SHOPPING ON EBAY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

For the first time, a ruling by the Justice of the Peace of Milan establishes that eBay must reimburse users for scams they suffer when using the e-commerce store's services.

Around 150 people had bought cell phones at rock-bottom prices from an eBay user that were never delivered.

Some of them had signed up for the purchase after – unbeknownst to them – the seller had already been reported to eBay by other users.

The judge was the first to correctly apply Law 70 of 2003, which stipulates that the provider assumes civil liability for damages if it fails to intervene immediately after being notified. In this case, eBay took three months to close the scammer's account.

In dozens of previous cases, the company has always been deemed not liable because it was established that users should have filed a formal report via registered mail. However, the Milan judge ruled that the standard reporting tool provided online by eBay itself was sufficient.

For its part, eBay has announced that it will appeal, emphasizing that the judge limited himself to awarding the refund but not the damages requested, and that he clarified that eBay cannot be held liable for users' activities.