Dispute with online Retailer

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Thought better to have its own thread instead of clogging up the Keystep one.

In a nutshell I purchased a Keystep Pro from an online retailer in Germany. I live in the Falkland Islands which is literally the end of the world and classed as S American region. Postage to here takes forever and expensive due to only one or two flights a week and often if busy the planes carry no mail.

The Keystep arrived after 5 weeks in the post with flaws all over the surface in multiple areas, screen marked and silicon beads inside the keyboard where the packet had broken. Outer packaging was fine and no damage so I am guessing its a factory issue or a B-Stock however it’s the new Chroma version so not an old product. Incidentally the marks are reflected on the plastic bag as if the paint / finish has come off onto the bag (though this does not explain the screen mark which appear to be scratches)

Anyhow - I sent the retailer pictures within one hour of opening the package. Comms are shocking and the idiots finally replied and told me to take the film off the screen and ignored the issue of flaws / marks all over the unit. Follow up emails are ignored on multiple occasions asking to solve this issue. After resending the email FOUR times over a week they finally come back with simply “it’s not B Stock or used” and again fail to address anything, clearly hoping I just go away. I send THREE more emails asking to resolve this and it took a week for the third email to be replied to from a diff department asking for the pictures again. Then yesterday they finally agree for me to return the unit for inspection at my own cost and fully tracked.

Due to my location this will be crazy expensive (over 100 pounds easily as I would have to use DHL express). I sent them a reply saying “Under my Consumer Rights I believe the seller must cover return postage since the item is DAMAGED and does not match the description. This is not simply a case of changing my mind where I would fully accept to pay return postage”. However no reply to date and I don’t think I will get one unless I send the same email another 3 or 4 times.

To put a spin on things I noticed I originally paid via Paypal and wondering if this would work in my favour with regards to them coughing up for return postage and secondly I don’t trust what the retailer will do once they receive the Keyboard based on the experience so far.

This is a huge retailer - Musicstore.com which I believe has something to do with DV247 as last email came from the DV247 domain.

Any thoughts advice - on this would be appreciated? I am not 100% sure if Paypal will force them to pay postage or reimburse me etc - I always here they favour the buyer more then the seller regardless if fair or not

#2

Might as well check what PayPal can do seeing as the retailer sounds like it employs asshats. Ask to get your money back, and if the retailers says to return the unit after that, get them to fund the postage or ignore them like they’ve ignored you.

1 Like
#3

I think even with PP you need to send it back at you’re expense.

#4

Yes thats is what im not 100% sure about. I would be way out of pocket for a B-Stock or factory flawed keyboard which was out of my control. Bit annoying to say the least.

I thought it was a consumer right for damaged items to be their responsibility for postage.

I am kicking myself as I usually use gear4music but they didn’t have it own stock at the time. I notice their policy is:

Faulty Items

If your item isn’t behaving as expected, tell us as soon as possible so we can resolve the issue.

Within the first 180 days of your ownership, we’ll collect the goods and deliver them back to your free of charge.

#5

Sadly the best way sometimes is to go on social media and stink up a fuss. I would still apply pressure and be polite via email.

#6

I think paypal will be all or none, you’ll need to prove you got scammed. I don’t recall the musicstore dot com user agreement specifying who covers shipping in the event the store is at fault, but I would guess as a business that operates in EU they are governed by EU or at least German consumer regulations in regard to this.

First thing I would do is research German law in regard to returns due to defect and if you can confirm they are liable and cite it to them in communication, if they don’t respond I think that would demonstrate significant negligence for you to lean on paypal with any evidence you have to submit for it to be considered a scam sale.

At that point I don’t know if paypal is willing to arbitrate or not so I’d confirm that as well, but it’s likely they’ll refund you under their consumer protection and seek recompense from the retailer who likely depends on paypal for a lot of intl business and will be forced to comply.

My line of thinking at least. Pretty shitty though, best luck, keep pushing.

1 Like
#7

Thanks - I will do some more digging on the law side.

Sadly as mentioned above it appears Paypal will indeed require me to pay for shipping as per their website

Comply with PayPal’s shipping requests in a timely manner , if you’re filing a Significantly Not as Described claim. PayPal may require you, at your expense, to ship the item back to the seller, to PayPal or to a third party (which will be specified by PayPal) and to provide proof of delivery.

My daughter returns to the UK in 2 weeks time so that is a poss option and will reduce my postage costs considerably but I can’t say she will be keen lugging a keyboard in her luggage!! Appears Paypal my only option to get my money back if they start messing me around upon receipt of the keyboard.

Oh well lesson learned I guess!!! Its their comms attitude that irks me more then anything else

#8

Sorry unrelated question, but how is the music scene on the Island? Anyone ever made any attempts on organizing a synth event?

#9

Np probs. Nothing like that here - population far too small (3,500ish). One or two guitar bands and thats it!!! And think Hillbilly country stuff :slight_smile:

#10

I’d be pissed off as well. Your location really has you in a bind, if your daughter can take it with it still only solves part of the issue. I might still be concerned with how the refund will be handled. If you’ll pay shipping either way, a more timely refund may come through paypal directly. Very difficult to say the exact course of action that will lead to the desired results.

#11

Yeah I guess the downside of living remotely!!

I think maybe I will send it with proof of delivery from UK if my daughter agrees (will prob have to bribe her!) and then get Paypal involved if they piss me about

1 Like
#12

One thing I forgot to mention is that I asked Arturia if there was a bad batch and they replied back after checking the pics. I just received an email from them asking me to send the Serial number. I doubt they will do much except tell me to resolve with the retail store but I guess it can’t hurt sending the info

#13

It can’t hurt to stay in comms with arturia. It’s unfortunate that it’s your daughter and not you headed to UK as you might be able to catch a hopper flight and physically return it to their address in Cologne. I see they have a UK address as well but it isn’t listed for returns, only as a place of business or something.

image
image839Ă—709 23.7 KB

#14

Yeah I will send the info to Arturia now and see what happens.

Sadly UK is August time for me! Its a 18 hour flight (one stop for refuelling) so think would rather suffer the postage cost or accept a ugly keystep

#15

That’s a hell of a long time in the air.

#16

Yeah basically 2 x 9 hour legs and 2 hours in-between to refuel on Ascension Island. RAF / MOD flight that allows civilians on. Worse flight in the world lol. Dry flight too!!!

#17

I had a terrible experience with one company and the synth I purchased from them. It wasn’t damaged but it wasn’t functioning properly. After about 2 months with lots of gaps between emails, I went to their product forum and wrote it all. It was solved within a day after that. They refunded me and I didn’t pay any shipping. I have nothing against the company and it probably doesn’t represent their overall business (there would have been more similar complaints like that) but in short, complaining in the RIGHT place may help. Maybe it’s instagram, Twitter or YouTube for this specific one. But I hope you get it resolved.

#18

your offspring will require a bribe, some well laid guilt and possibly a small degree of prestidigitation to be convinced that lugging a keyboard on that flight is a feasible option but I have full confidence in your abilities so don’t let it get you down just yet.

#19

In the future buy from an Argentinian music store.

1 Like
#20

Ha - would prob end up coming via UK

1 Like