Tracksuit seller does a runner

Raw Deal has secured James Rosie a refund after he was ripped off by a rogue trader.

In July, he ordered a pair of Adidas tracksuit bottoms on behalf of his 15-year-old daughter Aimee.

James, from Wick, Caithness, paid £18.99 plus £2.95 in delivery costs to a seller using the online marketplace.

“The money was taken from my account, then the trader cancelled the order within days of being paid,” he said.

“It is hardly a fortune but it is a lot of cash to a teenager like Aimee.”

It took James a while to get around to complaining to the California-based company but when he did, in September, he got no joy. “They kept closing my complaint and it turned out to be a hell of a hassle over a tracksuit.”

In frustration, he contacted Raw Deal and eBay quickly resolved the matter.

It turns out that James was not covered by eBay’s money-back guarantee, known as eMBG.

Under the scheme, the seller has three business days to resolve the issue with the customer before eBay steps in to adjudicate.

However, as a complaint has to be opened within 30 days of the latest estimated delivery date, James had missed the deadline.

But the company said it would make an exception in this case – and issued James with a full refund as a gesture of goodwill.

A spokesperson for eBay said: “Seeing as it’s Mr Rosie’s first case on eBay, and he may not have been aware of the eMBG criteria, we will pay out on this occasion as a courtesy.”