The seller makes me pay the return shipping costs for the warranty
Summary: The discussion concerns an issue with return shipping costs for a warranty claim. narzoth90 raises the issue and seeks help. actar80, marioelegio, and marcokarma take part in the conversation, offering responses and possible solutions or viewpoints on the procedure and the consumer's rights. One participant adds information over time, but the specific content of the replies is not available.
Hello, good morning. On 8/8/2023 I bought a gate remote control that worked for a while. For the past few days it seems not to work anymore; I can reprogram it, but it no longer opens the gate, so I immediately contacted the seller to make use of the warranty since only a few months have passed, but he (a professional seller) is making me pay the shipping costs to send it back to him, check it, and then possibly send me a new one free of charge. My question is: in this case shouldn’t the shipping costs be paid by the seller since it is a lack of conformity?? Or do I have to pay them anyway??
Looking around on eBay I haven’t been able to find anything and I don’t know what to do, not even how to contact eBay itself since more than 90 days have passed and it doesn’t appear in the purchases list (from the support form).
Thank you very much to anyone who will help me!
marcokarma
·1 year agoTo elaborate on the answer with the legal terms updated to 2025, pursuant to Legislative Decree 206/2005 (Legislative Decree of 6 September 2005, no. 206) and subsequent amendments and additions (which substantially change the numbering of the articles), the so-called Consumer Code, in Article 135-ter, paragraph 1/a - whose interpretation is specified in Article 128, paragraph 2/p - the seller is obliged to reimburse the consumer also for the costs incurred for shipping the defective item to the seller itself.
This answer of mine is clearly aimed more at those who find this discussion through an internet search than at the original poster.
raffaolly
·5 months agoBy law, shipping costs under warranty are the seller's responsibility
narzoth90
OP2 years agoThanks a lot for the replies, I pointed this out to the seller but he keeps telling me that according to HIS FAQ he is not required to pay the return shipping costs, even under warranty... Everyone makes up their own rules.
marioelegio
·2 years agoThe law there is only one, Legislative Decree No. 206 of September 6, 2005
https://www.codicedelconsumo.it/
What I had attached to you before is an excerpt from Articles 130 and 132
Report it to the competition authority (AGCM) for unfair commercial practices.... https://www.agcm.it/segnala-online/
hi
mario
narzoth90
OP2 years agoFirst of all, thank you so much for the reply. But eBay's policies seem pretty absurd to me because I can understand making people pay shipping costs if they don't like an item, but not for sending it in for warranty repair. Unfortunately I didn't pay with PayPal, but from what you're telling me I would have had to pay the return shipping costs anyway. So I'll have to find a service that doesn't cost me too much. Thanks so much for the reply
actar80
·2 years agoSorry but you need to consider that eBay doesn’t sell anything, it’s just a platform that provides its space, its services, etc. to sellers (who pay the base commissions + those for any additional optional services) and buyers, so it is not responsible for items it does not sell.
eBay offers its 30-day guarantee in the event of non-conformity of the item, non-delivery, etc.
The only one responsible for the legal warranty remains the professional seller, who is not obliged to bear the double shipping costs (sending and return) for items under warranty.
I repeat, it’s as if you were shipping an item, even of a well-known brand, to the service center outside the city; they do the repair, but the shipping costs are on you, unless the warranty specifically provides otherwise for that type of product.
marioelegio
·2 years agoFor commercial warranty, the one handled on behalf of the brand by service centers, you would be right in saying that shipping costs are borne by the buyer.
For legal warranty, the one that the professional seller with a registered office in a EU country is required to provide, on the other hand, even return and reshipment costs would be borne by the seller.
The seller must:
The problem is forcing the seller to comply with EU laws (obviously impossible to do for sellers outside the EU).
bye
mario
actar80
·2 years agoOk, thanks Mario for your clarification. So if you're within the first six months, as in this case, the costs are borne by the seller, but the problem, as you already said, is getting the sellers to comply with the regulations.
actar80
·2 years agoPS: I’m pointing you back to Mario’s post, where he posted the regulations in detail.
Since it’s within the first 6 months after the sale in which the defect occurred, you would be entitled to free shipping costs, but the problem is getting the seller to comply with the regulations.
actar80
·2 years agoIt's true that the seller must provide you with support for the 24-month warranty, but the return and/or replacement timeframe provided for in the eBay warranty, which includes a return label at the seller's expense, has expired.
You are entitled to take advantage of the warranty, but here the seller's sales conditions come into play, since this is an item delivered new and working, but which has broken down over time.
I'll give you one example: if you buy a camcorder from a well-known brand at a small shop and then the camcorder breaks after 1 year, if you don't have the brand's service center in the city (there are fewer and fewer of them) where you can take the item yourself, you'll have to bear the costs of sending it to the center outside the city.
If, on the other hand, you buy the camcorder from an electronics chain that provides after-sales support (for example Mediaworld), you can hand the item over to them, and they will send it and return it to you, bypassing the costs and procedures needed to claim the 24-month warranty.
actar80
·2 years agoI could tell you that if you paid with Paypal you could file a claim via Paypal for a non-functioning item since you have 180 days from payment, but in any case you would pay the return shipping costs since Paypal, at the end of 2021, changed some of its contractual conditions, eliminating the reimbursement of return shipping costs.
actar80
·2 years agoFirst of all, to find the items purchased before the last 90 days, you need to go to purchase history and choose from the menu "View orders" on the right all purchases from the current year. You can see up to 2 previous years before the current one.
By default, only purchases made in the last 2/3 months are displayed.