After sales abandon ship scenario

I had hoped that this blog would have come to some form of happy conclusion but it did not. I therefore decided to continue my story and let you come to your own conclusions.

For starters here are the details of the person who sold me the coffee machine that never worked.

Name:     Claudio Frontori
Email:     romacaffeservice@gmail.com
Address: Roma Caffe ̈ Service Di C. Frontori,
               VIA FIRENZE, 51
               00065 Fiano Romano 

               RM

               Italia

My last update to this story was that I had sent the machine for the 3^rd time to Mr Frontori. I used the same service (Mail boxes etc) and the same box with the same address as on the other two occasions.  This excludes any concerns one might have about a mistake in the address.

Date: 2014-04-23

I was logging into the Mail Boxes Etc system periodically and noticed that the item was not being collected. I therefore contacted Mr Frontori and asked him what was happening.

His email reply was that he was there and no one had arrived.

My reply was that if it arrived two other times I could not understand why it would not arrive now. I gave him Mail Boxes Etc’s contact number and the tracking number and asked him to contact the company to make arrangements with them.

He promised that he would do so.

Date: 2014-04-28

Two other failed delivery attempts are recorded. I contact Mail Boxes Etc and ask what the problem is. I am told that there is no one available to sign for the package. I give them Mr Frontori’s number (they confirm that they have it) maybe the problem can be resolved telephonically.

Mail Boxes Etc promise to call me back.

Date: 2014-04-30

Mail Boxes Etc call me to tell me that they are having problems with the delivery. They made contact with Mr Frontori who always promises he will be there but never is.

I email Mr Frontori giving him an update and asking for clarification. He denies not wanting to pick up the machine and accuses Mail Boxes Etc of a cockup at their end. He does not reply to my question asking whether he had contacted Mail Boxes etc.

Date: 2014-05-06

Mail Boxes Etc send me a standard email to tell me that after numerous failed attempts to deliver the package the package will be returned to destination and I would have to pay to collect it.

Date: 2014-05-07

Mail Boxes Etc phone to ask me what they should do with the machine. I decided to cut my loses and instruct them to dispose of it.

Conclusion

If eBay had a proper after sales rating maybe this unhappy story would not have been written. Unfortunately without this system in place you will never be protected against suppliers who are cunning enough to let eBay’s vendor rating system expire (ensuring it cannot be set to negative). 

You really have two options available to you:

• Do not use eBay for your purchases
• Use eBay but never rate sellers. You will still get short changed by vendors such as Roma Caffe ̈ Service Di C. Frontori but at least you have the virtual satisfaction that you did not positively rate a crooked vendor.

Improvements to eBay

This blog documents a personal experience of how eBay is not there to ensure that sellers offer the after sales service they either promise voluntarily or are obliged to offer as a minimum under various country jurisdictions. Many vendors know about this loophole and once their sale becomes immune to negative feedback or financial repercussions (a matter of weeks) they just jump the boat.

Photo source: http://www.pantherarchery.com/

Here are some system re-engineering suggestions that will support a proper after sales mechanism:

1. Sellers will have a field where they can specify the guarantee/warranty they offer – I’ll use the term guarantee to mean either in this article. If a particular item must have a minimum guarantee as this is imposed by the laws of the country than the seller would not be able to specify a value less than the minimum value.
2. Until the guaranty period is over, buyers should be able to log multiple instances of any communication with sellers regarding after sales matters. This feature will allow other buyers and sellers to work out what products are problematic. This function may also be used to recall a product because of health and safety issues.
3. Once the guarantee period expires, eBay will send an email to the buyer asking the same to rate the guarantee. Not only could this prove to be an effective way to stay in touch with people who may have dropped eBay off their purchasing radar but would give people an opportunity to rate sellers for after sales. If a buyer does not rate a seller within the pre-announced deadline, eBay would automatically rate the vendor as having respected its after sales obligations.
4. Just like the existing star rating, guarantees can be used by buyers to select better sellers than others based on after sales.  It will also benefit professional sellers as this will give them the edge over sellers who are there simply to dump goods and hide. I can’t help noticing the number of sellers who make it a point to tell buyers not to leave negative feedback but to talk to them first so that matters can be resolved.  This after sales rating would have a similar effect.
5. All acquisitions can be called up for at least 12 months. If a seller (or country legislation) offers a longer guarantee on a particular item, then this should be extended to cover the promised duration. Buyers will have the option to archive transactions in order to facilitate the management of their purchases. Both buyers and sellers must be able to recall the exact page details they viewed when they won the buy it now or bid.
6. All messages related to successful transactions are retained for the same period. Unlike what happens today, buyers should be able to contact a seller for the duration of the guarantee. This ensures that:
1. Buyers and sellers do not move out of eBay for any part of the transaction. Before the sale is concluded, eBay make it a point that everything is done within their confines, so why shouldn’t they retain the same policy after they have taken their fee?
2. If there are problems, eBay will have access to the entire exchange. This gives all parties more peace of mind.
3. It demonstrates that eBay is there for sellers and buyers for the entire transaction.

Conclusion: eBay and After Sales do not go together. (EN)

eBay is a great site to purchase stuff provided all goes well. eBay stops being great when you have a problem with a purchase made through them.

They are simply not geared up to support a transaction that needs to be maintained after the 30 day transaction has been concluded and this is reflected in the fact that buyers can no longer call up a purchase they made a few weeks before.

Here in the EU we hear a lot of rhetoric about consumer rights and millions of tax payer's money are spent all across all member states telling them how many rights they have. Yet these rights do not seem to apply to transactions that take place on mega sites such as eBay.

Can it be a case of small fish yes, big fish no? And let's face it eBay is a case of big fish.

My exchange with ebay (EN)

Customer Support Chat Transcript - SR# 1-25026926492

(the transcript has been edited to focus on salient points).

eBay: 
Welcome to eBay Live Help. How may I assist you today? 

me: 
OK. Full details of my problem are at: http://empire267.blogspot.com/. The short of it is that I purchased a refurbished coffee machine with 1 year guarantee from a seller for Euro 105. The machine never worked and I have had to pay out almost Euro 60 to ship the machine over 3 times. I think this is unfair and that I shouldn't have to carry this additional expenditure. 

eBay:
I understand how upsetting this must be for you, could you be so kind as to give me the item number in question? 

me: 
Item no is 181162537046. 

eBay:
I have checked the details of the purchased for the coffee machine and see here that it was paid July 2013. Because it’s been over 30 days since you purchased this item, we will not be able to cover you under eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. what I suggest that you do now is continue communicating with the seller to resolved this issue. 

me:
And keep forking out money. Leo, as I said in my blog on the matter; eBay is not geared up to support after sales service. 

eBay and After Sales Service (EN)

eBay is a massive selling site. Yet how does it rate for after sales service? A few weeks after to goods arrive and feedback is given one is no longer able to even call up the page listing the purchase. How does this conform to consumer rights? What happens when a product develops a problem a few months after the transaction has been concluded or, as happened here, the after sales service is proving to be poor and very costly?

Introduction

The purchase is that of a refurbished Lavazza LB1000 coffee machine advertised as having a 1 year guarantee.  For the record I own a Lavazza LB1000 as well as a Lavazza LB800 coffee machine (I needed this machine for another location). I am familiar with their functioning.

The purchase

Below is the only information that remains on eBay after the purchase was concluded.  eBay deletes these transactions from buyer’s account a mere 4 months after the sale is concluded. In an era of big data and massive cloud storage what interest does eBay have to skimp on making transactions permanently available?

Macchina caffè Lavazza BLUE LB1000 RIGENERATA + GARANZIA
Item Id:	181162537046

The seller is called empire267 and has been an eBay member since 27 July 2006. He is based in Italy. The eBay item Id is 181162537046.

A total of Euro 105 was paid for the machine and shipping. Below is the PayPal transaction.

Package #1

The machine arrived. It was packed with expired hard plastic capsules and flattened cardboard boxes.

After unpacking the machine I noticed that this machine, unlike the other ones I own was crushing capsules and was not working well.

I sent to the vendor photos of the crushed capsules and after an exchange of message he asked me to return the machine.

I packed the machine in industrial wrapping and bubble wrapped it and sent it to the vendor at a cost of Euro 20 (copy attached). I also included a coffee capsule asking him to try the machine before shipping it out again.

Total cost of transaction up to this point: Euro 105 + Euro 20 = Euro 125.

I received the fixed machine. The vendor informed me that he had replaced a part, sending me the part that was replaced.

Package #2

The machine arrived for the second time packed in crushed carton boxes with little or no proper bubble wrapping that I think is necessary for an object of this size and weight. The coffee capsule I had sent was returned unused.

Yet again the machine did not work and after an exchange with the Claudio Frontori the vendor I was asked to resend the machine yet again. For the second time I packed the machine using packing film and layers of bubble wrap rather than the crushed carton boxes and sent it off. The cost was Euro 20 (document attached).

Total cost of transaction up to this point: Euro 105 + Euro 20 + Euro 20 = Euro 145.

Package #3

This time round the machine arrived damaged. I communicated with eBay seller empire267, Claudio Frontori sending him the photos (attached).

In an email I sent I explained that I was out of the country and would be in Italy in March. I mentioned that this machine had cost me and additional Euro 60 and I would like a refund. The vendor did not reply.

I posted the machine for a third time at a cost of Euro 17 (shipping document attached).

Total cost of transaction up to this point: Euro 105 + Euro 20 + Euro 20 + Euro 17 = Euro 162.

As things stand

Upon posting the machine I emailed the vendor. This time he replied that he could only change the machine or fix it. I am upset that he communicated this after the machine was sent. I informed him that I want to take the matter up with eBay as I felt that it was his negligence both with packing the machine and with not testing that a machine worked correctly before he shipped it out to clients that had cost me almost Euro 60. I expect that he picks up the tab for the additional postage.

For Euro 162 I would have purchases a brand new machine. What guarantees do I have that it will work this time round? What guarantees do I have that this will arrived packed well? What happens if it arrives in a non-functioning state?

I have passed on this document to eBay and will update it with their reply.