private sale problems

Leanne87_2

before I begin I would just ask that nobody jump on me for this. I know what we did was stupid but a thousand I told you so's are not going to help me right now.

So last weekend I purchased a sofa from a lady who was advertising it for sale on a facebook for sale page.
The money I sent was including the delivery cost which she said she would arrange herself. I sent this money via a bank transfer.

The next day she offered me a set of nearly new bunk beds for an extra amount of money so again I transferred some money over.
Thing is she told me the money never entered her account. When I asked her the next day she said it still hadn't gone in. I told her I would contact my bank and she said she had contacted hers and the money should clear by midday.
I contacted her again that evening to ask if it had cleared and she said it hadn't.
So the next day I contacted my bank who looked into it and gave me the exact minute that the money should have entered her account. They said they would investigate it and contact her bank etc..
when I told her this she straight away told me that it was now in her bank and the bunks would be being delivered with the sofa's yesterday.

friday I got a message from her saying there had been a mix up with the courier and now they couldn't deliver until NEXT weekend or they could refund the delivery cost.
I asked her if she could refund the delivery cost and I would arrange for them to be collected myself.
Eventually, after several childish phonecalls which involved her answering the phone and leaving it on the side, or answering the phone and hanging up, she came back and told me a friend of hers had a van and would deliver the sofas and beds to mine yesterday (she also said she couldn't answer the phone because she had lost her voice).

By 8pm last night there was no sign and I had been trying to contact her since 5pm to find out what was happening. My husband managed to get hold of her partner who said he knew nothing about any sofaq sale or delivery or anything.
My husband asked him to get the woman to contact us asap or we would be taking this further.
At 9pm she messaged me and all the message said was that it was obvious we didn't want the stuff.
I sent her a rather long message back explaining that if I didn't want the stuff I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble trying to sort something out. I explained all the excuses she had used over the week and how it seemed like she was trying to scam me out of my money. I said I still wanted the stuff but I wanted her to start being honest with me instead of making excuses.

The reply I got was that she wasn't at home and was unable to reply (to the message she had just replied to by saying that.....go figure), no explanation of why at 9pm the stuff still wasn't here and she was messaging me over the internet.

I have had nothing from her since and after sending her another message this morning asking her to please stop ignoring me because I had done nothing wrong in all of this.
I am on benefits due to being on long term sick and I cannot afford to lose this money.

I know it was stupid to do a bank transfer and I didn't want to do one in the first place but both my husband and mum seemed to think there would be no problem. Like I said above, I told you so isn't going to cut it right now.

Can anyone please advise me on what...if anything..I can do next?

jackieglasgow

Contact the police it sounds more like she has defrauded you and there is nothing to buy. Make sure you copy and print all the pages of conversation about it, too.

adam.mt

What contact details do you have? If you have her name and address then send her a LBA (letter before action) by recorded delivery (so it gets signed on delivery). Basically lay out your case in simply terms (i.e. you've paid and your bank confirms she's received it, you've not received delivery of the goods when expected) and give her a date to complete delivery by - say 7 working days. Failure to abide by that and you will make a Small Claims Court action against her.

That's your best bet. Remember to keep copies of the advert, all emails and texts and note down time, day and content of any telephone calls. This will be your evidence should you go to court; it's inexpensive (~£50) and relatively easy.

Hopefully all will come good and you will get the items or your money back.

Of course, should it go to court and you win it's still reliant on her abiding to any court assigned judgement; if she doesn't wish to 'play ball' then you'd have to pay to bring in the bailiffs and you may find she's spent the money and has no real assets eg. council rented properly, possessions all on credit etc. Thus, it's a big gamble but probably the only option you have; other than turning up in person with a baseball bat! (not that I'd condone such)

adam.mt

True. Police is also an option but I'm unsure if they'll do much; doesn't hurt to try though.

Leanne87_2

I have no address, I have her name and a landline telephone number and thats it. She is completely ignoring me now. I have given her my telephone number and asked her to contact me by the end of the day or I will have no choice but to take it further. I'm hoping just the threat of further action will sort this all out as she seemed panicked a little when the bank investigation started.
with regards to small claims court, I have legal cover on my home insurance, will this cover it?

faerie_girl

have a look on 192.com and do a search on her name. You maybe able to get her address on there. I would also put a message on the facebook page you orginally saw the sofa on and warn other people on there.

Hope you get it sorted

adam.mt

Leanne87 wrote: »

with regards to small claims court, I have legal cover on my home insurance, will this cover it?

No.

The following should help (or there's plenty of info on here if you search):
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/small_claims.htm
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

It's actually easier than it may sound.

unholyangel

adam.mt wrote: »

It's actually easier than it may sound.

And a lot cheaper than most people think (in fact i believe if you are on benefits, i read somewhere you can sometimes get help towards the costs!).

I'm not sure why the police wouldnt be involved. I would have thought it was theft by deception/fraud or something along those lines.

Of course that is on the premise that she doesnt have the items. So unless you can prove that, the police will likely say its a civil matter.

LBA is a good way to go imo. Ofc if i knew where they worked or lived i'd likely turn up with a sign proclaiming them as a liar/fraudster aswell as telling everyone and anyone who passed and sit there on a deck chair until the police asked me to move :rotfl:

Then again i wouldnt have made a private sale transaction via bank transfer (not getting on at you, you've already realised your mistake and i just hope that it doesnt end up being a costly one!)

Anyway, good luck and keep us updated.