Abbey National won't cancel a cheque

hollydays

Is it theft,or is it obtaining money by deception.

Turning_into_scrooge

Astaroth wrote:

It is theft rather than bank fraud - they have taken payment without giving/ sending the goods. They will say you handed the cheque over willingly so it is up to you to deal with the consequences.

The police may be able to assist but the likely hood is that for such a small amount they aren't going to be overly bothered.

I cant remember if there is a min amount for Eba's own dispute resolution process or not but this may be your best route if there isn't (cant access Ebay from work)

The police will definitely log it and give a CRN but they are inundated with complaints about Ebay to the point where they were spending so much time on them that they couldn't deal with other crime so I'm sorry but unless its massive fraud then they don't have the time to deal with it. I never deal on Ebay anymore as its become a magnet for stolen goods etc. It's time though that it was either cleaned up or shut down permanently as too many people are being financially disadvantaged by it. I can't understand why the bank wouldn't stop the cheque as its such a simple thing to do. When i had a dispute years ago now with an electrical store they asked what the reason was which we said dispute and they stopped it there and then and confirmed it by letter and didn't charge anything either. I have stopped cheques since that have been lost in the post, that didn't cost me anything but it seems like some banks make up silly rules. i would complain about this and keep pushing like you it would also be the principle of the matter for me.

Altarf

Banks will only stop a cheque before it has been presented and paid (aka 'cleared'). Once it has cleared they won't do anything, unless the cheque itself was issued fraudulently (e.g. stolen chequebook & forged signature, etc).

If you sold something, received a cheque, paid it into your bank, waited until it cleared, before withdrawing the cash. Then at some unspecified time later the bank told you to give the money back as the other person had stopped the cheque because they felt like it. Would you think this was OK?

Enterprise_1701C

A few years ago (about 4) I bought a video off ebay for my son, never received. As I paid by cheque I pestered them for a while then called the police. They DID act, someone went to the house of the person involved and discovered a 14 year old boy had hijacked his dad's account. I agreed not to press charges as the police said his parents would 'deal with him' and I was inclined to believe them, sounded like decent folk. I also got the money back with a grovelling apology(definitely written by the boy)!!

soolin

Totally agree with Altarf. If it were possible to merely report a 'crime' to the police and get a cheque stopped even after the normal clearing time ( and I am assuming this isn't a cheque that was just written a day or two ago)the banking system would be totally destroyed as no one would ever use cheques again as there would never be any security.

Unfortunately cheques are not a good option to cover yourself on ebay, the only payment method to use for protection is paypal, and even that isn't guaranteed to get your money unless you back your payment by a credit card.

All the OP can do now is to start an ebay claim, unfortunately that is going to cost £15 and has no guarantee of success.

Soo

hollydays

This makes me very wary of using Ebay.

soolin

hollydays wrote:

This makes me very wary of using Ebay.

Ebay is fine as long as you take any normal precautions that you would if dealing with someone in the small ads or similair. Unfortunately like most things you only ever hear the negative stories, the millions of successful transactions every week never get reported.

Soo

ooo000ooo

hollydays wrote:

Have you spoken to the Police?When you say she has done a runner,do you have any contact details that are valid?Could you search on b4usearch.com?

Unfortunately the OH deleted the emails with contact details. Involving the police for such a small amount would be a waste of their resources and our hard earned tax £'s

ooo000ooo

soolin wrote:

Ebay is fine as long as you take any normal precautions that you would if dealing with someone in the small ads or similair. Unfortunately like most things you only ever hear the negative stories, the millions of successful transactions every week never get reported.

Soo

I agree, i've made several transactions via ebay and never had a problem. In this case the seller had good feedback although it was only for a couple of items. The item we were buying was of low value and not any of the usual high demand items - psp, ipod's etc that are too cheap to be true. I'd use it again but as per buying stuff from small ads i'd rather buy expensive stuff from a reputable source even if it costs more.

hollydays

I didnt suggest involving the Police,I was suggesting getting advice from them.