Should I take Court Action against buyer!

kevinyork · 24 October 2006 at 9:48PM

Hi all,

Just venting off steam.

Sold something for £18 in early September....buyer paid by Paypal, item sent same day and heard nothing since.

Last week got a chargeback through Paypal who said the funds were unauthourised. Item was sent standard mail so not eligible for seller protection.

I contacted buyer through eBay and via email and left phone messages to say his payment had been returned and perhaps it was a mistake and could he send payment for the item.....no reponse after 5 days, 3 emails and 2 phone messages. I then opened a non paying bidder dispute for the item and he responds within minutes saying he has had no communication from Paypal and that I must be trying to scam him and get payment twice. He failed to acknowledge my phone calls or emails.

I reply saying I can forward Paypals' emails if he wishes and advised that if he checked his Paypal account he would see his payment has been reversed. He replies, again almost immediately saying he doesnt want to communicate further and that I am trying to con more money out of him.

He is obviously a scammer himself and has initiated a chargeback but isnt coughing to it. The item was sent over 6 weeks ago by first class post and he has not communicated to say he hasnt received it however he has tonight added to the dispute saying 'also item never received'. This is simply a diversionary tactic as he has had 6 weeks to claim non receipt and why didnt he say that in his first response to the dispute.

Im livid at his arrogance and to be honest although its only £18 Im of a mind to issue a County Court summons against him. Ive checked him out on the Electoral roll and he does live at the shipping address he gave. Oh by the way hs feedback is poor....take a look HERE

Any views welcomed please.

Hintza · 24 October 2006 at 10:27PM

He is a fire hazard as well, pulls the same "we had a fire" excuse months apart!

Send the boys round much more satisfying!

Guinea_2 · 24 October 2006 at 10:51PM

I've had a look at 12 pages of comments on this guy and he seems not to be trust worthy. What have e-bay said to do?

Benji · 25 October 2006 at 2:01AM

Court Action - for £18? - Yeh Right.

That is what your buyer ie expecting you to think. However, some people do not have to pay to file a claim in the small claims court (benefit claimants etc). Are you one of them? If so, go on, pull his plonker for all of us! File that claim - it is my guess you'd win 'on the balance of probabilities'. Regular scammers can do it because they know it's too expensive or too much hassle for sellers to do anything about them - they need to be taught a lesson!

Incidentally, if you do file a claim - keep to the facts and let your opponent go for the rhetoric (sp?) - the judge will see through him as clearly as a glass of Dansai.

everythingblogcast · 25 October 2006 at 2:37AM

And look he claims thatt Northern Ireland is dearer to post to. He is one big fat lair. If anyone is using Royal Mail its the same price if you post a item 15 miles down the road or to post to Northern Ireland. What a tool.

mclaren_2 · 25 October 2006 at 8:58AM

the cost, time and travel you would have to make to court? you would also have to attend HIS local court - that could cost you loads more...... put chargeback thru paypal and if they say cant refund, close you're paypal account and forget about it.

Moglex · 25 October 2006 at 9:30AM

You could consider getting in touch with the police, although you need to be very strong willed and persistant as they can be lazy sods who prefer to do nothing.

There is a very strong prima facie case that he has commited a fraud.

kevinyork · 25 October 2006 at 9:59AM

Guinea wrote:

I've had a look at 12 pages of comments on this guy and he seems not to be trust worthy. What have e-bay said to do?

eBay will not get involved at all, not their issue as its a payment problem.

Benji wrote:

Court Action - for £18? - Yeh Right.

That is what your buyer ie expecting you to think. However, some people do not have to pay to file a claim in the small claims court (benefit claimants etc). Are you one of them? If so, go on, pull his plonker for all of us! File that claim - it is my guess you'd win 'on the balance of probabilities'. Regular scammers can do it because they know it's too expensive or too much hassle for sellers to do anything about them - they need to be taught a lesson!

Incidentally, if you do file a claim - keep to the facts and let your opponent go for the rhetoric (sp?) - the judge will see through him as clearly as a glass of Dansai.

Would have to pay the court fees but then if I won he would have to pay these so not too worried about that issue. Teaching them a lesson is definately the issue here....eBay is so full of scammers!

mclaren wrote:

the cost, time and travel you would have to make to court? you would also have to attend HIS local court - that could cost you loads more...... put chargeback thru paypal and if they say cant refund, close you're paypal account and forget about it.

As I said I dont mind the cost or travelling. I travel to his area of the country anyway and could coordinate it. Again if Im successful some travel costs will be awarded by the court on application. I cannot do a chargeback through Paypal. They have already reversed the transaction and taken the money back and refuse to release any more info on the matter. Its the usual Paypal machine in operation, take your money back without any consideration of the facts. Im not about to close a Paypal merchant account Ive had for years.

Moglex wrote:

You could consider getting in touch with the police, although you need to be very strong willed and persistant as they can be lazy sods who prefer to do nothing.

There is a very strong prima facie case that he has commited a fraud.

Yes that would be my preferred action and you are right. I can just imagine the sharp intakes of breath as I explain the matter to them! However I can but try.

Thanks to all for the advice. Yes this is costly, yes the amount involved is low however Im fed up with scammers who play the system without suffering any hardship so I would just like to make him squirm a little.

hazzie123 · 25 October 2006 at 10:13AM

How does this chargeback thing work with paypal? I thought you get an email first to let you know that someone is requesting back some funds?

Moglex · 25 October 2006 at 10:15AM

kevinyork wrote:

Yes that would be my preferred action and you are right. I can just imagine the sharp intakes of breath as I explain the matter to them! However I can but try.

You do need to be persistant.

If they try and tell you there's nothing they can do, act amazed. Without being offensive or smart-alec, ask them why they will turn up at a supermarket if a little old lady pockets a packet of tea and yet won't lift a finger to help you. If you get no joy, take the name and number of the person who deals with you and ask to speak to a more senior officer as you cannot believe that it is the policy of the xxx county constabulary (or met) to do nothing when a clear fraud has been reported.

Of course, there is always the possibility of telling your scammer that as youe believe he has defrauded you you will be contacting/have contacted the police. That might give him pause for thought.

kevinyork · 25 October 2006 at 10:49AM

hazzie123 wrote:

How does this chargeback thing work with paypal? I thought you get an email first to let you know that someone is requesting back some funds?

Paypal contact you to say that you may have received unauthourised funds and to provide whatever details you have. However, unless its been shipped to a verified Paypal address and by an online trackable method they ALWAYS take the money back from you. This can be because a stolen credit card has been used or simply because a customer has contacted their credit card and queried a transaction on their statement saying they didnt make that purchase. When the credit card company contact Paypal, its not in Paypal's interested to defend the claim, as doing so affects the merchant rate they are charged by the credit card company, so they simply take the money back out of my account and give it back. There isnt anything I can do.

Moglex wrote:

Of course, there is always the possibility of telling your scammer that as youe believe he has defrauded you you will be contacting/have contacted the police. That might give him pause for thought.

Thanks Moglex. I already mentioned involving the Police in a posting on the non payer dispute and his reply was 'no further comment'. As has been said, most people see such threats as empty ones but not in this case! Ive just issued the County Court Claim online and am about to call the Police.

Should I take Court Action against buyer!

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