Paid for goods, seller ignoring emails, not send item What to do?

Soprano

Bought a toy car on ebay for £10. Paid by cheque, but the item has not been send and I have not had any reply to my emails.

Seller has over 6k feedback, but a few recent negs saying item not sent.

Its only £10, but I'm quite miffed. He lives too far for a person visit, so is there anyway I can claim the money back??

soolin

Unfortunately using a cheque has left you with very few options. An ebay claim will cost you £15, so that is out and if the cheque is already in the clearing system the bank isn't going to be particularly helpful in getting it stopped.

Call up the sellers details and give him a call, that often gets a result!

Soo

lisyloo

I would say give them the benefit of the doubt given the feedback they have.

Perhaps they have been ill or dealing with a family crisis (death etc).
Imagine if a loved one were dying in hospital - ebay wouldn't be your priority would it?

Get their contact details and give them a call.
Be polite (you usually get further by being charming than going in with all guns blazing).

Politely enquire as to whether your item has been sent.

lisyloo

BTW - have you waited long enough?
A lot of sellers wait for cheques to clear before sending items.

Consider paying by paypal in future.
It's gives buyers some protection.

soolin

lisyloo wrote:

BTW - have you waited long enough?
A lot of sellers wait for cheques to clear before sending items.

.

That's a good point, I totally forgot to ask that important question.

I echo what lisyloo says and ask how long ago the cheque was sent, has it been cashed yet and of so when did it show on your account?

When I used to use cheques for buying, and I no longer do so, I would expect to wait anything from 10 days to 3 weeks for my goods.

Soo

Soprano

My cheque cleared over 2 weeks ago.

I bought this item for my son's birthday next week. The car cannot be bought in shops anymore and is quite rare.

He is a power seller, but has nothing else listed and a growing number of negatives recently about goods not being sent.

Its only £10, and I have a lot of other presents for my son, but I bought this well in advance of his birthday as I knew there may be a delay. The fact is he may have just cut and run with a lot of peoples money.

Happy to consider small claims court as I do not like to be conned.

lisyloo

Happy to consider small claims court as I do not like to be conned

It's a possibility but do some research first.

If you can't find the person then you can't make them pay.
If they don't have any money you can't make them pay.

You might win a judgement in court but can you enforce it?

The small claims court is cheap but it isn't free, so weigh up the costs (and time off) before you go ahead.

Soprano

lisyloo wrote:

It's a possibility but do some research first.

If you can't find the person then you can't make them pay.
If they don't have any money you can't make them pay.

You might win a judgement in court but can you enforce it?

The small claims court is cheap but it isn't free, so weigh up the costs (and time off) before you go ahead.

Its unlikely of me to do so TBH, but AFAIK whoever loses the claim, has to pay the fees? Usually this threat will make the seller refund or send goods.

On the other hand, I have this wicked revenge streak in me at times when I'm crossed for no reason.