Am I being tricked?

barfer

Hi,

I need a bit of advice, I ordered a necklace from a jewellers in London. They said it was £1000. I paid them by credit card, they wrote me an invoice on their official paper. Now the guy has been in touch to say that they can't get any more necklaces like the one I want, so I said ok give me a refund. He's saying he can't give me a refund until I give him back the invoice. He's got a copy but he says he has to have the original to show to the taxman. Does this sound right to you. I don't want to go back to London to give it to him and I don't want to post it to him. I just get the feeling he's tricking me. I never thought you needed to show the taxman the original invoice to give a refund. What would you do?

foxwales

Inform him that you will be contacting your credit card company and and asking them to reverse the transaction.

There should be no need to have the invoice given to you returned unless he has lost his copy.

The Invoice is your proof of sale and amount paid.

Contact your Credit Card Company and inform them of the situation, they can raise a dispute with the seller and reverse the transaction.

peachyprice

I don't know what the con would be but he doesn't need the original invoice to give you a refund, for the tax purposes he has to issue a credit note to the same value to cancel out the invoice in his books when he gives you your money back.

magpiecottage

I agree with Foxwales - go to your credit card provider immediately and get the transaction reversed. Send them a copy of the invoice - not the original.

barfer

Thanks all, that's what I thought, he doesn't need the original invoice. I'll ask him nicely one more time and tell him I'll go to the credit card company if needs be.

KeithP

Definitely do not give him the invoice, whether he claims to need it or not.

It is your proof of having paid him.

Without it, things may be more difficult.

Ok, credit card statement will be confirmation, but...

pendulum

I can think of 2 possible scams:
- 1) After getting the original invoice from you, he can claim he sold you something else and keep your money - you could have spent £1,000 in his shop on anything and walked out... he's got a copy of your signature too, and if he wanted, he could potentially put it to another invoice.
- 2) He's already told you he cannot refund you without the original invoice and if you post it, he might claim he never received it and try to use that as an excuse for why a refund is not possible.

I would take a scan/copy of the original invoice right away.

I think I would try and work with him a bit, I'd ask him to pop a letter in the post putting his request for the original invoice in writing, make sure his letter describes the situation accurately e.g. "We could not source your item. I need the original invoice back for tax purposes. Once the original invoice is received a full refund will be given to you within X days.." If he asks why you want it in writing, be honest, say £1000 is a lot of money and as you don't understand fully what's going on here, you'd like to get things in writing for peace of mind. Its not unreasonable.

If he's not happy to write the letter, be worried... in fact at that point just go to the credit card company and make a report. Do the same if you do not receive the letter within a short time (e.g. 1 week)

If he does send you the letter, and its acceptable, send the original invoice back (recorded delivery), make sure you keep your copy of it safe.

4743hudsonj

Scan, copy, send? Would he even know? You keep the original and he has a copy if he is being honest, if hes being dishonest you still have proof and can go to your cc company. Seems the simplest solution to me. Obviously send the copy recorded delivery so you know he receives it.

Colin2511

I agree with others on here, he does not need the invoice back. He needs to raise a credit note and refund on that,.

Of course he needs to account for the £1000 going in and out of his merchant account, and presumably he does not want to pay the vat on the "non sale". Raising the credit note will do this. - if he is genuine and does not understand the accounts, then ripping up / writing on your invoice will not be correct, as he has to be able to show why the money went in and out of his accont.

Are you sure he is not stalling you for a reason? (ie no money?). I would tell him that copy in the post and that refund to be in your account within 7 days or you will go to CC company

barfer

Colin2511 wrote: »

Are you sure he is not stalling you for a reason? (ie no money?). I would tell him that copy in the post and that refund to be in your account within 7 days or you will go to CC company

Probably stalling me, it helps his cashflow to delay my refund. I'll email him tonight and say I'll call the cc company if he doesn't give me a refund.

barfer

Hiya! Just to let you all know what happened. I gave the jeweller one last chance to give me the refund but he just sent a stroppy email back saying he wanted the original invoice. So I had to go to the credit card company. I sent them all the details which they didn't bother to read because they just rang the jeweller and got fobbed off by him. But I stood my ground and insisted on raising a formal dispute. Anyway, after a month, the credit card company have got in touch and promised me a full refund into my account soon. Result! Thanks guys.