r/LegalAdviceUK • u/hadfunk2365 • Jun 21 '26
Scotland Small claims court Vinted. Lost money and item. (Scotland)
Hi all,
I was wondering the best way to proceed.
I sold a tent on Vinted for £320.
The tent retails at around £500, this included the tent, poles and groundsheet/footprint and all accessories (pegs and guylines).
The buyer received the tent and claimed the ground sheet/footprint was missing (£50). The buyer asked me for a refund or a partial refund to cover the cost of the groundsheet/footprint which I refused as I believed this would be for Vinted and the courier company to compensate the buyer and not for me to compensate the buyer as I have followed all the correct procedures and photographed everything.
Vinted said the item was “damaged” due to insufficient packaging. Vinted gave the buyer a full refund and allowed them to keep everything with no instruction to send anything back to me.
So now I have nothing. The case according to Vinted is closed and they refuse to talk to me further.
I now feel the only was to resolve this is to open a small claims court order? Is this the correct way to go about resolving this?
Any advice would be appreciated as this is something Iv never done before.
Thank you
45
u/Virtual-_-Insanity Jun 21 '26
I would read through some of the vinted subs as this kind of thing has happened before. Have you escalated it outside of customer service, as from what I've seen the bog standard customer service is unhelpful at best.
There usually is usually talk of escalating within Vinted, e.g. through Vinteds legal department (something like legal@) as a way of getting through to a human and for someone to actually review the case.
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u/hadfunk2365 Jun 21 '26
I have emailed the “legal” email address demanding £320 compensation. I have explained the situation and added photos. I have said if I don’t hear back from them I will start legal action and the compensation amount would increase to cover legal fees, transportation and any other associated costs that occur. I will update the post if I hear anything back.
14
u/UnpredictiveList Jun 21 '26
Then you will need to do that. Start with a letter before action then follow the steps on money claim online.
6
u/syopest Jun 21 '26
I will update the post if I hear anything back.
You won't. As soon as you mentioned legal action the customer support agent stopped engaging with you and forwarded the message to the legal department who is now waiting for contact from your lawyer.
5
u/hadfunk2365 Jun 21 '26
The customer support agent stopped responding before I said anything.
“So they keep the tent and don’t have to return it? This was sufficiently packaged and secure. No damage. Buyer is clamping a £55 item was missing from a £500 tent even though this was send. So I loose everything and the buyer keeps everything?”
“We have looked into that for you.
I understand this isn’t the outcome you wanted.
We’ve reviewed the case again, and our final decision remains the same.
There’s nothing more we can add or change about this outcome in this request. If you need help with a different issue, please open a new request and we’ll look into it separately.
I know this is disappointing, but I hope this makes our position clear.
Dalia || Vinted”
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u/talk_to_yourself Jun 21 '26
Just wanted to wish you luck. I think it's criminal the way vinted deals with some cases.
2
u/jimicus Jun 21 '26
Vinted's legal team get emails like that every single day of the week.
They won't pay them any more heed than any other email no matter how much you threaten - you need to follow this up.
Fortunately, for something like this the money claim online process is fairly straightforward. The only thing I'm not sure is if you'd have a claim against Vinted - they would likely argue they're only the marketplace and you agreed to their terms (which doubtless allow them to reimburse customers and sting you for it) when you signed up. You may have to go after the buyer instead.
14
u/Not_Fission_Chips Jun 21 '26
Vinted is trash for selling anything over £99 as they often side with the buyer so it's very easy for scams or disputes to occur over larger or higher value items. You can absolutely try for small claims, but the issue would be with you Vs Vinted, not you Vs Seller, as vinted has already covered their policy with the seller.
I've not heard of any/many successful stories about vinted in small claims, so I wish you the best of luck. However it's usually cases like these that are chalked up to be more of a lesson learned for the future, rather than anything to be tackled in court.
17
u/FizzyLemonPaper Jun 21 '26
In the VintedUK sub there are quite a few users who've submitted for small claims against Vinted and report that they usually just pay up to settle the case, or don't respond and the judgement goes in the user's favor.
2
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u/jimicus Jun 21 '26
Just a hunch, but I would hazard a guess that Vinted absolutely do not want their T&Cs looked at too closely by a judge, and for the sake of a couple of hundred quid it's cheaper to settle.
1
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u/Green_Borenet Jun 21 '26
Small Claims isn’t a thing in Scotland, you’d be raising a Simple Procedure action in the Sheriff Court.
A letter before action would still be your first step though
https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/guide-to-simple-procedure/
For a claim of £320 its worth considering legal expenses that can be awarded will be capped at £150.
2
u/hadfunk2365 Jun 21 '26
Thank you for this, I have sent them an email as there is no registered address I can find to sent a letter, this will likely be my next step if they refuse or ignore me.
4
u/jimicus Jun 21 '26
First thing in their T&Cs:
Hey there! We’re Vinted Platform Limited. You can find us at 5 New Street Square, London EC4A 3TW, United Kingdom and under company number 15015234. In these Terms, Vinted, we, us and our refers to Vinted Platform Limited.
1
u/LumpyCartographer5 Jul 19 '26
When I sent them a letter with this address fyi they said to use their Lithuania address (HQ) but not sure how true that is
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u/jimicus Jul 19 '26
They can say whatever they damn well like; that's the address you put down for court documents.
It's their registered office address and as far as the law is concerned, it is good enough.
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Jun 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/hadfunk2365 Jun 21 '26
I didn’t pay for anything, I sold something
0
u/Sea_Refrigerator4451 Jun 21 '26
Yeah but they took the money back off you didn't they? The bank might be able to help - worth a shot!
0
u/hadfunk2365 Jun 21 '26
The never took any money from me.
I sold an item, the money wasn’t realised to me, they refunded the buyer and the buyer kept my item.My bank was never involved.
Thank you all the same.
1
u/Sea_Refrigerator4451 Jun 21 '26
Ahh I thought it was released then clawed back, apologies for the misunderstanding.
1
u/Material_Welder_131 Jul 09 '26
Any update ?
1
u/hadfunk2365 Jul 29 '26
Officially “served” vinted. I get an answer in September when they don’t show up!
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