Have I just lost £400?

kims_here

I just wanted to update you all, basically paypal have sided with me on the claim and told me I am going to get my money back. Hooray!

What happened:
I got a message from the seller the other night and she accepted the return of dress, it was very suspicious because it was out of the blue she just emailed to say to send it back to her a.s.a.p. I called paypal and asked them what to do, they told me to post it back to her and get insurance and tracking which I did (even though she had sent it to me as a standard parcel) this cost me about £15.00. I posted it back and then after I had done that she contacted paypal to dispute the claim and paypal emailed me to say she "disagreed" with the case, even though she told me to post it back and new it was on the way she then contacted paypal to refuse to pay me back! I was very worried and called paypal again who asked me to provide proof of postage which I did.

I have since found out that the reason she wanted it back so quickly is because she is already planning to sell it to another girl for £500!!!!!!! I just can't believe it, I feel really bad, I feel glad that I'm getting my money back but at the same time I don't feel so good because I know she is going to send this to someone else for £100 more and I know how she is going to feel.

What makes it worse is that I don't know what I can do to stop it, I wrote to preloved and told them everything that happened and they said that "they are just a venue etc etc" but surely if there is someone advertising on their website out to con people and they know about it, they have a responsibility to protect their members don't they?

They should remove the listing immediately, I was lucky to get my money back but what if the next girl isn't so lucky? I don't know what to do.

Also I have received some nasty emails from her, saying horrible things. I wrote this:

I posted the dress and hoop back to you today 15th June 2010. The tracking number for this is TWBN7070482GB via https://www.parcelforce.com.

As agreed in your last email you will refund my payment via paypal on receipt of the dress.

If you do not I will have no option but to take the dispute to a small claims court but I hope we can resolve this amicably.

Kim

and she replied this:

"I think you need to stop making silly threats. You would be laughed out of court, get a grip on reality here! I am not a criminal and am quite frankly insulted by your judgement and rudeness!
I hope to never deal with anyone like you again. And quite frankly I think you need to put your hand in your pocket for a NEW DESIGNER dress, like I did if thats what you expect; 'at the end of the day you get what you pay for!'"

I never threatened her, was that threatening? I think sending a bride to be a dress with rips and tears and stains was rude, I never expected it to be in new condition.

I have also since realised that she had removed the stones herself, their were some swarovski crystals on the top of the dress and they were all missing the rest of the stones were not. She removed them before posting it to me.

Well I'm rambling now, I just wish there was something I could do to prevent her scamming someone else especially for more money, what can I do?

kims_here

I forgot to mention that after her last nasty email I lost it and sent 1 nasty email back, well it wasn't that nasty I suppose I just told the truth, the last sentence was nasty, I guess I shouldn't have wrote that but she made me furious when she said I was rude! After sending me that rubbish in a black bin bag, I'm rude?? Well I suppose it doesn't matter now, I just wish I could stop her scamming someone else.

cosmic_girl

Hey Kim,

I'm glad you managed to get it all sorted. I had a similar thing with ebay through paypal and nearly lost £100. Just keep a hold of all emails and correspondence that you have from her for your records.

Well done x x x

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Excellent news. Thanks for the update.

kims_here

Yes I am really happy thank you, I just wish I could stop her sending it to that other girl, £500 is alot of money and maybe the other girl won't be so lucky to know what to do.

cosmic_girl

You could always contact your local trading standards office and the site that you went through. i know when I had my probs with ebay, trading standards were a godsend ..... apparently they really frown on misrepresentation etc x

kims_here

trading standards, thats a good idea thanks I'll try and contact them tomorrow, it would be good if I could prevent this happening to someone else

blue_monkey_2

Fantastic news kim, I am pleased that you have a good resolve and have your money back.

However, the dozy cow trying to scam someone else clearly does not have a clue on the small claims court.

I would, send her an email with the link from moneyclaimonline to try and give her some more though, it might just stop someone else getting ripped off. She needs to realise that there is a system to fall back on so people can get their money back. Send the link and this email:

'As you clearly have no idea how the small claims court works I thought I would enlighten you, it seems you need to brush up a little before trying to scam someone else for more money. Please feel free to take a look at the link attached, it is from the small claims court and it is so easy to get money back from people like you a 5 year old child could do it. The first you will know is when the court papers arrive, you then have a choice, repay the girl her money (no dress back to sell on again this time) or you can choose to fight it, that will cost the claimant an additional £100. And when the next unfortunate young lady turns up at the court, dress in hand, with the pictures you have supplied I am afraid it will be her that is laughing out of court with her money back, costs and 8% interest. The judge will more than likely order the dress to be destroyed so you cannot sell it onto someone else, they tend not to look to favourably on situations like this.

Please feel free to try to keep on scamming people in this way but I am afraid that in 2010 people who buy online are also savvy enough to know they have a great small claims system to fall back on that makes it so easy NOT to get scammed. Clearly you do not know how it works as it has nothing to do with criminality but getting back money from people who have scammed it out of you by fraud, misrepresentation or simply by just not paying a debt. It would cost the claimant around £200 if you choose to fight out out face to face with the girl you sell the dress to and the judge will take one look at that dress, the photos you supplied and the claimant will no doubt be awarded additional costs for distress so close to the wedding, travel, etc... and this will be on top of the court costs and getting the money back for the dress.

Good luck if you think you can get away with it, I hope the aggro - and CCJ and Bailiff visits (of course, the claimant can also also add these if you refuse to pay) are worth it. The internet is great isn't it? Very little hiding places for anyone these days.'

At the end of the day it might give her some thought although she is a bithc, for the sake of an email you might be able to try and scare into thinking she can scam people and get away with it. The fact Paypal have sided with you once means she might just give that brain cell she has (everyone has one don't they) some extra work to do. Well done though, at least you have your money back to choose something else. The postage was a small price to pay!!

benoit

Unfortunately it's a case of buyer beware with these things, that's why the site you found it on didn't give you much of a response. They tend to shift responsibility onto the buyer when things like this happen. There is nothing you can do about someone else buying the dress from her, however you can wait until you have got your money back then post an advert on pre-loved if they have a forum exposing her vile behaviour so people can see for themselves.

frugalqueen_2

Lesson learnt, never buy anything you haven't seen or touched in person!