An interesting (to me anyway) but ethical problem

terryw

sunnysea83 wrote: »

what are u taking them to small claims court for

I don't think it will come to that although I think that I have a cast-iron case. But it would be a Pyrrhic victory (Just goes to show what a learned thread this is.......philosophers and Greek battles! )

Daft lad has sold an item in an auction with no reserve. I am the highest bidder. Ergo, he must complete......acceptance, offer, consideration, title, and a couple of other things that languish in the back of my brain, as there is a valid contract.

The damages can be quantified as he sold an identical BOG for £115 so my claim would be for : Loss of bargain £115 less amount owing, having been refunded £3 odd = balance £111.

Obviously I shall not bother.

terryw

fiveyearplan

I'd drop it if I were you. You haven't lost anything and would you really want to wear a stolen jacket?

terryw

I agree. I want nothing to do with anything stolen. .But remember that the guy has refused to sell me another item............the stolen (probably ? possibly?) jackets are just something I stumbled upon.

In any case his feedback is now so bad that he is very unlikely to sell anything again on Ebay.

terryw

alison999

terryw wrote: »

Quite a long story. Sorry about that.

On Easter Sunday,I awoke very early and with nothing to do I went on the Ebay.
I am not a regular user - over ten years about 250 excellent feedback, no bad ones.
Hey folks, I am a nice guy.....bought 200 things like books and records, sold about fifty of the same sort of stuff. Never had to bother Ebay about complaints or non-paying buyers and all that sort of stuff. Not one complaint in any shape or form about me or my purchasers.

Anyway, on the last minute I see a bit of Gold (BOG from now on) with no reserve but valued at £200. I bid £3.01 and , much to my surprise, I am the winning bidder.
I immediately pay by Paypal. Seller (Daft lad from now on) sends me virtually unreadable and illiterate reply that he is not prepared to sell for this price but if I pay £50 more I can have said BOG. He alleges that he had had a technical hitch and could not withdraw the item in time. Tone of his email brings out the worst side of me. (If it had a sensible email, I would have just said ok, but I think sod it, I will wind him up a bit. (Yeah, I know this is a waste of time etc etc)

I reply that he has entered into a legally binding contract etc etc and that he is responsible for his own actions and if he decides to put an item into an auction without a reserve then he deserves all that he gets. I suggest that he could have gone to an internet cafe, used a reserve or phoned a friend to avoid selling at a poor price.
Daft lad then accuses me of calling him a liar, knowing nothing about household etc. When I check he has five bad feedbacks (out of 18) for the same thing! Daft lad does not realize that stopping an an auction is not within the Ebay ethos if the price is not realized.

My £3 is refunded but he tries to get me to pay £35.

Six or seven emails go by. He then puts said BOG back on Ebay, and when I remonstrate with him about this he says this an identical BOG as he had two of them!

Today, I checked with 192.com to find his address. He lives with his father or older brother or possibly another relative in Pig's Knuckle Middleshire. The relative has an usual name (Spartacus from now on), and being bored I check with the search facility of the local paper, "The Pig's Knuckle Clarion" and good old Spartacus is a well-known shoplifter with time behind him. I quickly check the previous sales by Daft lad, and he has sold three identical expensive jackets with identical descriptions and photos.

This looks very much like Daft lad is selling shoplifted goods for Spartacus. But I am only guessing, and probably arriving at the wrong conclusion. Or maybe not.

Tonight the BOG has appeared again on Ebay. This must be the third identical BOG. Quite coincidental, I fear.

I feel that I should have a quiet word with the Pig's Knuckle constabularly but I wonder if I am doing the right thing? If I do this, is it because Daft lad has upset me, or is it because I am an upright member of society?

Any views on this moral dilemna?

terryw

!!!!!! van dyke couldnt of done a better job!

pippitypip_2

Sorry I came along so late but I couldn't resist:

I am Spartacus !!

chja

Most amusing tale.

Like you, I think I would have carried on winding the chap up.

Crimestoppers is not a bad shout though - don't you get a cash reward ?

mandragora_2

terryw wrote: »

I know it is late at night, but I think that I may have been too obtuse with:

Mrs Alice N. Van Der Land

terryw

Possibly... I don't usually read things that slowly/phonetically... but I get it now!!!

Any

Surely Ebay should have been able to do something about this? Maybe if more people reported him for not selling the item unless he gets the price he wants without putting a reserve - you have to pay for the reserve, so Ebay is loosing out on fees while the Daft lad is laughing... (well, he did until you got on the case:-))
So surely you can report him to Ebay and advise them to watch out for him and then they could bann him?

terryw

Any, Ebay are worse than useless. In fact at this point in time I am more niggled with Ebay than Daft lad.

Daft lad had put in a request via Ebay for this transaction to be cancelled which I simply refused. I waited the requisite number of days to go to the resolution centre for the non-performance of the seller.. Ebay have simply replied that the case is now closed.

terryw

RabbitMad

Deffo report him - you've done the police's hard work for them. Shoplifting scum put prices up for the rest of us.