High volume seller holding goods I've paid for to ransom till I pay rural and won't refund

Kia Ora Blanche,

Have you run your address through the Poste Haste address checker to see for yourself?

Your Seller is correct in they provided the terms of sale in their Listing - By purchasing you have agreed to those terms - this is a legal binding contract - However, if you pull out of the purchase the Seller cannot keep your money - this must be paid back to you. - It is ideal if you can come to a resolve with your Seller - Cheers.

Hi,

Thanks for your response :)

Yes in their first contact after buying the item, the seller kindly provided me with screen shots of Post Haste and three other courier firms I had never heard of that all think I'm rural. It is obviously a problem they have had before (I checked their feedback) so why not be straight and clear and say in the auction, Post Haste deem many non rural addresses rural so please check.

I would love a refund but they concluded this first contact email after the screen shots with;

"Please note we do not cancel auctions due to not wanting to pay the correct courier fee as our courier and the applicable rates are made clear on the auction."

and since have refused to do so.

I am afraid they lost me altogether when they said this and we remain at a stalemate lol

So how do I go about getting my money back? thanks.

Cheers Blanche,

Your Seller cannot enforce their statement "Please note we do not cancel auctions due to not wanting to pay the correct courier fee as our courier and the applicable rates are made clear on the auction."  as this was not stipulated within their listing.

Your option here is to select the Dispute Resolution Tab in your Won items for assistance from TradeMe. - However, the dispute resolution process is not an instant refund, it is opening a case for investigation by TM who correspond with both you and your Seller to find resolution, therefore this has the potential to be a lengthy process. 

Your Best option for a quick resolve would be to have the item sent to your friend with the urban address through the Post Haste courier and save yourself some undue stress.

All the Best with the outcome - Cheers.

As you now know, all courier companies have different determinations of what is and is not Rural, depending on where they have drivers and where they have to pass over to Rural Deivery because they don't have a driver there. 

Most professional sellers will have the occasional Rural person try getting away with Urban (nicknamed "Rural Dodgers"), some even get quite angry when you tell them that they are not urban (I use NZ Post, I have had people argue with me even then).

But the seller shouldn't really be holding you to ransom, even though they were quite clear in the listing and it could potentially cost them, it's still bad customer relations.  As above open a Ping dispute, you will probably win, eventually, but I don't recommend to hold your breath while waiting. 

When I get an "accidental" urban selection from a buyer, I offer them to pay the excess, provide an urban address, or cancel, up to them, no skin off my nose, if they argue at all that choice becomes a non-choice and the order is cancelled.

Yes this is a bit of a tricky one. Technically the seller is correct. But they sure sound like they are in breach of my favourite of the Trade Me T&C's. Specifically rule 3.3 "Don't be a dick" 

Since you have asked for a refund, but they haven't complied, I would also be tempted to go down the dispute route. Might be interesting to see how TM rule on it. That's not a guaranteed thing either if the seller dug in and said you are in breach of the contract to purchase the goods.

But at the end of the day, the painless solution for you could be to simply use that other address you have available to you. I know it would rip your undies to do so, but sometimes the easy solution means less stress. 

Sellers dont have to provide a refund if a buyer changes their mind, So i figure that this would be one of those situations.

We are only seeing one side of the story, but at the moment I am inclined to agree with Callum, this seller is being a bit of a Dick about this.

It reads like you are dealing with a seller who is fed up with people messing up the Urban/Rural situation, and you have just ended up coping a whole heap of pent up frustration, which is quite unfair on you, but being a seller is a lot of work, an awful lot of work, your seller may feel that they have done everything they can, to spell things out to their customers, and someone still has managed to not get it, and they have ended up feeling frustrated and disrespected. (I understand that you have not intended any disrespect, but they may view that they have gone to the trouble to make things clear in the auction, and that effort has been ignored).

Personally - I would eat crow and pony up, pay the difference and get your purchase - I would never trade with them again. I would also consider leaving them a blue face feedback saying something like "Happy with item, but not impressed with customer service skills, I made an honest mistake, but this seller refused to listen, and strong armed me into completing trade - not recommended".

Do not leave a red! You made the mistake, so its not their fault, but also if you leave a red, you will just get one back, and if they are savvy, they will be able to get the one you left removed, leaving you stuck with your one. Even if you leave a blue, you might get one back in retaliation, but a blue is a blue, and wont hurt your rating.

https://www.addresscheck.co.nz/ shows what companies deem your address as rural