TM dispute advise....

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mattwnz

20164 posts

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#2966286 12-Sep-2022 17:30

Batman:

if selling second hand always qualify with as is where is even if it's working

on the auction details never say that anything is working, or is good or anything

just post pics

for a few dollars and the hours you lose sorting cr!p out it's really not worth it

You often see auction houses who sell on trademe that do this. They also say they recommend people come to inspect it before buying if they need to . IMO it is important for PCs. I had one computer part sale go bad as they said part of it didn't work. I just refunded them and let them have it because it wasn't worth the hassle. I understand if peopel are selling computers on trademe intrade, they have to abide by the CGA, although I have seen some individual sellers who are obviously traders but sell computers as is where is, and reporting the to TM that they should be listed as a trader doesn't make any difference.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#2966291 12-Sep-2022 17:57

IME, TM do pretty much nothing when it comes to disputes except put you in touch with one another and let you battle it out.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

Kookoo

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#2966292 12-Sep-2022 18:01

Purely hypothetical - is your computer case slightly on the smaller side? Buyer buys it with the thought of doing a quick upgrade and slotting a 3080ti or similar in there. Takes out your card, slots in the 3080. It doesn't fit into the case. Tries forcing it, ends up breaking the PCIe slot.

Puts your card back in - "Hey, I'm getting no output!" - the rest is history.

Can't prove it though.

Hello, Ground!

neb

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#2966302 12-Sep-2022 18:42

SirHumphreyAppleby: They could simply claim the courier damaged the item.

That was my immediate reaction to seeing the photo of the damage, 1060s are fairly massive pieces of ironmongery, it could have been dropped by the courier which would put a lot of stress on the connectors. In particular if it was DOA I'd suspect "dropped by couriers" as the source of the damage.

Hammerer

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#2966323 12-Sep-2022 19:33

Shapenz:

Hey team - hoping to get some opinions on what you'd think is fair in this situation.

…

I'm wondering what you guys think would be a fair resolution in this situation? The PC was only $300 so not the end of the world but is going to be a pain to get rid of with all the broken bits.

…

TL:DR - buyer damaged a PC that I've taken back for faulty GPU.. what would you do to keep the buyer happy but also not end up with a junker.

In your original post you’ve asked at least three different questions which produce three different assessments. This makes it hard to tell which question is being commented on:

1. What do others think is fair?

To be impartial (=fair) about this then we have to assume that both parties are honest.

Personally, I think that there is not enough information provided to determine a fair outcome without making debatable assumptions. At a minimum, I’d want to see the TM feedback on each trader because that is so important in assessing the likelihood of dishonesty.

2. What is a fair resolution?

A fair resolution is different now you are in a Trade Me dispute claim. The nuances of your situation disappear and you are left with three realistic outcomes: give a refund, provide the working PC to the buyer (more difficult now it is actually broken), or prove that the buyer is dishonest (e.g. broke it) so you don’t have to give a refund.

If you want your evidence to be considered or a sharing of costs then you can’t rely on Trade Me and you have to be prepared to go to the Disputes Tribunal to resolve this. If you won’t go that far then you have to be prepared to refund.

It is too late to protect yourself against this situation which would have avoided the likelihood of an unfavourable outcome for you:

* Sell “As-Is” or “pick-up only” to minimise comebacks. But be aware that selling as-is won’t protect you from refund claims if there is any evidence that you have been dishonest about the item or it is damaged in transit.

* Photograph everything in the computer before it is sent and photograph your packing. Show that it was working the day it was sent.

* Check TM info on the buyer before the auction ends. At a minimum, I only sell to Authenticated bidders. I also remove bids and blacklisted potential buyers whose feedback shows they are more likely to be dishonest or more likely to be annoying/vexatious.

* If there is a dispute, be prepared to cut your losses as quickly as possible to maintain a good reputation on TM. What is most important to you - the money or your time/effort/peace? If money is most important then you will more often get bad TM feedback because bad financial outcomes won’t be acceptable to you.

3. “What would you do to keep the buyer happy but also not end up with a junker?”

Assuming the buyer is honest then the buyer is most likely to be happy with the working computer or with a complete refund.

If the buyer is not honest then the buyer is only going to be satisfied with a complete refund. For example, a dishonest buyer might have swapped the working GPU for a non-working one they wanted to replace for free.

So it will cost you money to keep the buyer happy and you might be stuck with a junker.

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