Legal action against Austrian Customer for retention of unpaid goods?
Hello,
if someone cold point me in the right direction it would be apricated.
I had customer purchase an an item from me for 192.00 euro’s, not sure why but the courier took longer than expected and despite me positively stalling the customer with tracking updates etc who was asking for refund they went to AtoZ and were immediately refunded by Amazon, and approx 7 days later the goods were tracked and delivered.
I did appeal to Amazon to advise the goods were delivered with all the tracking info but my appeal was rejected.
The customer is refusing to let me arrange collection or even pay for the item.
So where does this leave me ??
Do i start with contacting Austrian Police?
Other legal methods???
Thoughts anyone??
Chris.
Legal action against Austrian Customer for retention of unpaid goods?
Hello,
if someone cold point me in the right direction it would be apricated.
I had customer purchase an an item from me for 192.00 euro’s, not sure why but the courier took longer than expected and despite me positively stalling the customer with tracking updates etc who was asking for refund they went to AtoZ and were immediately refunded by Amazon, and approx 7 days later the goods were tracked and delivered.
I did appeal to Amazon to advise the goods were delivered with all the tracking info but my appeal was rejected.
The customer is refusing to let me arrange collection or even pay for the item.
So where does this leave me ??
Do i start with contacting Austrian Police?
Other legal methods???
Thoughts anyone??
Chris.
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
Whilst you have the legal right to take action against a customer, it is explicitly against Amazon’s T&C’s to do so.
I know from experience that I received a warning for doing exactly this.
And I’m certain, that repeat offences will result in a loss of the account.
The correct route in this instance, is to take legal action against Amazon themselves.
After all, it’s Amazon that has made the decision and refunded your money, NOT the customer.
Even though they have actually benefited from it.
Is it really worth taking the chance on losing your entire account over a few hundred pounds, when there are alternatives?
33 replies
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
If you take legal action against the customer, you will endanger your selling account.
So I would advise against doing so.
However, if you have lost the A-Z, you need to first escalate it to the MD’s office.
If that fails, you can then sue Amazon for it instead.
Seller_OfnTxzNYVdNUj
It sounds as though the delivery was late by more than 7 days.
Your time maybe more productively spent chasing the courier for compensation as they are at fault here.
Not saying it will work but it is worth a try…
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
I have read in other forums where the seller has apologised for the delay and tried to arrange collection for the order. Failing that the seller has issued an invoice giving the customer 14 days to return the order failing this they passed the debt onto a debt collecting agency.
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
If the seller has no recourse for action it would appear to be an unfair term. You cannot have a policy which allows the customer to receive both a refund and keep the goods. It would mean every delayed order would give the buyer the right to a full refund and receive their order late.
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
Indeed but those are the terms you as a seller have agreed to.
Not that it doesn’t stop you taking action against the buyer. And you would likely be able to fight Amazon under UK law should they remove your account. It al comes down to, so you want to lose your account?
Seller_77IcbQKVGdZo0
Whilst it maybe an unfair term it does give Amazon the right to take action against you then you have to fight for reinstatement of your account. It is not advisable to do.
The current A-Z policy says that Amazon will find in the buyer’s favour if the item is delivered late. It is very much geared to the customer at the moment.
With the policies in place it is unlikely the OP will get this overturned by appeal or the MD. The only options are to claim from the courier or take legal action against Amazon to recover the funds.
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
I would be surprised if they would actually defend a claim for 192.00 euros. I read on the on the forum some have been successful.
To draft the particulars of claim would be a few hundred pounds alone. Since its a international claims order maybe more?
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
Who would defend a claim? The issue is if you make a claim against the customer, amazon can, from the terms of the business agreement shutter your account.
That’s why people claim against amazon instead, as amazon will as you say likely not fight a claim of that size.
Seller_QVpjrN1BsybDT
The question of sellers taking legal action against buyers has come up on this forum many times. Very often the advice given here is “if you take action against a buyer your account may be suspended”
I am always uneasy with this advice.
What if you go into Tesco and have your wallet taken by a pickpocket.? You apprehend the pickpocket and want to prosecute him for theft. Would you be happy if , first of all , Tesco refuse to give you any help (eg wont show you video footage ) and then say you cant take any action against the alleged pickpocket because if you do we’ll bar you from all our stores.
I am not a lawyer and do not know the law on the subject but I will be amazed if there is not some sort of “restrictive practise” type law which would prevent this sort of thing.
Have there been any instances of sellers actually losing their accounts specifically for taking legal action against buyers?
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
Whilst you have the legal right to take action against a customer, it is explicitly against Amazon’s T&C’s to do so.
I know from experience that I received a warning for doing exactly this.
And I’m certain, that repeat offences will result in a loss of the account.
The correct route in this instance, is to take legal action against Amazon themselves.
After all, it’s Amazon that has made the decision and refunded your money, NOT the customer.
Even though they have actually benefited from it.
Is it really worth taking the chance on losing your entire account over a few hundred pounds, when there are alternatives?
Seller_QVpjrN1BsybDT
But my point is that this particular T&C is itself dubious if not actually illegal.
I repeat - are there any actual instance where people have been suspended. I am fairly certain that if there were a rash of court cases where Amazon were shown to be enforcing a T&C of this type questions would be asked of them…
This is always the problem when dealing with a bully. If nobody does anything then scammers will continue to thrive
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
But by pursuing Amazon legally, you are doing something aren’t you?
Which is the whole point.
It avoids the potential loss of account entirely.
And I’ll say it again, I have been warned over doing this. And that’s as far as I’m willing to take it.
And I can’t imagine that anyone who has hit first base on this one, wants to try their luck any further.
So if you want to pursue customers, you can do. But the potential issues are simply not worth the money.
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
You obviously don’t like someone disagreeing with you.
Whilst I understand what your saying, your not listening to what I’m saying.
If you don’t like it, then you need to do something about it! Not just talk about it.
What have you done? I’ve taken a customer to court and won!
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
The question arises whether you would except a late delivery having received a full refund or whether you were informed to just keep the item as well as the refund. The buyer has the option to refuse delivery having received a full refund but instead decided to keep the late delivery also.
If the seller had advised the buyer since you have received a full refund please return the order by refusing the late delivery is another matter. By refusing to accept the fact that a late delivery which is beyond a seller control does not give an automatic right to have a full refund and accept a late delivery. We all know as retail customers ordering online is never 100% delivered on time.
On personal note if I wanted something on a specific day then I would have a contingency plan in the event the order isnt delivered.
Interms of voliations many sellers tend to discover this after the event such.
