prices. Returns were still hard going, faulty RAM etc. was a nightmare to return.
Once people started shopping there, prices went up and the same model of poor service remained.
It simply doesn't pay to be good at customer service, returns cost money. Look at how many people love to shop at Currys and few retailers in the UK have treated the public so poorly for so many decades. (edited)
I think their reputation goes back a very long way. Are these the mob that once upon a time posted pictures from inside their return dept. with a whiteboard in the background? I think they are, but someone may correct me... (edited)
That specific phrase is lacking in context to provide any beneficial meaning, as without context it implies that all order cancellations, 30-day rejections and any issues up to 6 years from purchase would not qualify for RMA assistance.
Consider at beyond 30 days but less than 6 months from an off-premises purchase delivery (your circumstance) there is no right to refund - the merchant is obligated to repair or replace at its preference; any offer of refund would be gesture of goodwill.
If your request for redress was exclusively for refund, ebuyer has appropriately discharged its obligations by declining the refund request, but it should have been responsive to a demand for repair(?) or likely more appropriate: replacement. There is no obligation to return (RMA) unless the merchant requests so.
Regardless, I empathise with your frustration if the merchant's support system is not conducive to appropriate resolution, and having used this merchant's RMA procedure I appreciate that it is not the best mechanism for promoting compliance to consumer rights.
When I first called to state I needed to open a return for a faulty product they asked for the date of purchase and stated then they only accept returns on unopened items in 30 days without even listening to the issue. The context is clear. They have told their staff to avoid returns at all costs, even if that is illegal.
I'm not really bothered if they refund or replace or repair for a like for like product with zero hours usage. I purchased a product and expect to receive a working fit for purpose product. The product is defective and they are legally obliged to redress the matter in some way, not say f off we have your money now and there is nothing you can do about it. The fact they promote an extended returns contract that is void as you have to open the product to ensure it is in working order according to their policy is a clear example they have deliberately designed a process in order to try to avoid their legal obligations. A warranty return contract that is by definition illegal and void under business law.
The fact other reviewers state they were contacted to say they would only get a refund if they removed the negative reviews is also a dishonest and possibly illegal practice.
Overall this paints a rather damning picture of their business model. I haven't used Ebuyer in quite a few years. They used to have a pretty good RMA process and I had returned defective monitors and hard drives in the past, we are talking 15-20 years ago. The shift to we only accept returns of unopened items within 30 days of purchase or defective items within 7 days of purchase and you can't use one of those without forfeiting the other is clearly in breach of at least 4 UK laws. Yet they are still trading, and operating like a criminal scammer on an auction site.
Not much I can do other than learn a valuable lesson, hand it to the bank to deal with and advise others to avoid them. I guarantee it will cost them far more in the long run than me. Looking at their unsettled debt charges I would say they can't really afford to lose business and adding fake or paid for reviews isn't putting money in their bank accounts.
I can personally say use any other retailer apart from them. If you do use them and need to return anything do not let them collect the item because they use Yodal who are about on par with Ebuyer a nightmare made in hell.
Ebuyer effectively stole £1200 off me. I used their returns system to return a GFX card and they advised me after leaving it sitting in their warehouse for 2 weeks that there was no Gfx card in the box but a pair of jeans. So either Yodel or an Ebuyer employee Stole it
WIth their bad attitude and extremely rude and poor customer services to out right telling lies to try and discredit me. They ran a sham of an investigation and had no intention of refunding me at all, so could very well be a scam they're running. I'm now looking at taking them to small claims court if I don't manage to recover my mkney any other way.
Ebuyer will not help you! They will definitely not be on your side. Buyer beware of them.