Actually, ebay refund up to £120 (minus admin) it seems:
Under the Standard Purchase Protection Programme, most items bought on eBay are covered for up to £120 (minus £15 to cover processing costs). Please note: the maximum reimbursement for any claim is £105. For example:
If the item price is £300, you are eligible to receive £105;
If the item price is £100, you are eligible to receive £85;
If the item price is £16, you are eligible to receive £1.
While the vast majority of eBay transactions are trouble-free, rest assured that when problems occur, our Standard Purchase Protection Programme can help. Here are some examples of typical trading problems:
Paying for an item and never receiving it; or
Receiving an item that is less than what is described, such as winning a solid gold necklace but receiving a copper one instead.
If you feel you need to make use of the Standard Purchase Protection Programme, here are the steps to take:
First, try to communicate with your seller directly. Many problems are just simple misunderstandings. Request your seller's contact information and get in touch with them.
Buyers and sellers can also use SquareTrade, an independent, neutral third party to help resolve disputes that may arise.
Review the Eligibility Checklist and Claim Process to understand how you qualify for the Standard Purchase Protection Programme.
If your problem has not been solved after Steps 1 and 2, you should file a claim.
Please note that from the 12th Feb 2004, we are changing the deadline to file a complaint from 120 days after the date that the listing ended to 90 days. Buyer Protection claims will need to be filed within 120 days for listings with end dates prior to 11th Feb 2004. For auctions with end dates on or after 12th Feb 2004, Buyer Protection claims will need to be filed within 90 days from the listing end date.
Note: eBay does not provide insurance through its Standard Purchase Protection Programme but allows buyers to receive payments if certain guidelines are met.
Check out the Standard Purchase Protection FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) if you'd like more information.
(from [link]
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/confidence ... fraud.html[/link])
I am shocked at the various suggestions of violence. Genuinely shocked.
As for it being legally binding - so what? All that does for you is to give you a bit of ammo if you decide to take it to the small claims court, which in itself is far from a guarantee of getting anything back, even if they show up and are ruled against, they can elect to pay you in as small an amount as they "can afford", which technically means they could pay your money back at one pound a week for a very long time indeed. Of course you can refuse sucha payment, which means you need to reapply to the court to get a defaulting notice issued if they don't pay up, and then you're into the situation of needing baliffs, at additional cost to go and recover enough stuff to cover your court costs, your defaulting payer ruling, baliff (and any police) costs, and your original outlay back - all in all a slow, and costly experience, if your seller so chooses it to be.
It's not legally binding enough for the police to be interested as it's a civil, consumer problem. I might be wrong, but even if they did get involved, I wager they'll just issue you with a crime number and you'll hear no more...
and I'm not going to back down. I'm sending a letter to this guy (who lives in YORKSHIRE) by registered post saying this.
