Please Help! Ebay Seller Threatening Court Action - Urgent!

david29dpo

agree with all of the above. but NEVER buy a can unseen!!!!!

highguyuk

Hope all goes well for you.

It could be the bus story all over again ... lol.

smartie1976

Can we see the auction number?

richto

A purchase via ebay is a binding legal contract to buy the item... I have used the small claims court several times to get my money for high value unpaid items and won every time.

However it sounds like the walkaway clause gives you a get out. It didnt run when demonstrated - therefore its not working correctly. A modern car shouldnt 'flood' no matter what you do to the accelerator.

If he files against you, you could respond with a counterclaim for your petrol and time...And he would then have to turn up in your local small claims court to defend it!

benjacksmum

smartie1976 wrote:

Can we see the auction number?

Sure, it was 290035746228.

Just a quick update - we emailed him through Ebay's dispute thread saying that we will not succumb to making him any 'offers', his car didn't start and that is that. His last message to us was "In that case I will see you in the small claims court."

OH who is laughing his head off at this whole thing then wrote:
"In that case we will be claiming for petrol/time/emotional distress/wear and tear to my car/lunch out/solicitors fees etc. See you in court.
Don't forget to refer to your own auction listing in which you clearly state 'If you think this car has been misrepresented in this advert than you are free to walk away from the sale' We shook hands on this point like gentlemen, but you have since proved you are no gentleman. This will be our last response to this ridiculous claim!"

So I guess we shall see what happens :sad: I'm hoping he won't be so stupid as to take this to court, I didn't even know courts dealt with Ebay claims with Ebay having its own dispute management bit, but Richto has pointed out that you can.

smartie1976

The buyer has bid and won an auction on a fully functioning vehicle which the seller could not supply.

No money had changed hands so no contract has been formed. Thing about it - how do all these internet companies get out of sending stuff to people when they get the price wrong?

Also the advert states:
"Please not that I downloaded spec of the net so please be aware that there might be some discrepency as to the real spec of the car. "

Which automatically gives you warning that the car may be different and "If you think this car have been misrepresented in this advert then you are free to walk away from the sale".
Thus
"Test driving the car there are to the best of my knowledge no signs of any mechanical problems" and then the car not starting I would say is a misrepresentation of 'no mechanical problems'.

The fact there were two of you there gives you a witness to the seller accepting in person you taking up the "walkaway" clause, after the vehicle failed to perform as expected/required.

culpepper

Is he saying the 'flooding of the engine' is damage?
The engine being flooded is just too much juice getting to it ,isn't it?
We have flooded our cars engine before and it just means waiting until later on and trying the starter again.
His breakdown man would have had it going in a jiffy.
Tell him to tell ebay you have mutually decided against the transaction and I believe he will get his selling fee back and can relist.
He wont be able to prove any damage at all and will be required to pay all court costs.

david29dpo

if this bloke takes you to court, let me know. i will give you my life savings!!

Moglex

Usually, if the carb is flooded, you can start the car by simply turning it over and NOT TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR.

It floods because when you depress the accelerator it pumps a little bit of extra petrol into the carb to overcome the inertia of the fuel in the system and if you keep pressing the accelerator in a panic to get the car going there will be so much petrol in the carb that the mixture is way too rich.

Engines often die just after being started from cold if you don't up the revs just a little, and no doubt the seller hammered the accelerator in his attempt to start the car.

I'll bet if you had tried to start it in a cool, calm manner just before you left you could have done. C'est la vie.

benjacksmum

After all this worry, I was a little bored this evening and looking at what else this insane seller had been doing on Ebay and with a bit of probing I found out that that he has actually SOLD the car again on eBay, 2 days BEFORE he started an Unpaid Item dispute against me!! He emailed me demanding payment the day after his second auction finished, (incidentally the new auction said 'relisted due to a no show purchaser - no show!! We drove 280 miles for nothing!!!!)

What a liar and a con man this one is! I feel like emailing him a Gordon Ramsey type email iykwim!

Can I report this man to Ebay for harassment and how do I do it? I looked at the Item significantly not as described dispute but it only seems to deal with items actually paid for.

I really hope there is something I can do - I am fuming!!! :mad: :mad: