Until today I only had positive experiences on Ebay. But last week I bought a 1039 bracelet that on arrival turned out to be 20mm on one end and only 19mm on the other. To complicate things, the seller is from the UK while I am from Germany. I understood that I can either open a dispute with Ebay or with PayPal (that I used for payment). I have not yet contacted the seller. What would you guys recommend? Thanks for advice, Georg Edit: picture added
First contact the seller, if you have no joy with them open a dispute through ebay. I had an issue a couple of months ago, I live in Saudi and the seller in Italy. Seller did not want to listen and Ebay ruled in my favour.
You mean the endlinks are 20mm on one and and 19mm on the other? If that's the case and its a no.6 on the other end you could probably sell that and get a 516 with cash left over
Contact the seller first, you may not actually have a dispute until you have feedback from the seller regarding your issue.
You could always use it to link a modern Speedmaster on one end to a vintage Speedmaster on the other and display it on the wall as art.
Even if you try to initiate a dispute through eBAY they will require you to first contact the seller. You will need to initiate the process through the resolution center. I was able to get my full payment back a number of times for items not delivered. Since your item is not as described you should not have a problem.
No, it was without endlinks (I have two correct 516 endlinks), it's the last link that's narrower. Looks like it's half 1039 and half 1035.
Definitely contact the seller first. People assume that eBay's full of folk trying to screw you over as soon as they have your money. A lot of sellers are great and will happily accept a return if it's not as described.
I'm planning to contact the seller, just wasn't sure if that should go through the ebay functionality "Item not as described" (is this opening the dispute already?) or just write him a note? Also in case we cannot reach an agreement, I understood that opening the dispute through PayPal would be easier for cross border issues? Any experience on that?
Send him a note and describe the issue and asking for a refund on your money after he receives the strap back. Perhaps even offer to speak on the phone if seller is unclear about your problem with the item. If that does not resolve the issue then file a formal dispute. The best resolution might be through your credit card company (if that is how you paid via paypal). Also, these are not mutually exclusive things so you can file a dispute on eBay, paypal and the credit card company at the same time.
I would talk to the seller through conventional messages before opening up a "not as described" case. Opening up a case is, in my experience, an aggressive move. He doesn't cooperate, go ahead and open the case. I believe Ebay requires that you use their resolution center. Maybe others can chime in.
And if we reach an agreement, I suppose he has to transfer the money first, before I return the watch (insured and registered delivery as it came)
Agreed. eBay message first, then a dispute if he doesn't reply or refuses. In my experience, I've sent the item back first (always tracked and insured), and the seller has refunded once they received the item back.
Not entirely true. Once you initiate a cc charge-back PayPal and eBay will wash their hands. Charge-back trumps all and should be an absolute last resort.
Then in that case ebay and paypal first mindful of the chargeback deadline so you can go that route if the initial ebay/paypal dispute is not resolved in your favor.
I did not use credit card through PayPal, so this is not an option anyway, but I thought I understood that also PayPal and eBay are mutually exclusive? I have intentionally not disclosed the details of the sale/seller, as at this moment I still assume that he might not have noticed this issue. He also has a 3-digit number of 100% positive feedbacks (majority for watches and watch spares). Anyway, I have sent the friendly request now, let's see what happens.