I used eBuyer for the first time just before Xmas - and it will be the last time. The delivery was slow, and the item I bought proved faulty. Not a problem I thought - just return it. Most online firms are well up to speed on such things nowadays.

Not so easy with eBuyer. Emailed them - to be given a phone number. But on phoning them, all they did was confirm my email address and promise to send me an explanatory email. Why they couldn't have done that right away wasn't explained. I followed instructions, chose a day for collection, and packed the unit for return. The return instructions seemed to be little else but a return label and an endless list of things I would be held responsible for - almost every statement outlined their rights rather than mine. Not customer friendly at all. It took a day of sitting in the house - Parcelforce's promise that it would be picked up between 9 and 5 clearly meant 5. On return to eBuyer I was informed the item would be now 'checked by their technicians' - I can only presume to ensure I wasn't lying. I bit cheeky seeing I was still well within the period to return it anyway under the distance selling regs. A little over a week later I received a replacement item. It had taken a month to obtain a workable item - and no apology.

So all's well that ends well, I suppose. But eBuyer left a bad taste in my mouth. They're self-righteous and delaying when it comes to returns - and as we so often find when dealing with online firms, it's how they preform when things go wrong that distinguishes them. In contrast a recent similar return to Amazon was almost painless, with no quibbles at all.

eBuyer are undeniably cheap. But I'm afraid I won't be using them again.