I bought a turbo off Ebay:
Renault laguna 1.9 dci turbo
The seller took ages to post it even though I asked him to send it asap as I was waiting for it. When it arrived, it was very poorly wrapped and the box had split but the turbo itself was unharmed as it was still wrapped in bubble wrap. It had the compressor inlet and outlets taped-up to prevent debris gettin gin but when I took the tape, off, the impellor was damaged. There is damage to all of the vanes with chunks missing.
I contacted the seller through Ebay and he asked for photos, which I sent him. He then decided that it wasn't actually his turbo, but one he was selling for a mate and he'd "though about taking the tape off to check it, but didn't bother".
He suggested that I simply fit another impellor. I said that wasn't viable as it would need a complete comp/turbine/shaft kit at over £100. He now wants photo's of both turbos together as I "may be pulling a fast one".
I his latest message, he's said if his mate is happy that the turbo he sent is faulty, he'll refund my money, but not the postage for sending it to me, or for me sending it back.
If he refunds me the £123 cost of the turbo and I don't get the postage refunded, am I supposed to take a £40 hit for his mistake?
Suggestions...??

its a bu66er but yes I think you have to take the hit for postage. I'd report it through ebay as it was clearly not as described

And what happens if I post it off to the seller and he refuses to refund me?!!

you can always personally deliver it back! that may make him more interested in giving you a refund. it was sold as good used condition and its not why should you have to pay the postage for his cockup.

hes got 100% ebay feedback so chances are he is not going to want to have a bad mark against him.

[Edited on 12/3/2014 by ashg]

I once drove from Whitby to Preston to get some bits that a bloke said he'd posted but it would take me over five hours to drive to Pontypool.....

If you paid for it using Paypal you should be OK to get it sorted through Ebay. If not???

Report back on progress as I see he has quite a few other items for sale on Ebay so if he does much about we can all take it in turns to muck him about with lots of hard to answer questions on all his stuff, reporting for discrepancies between the description and photos etc....

Raise a not as described dispute, paypal will freeze all funds until it is resolved, which should spur them on to get it sorted...

As others have said, you will have to pay to send it back but you should expect a full refund including postage cost as it is not as described. I would say that if the seller is being a pain about it do as others have said and open a dispute with paypal, they will ask for proof that you have sent it back and if the seller refuses to refund they will do it themselves.

Not at all your fault Owelly, nor do I condone his behaviour…

However, in my pessimistic british way - I would have been incredibly dubious about the photos of the turbo with the tape on.

I would have insisted on seeing photos without the tape… Just me not trusting anyone I suppose

Same happened to me, purchased a good turbo, upon inspection it had ingested something that had bashed the impellers seller was an arse so lost out.

If he's reluctant to have returned the chances of it even being collected from a post office when he refuses to sign are limited, all you can do is get a pay pal refund and suck it up I'm afraid.

All you have to do is start a dispute with paypal. Tell them it's too heavy to send back. Most of the time you get the full money back.

I think says it all. The serial numbers match those on his piccies. I've sent him this picture and some of both turbos together. I'll see what he says before getting on the Paypal/Ebay roundabout.

buggered turbo...

I have found that starting the dispute asap works well.

Oooh that's nasty! In my experience with Ebay if you raise a dispute they'll repay whatever you originally paid (including postage) but you have to pay to return it. I tried the "if you want this POS back you can come and collect it" but Ebay said I had to return it to the seller even though the item in question was scrap and would have just been binned. Caveat emptor and all that.

I'm too trusting! I should know better at my age but I never learn. I've been bitten by fellow LCBers but I still trust complete strangers!!
Ebay dispute started. Lets see what happens.....

The seller has offered me a partial refund of £100. I've accepted it so as not to waste any more time on the matter. The alternative was for me to package up the turbo and pay for it to be returned and then I'd have no turbo and no £143. The bloke could have messed me around until the cows came home and life is too short. Not quite wasted £43 as I'll probably fit it and wait for it to go pop and in the meantime, rebuild the one I took off.