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ebayer seller threatening small claims court?

I bought an item a month ago on ebay, it was worth £30
the seller says they sent it via recorded delivery but it never arrived, they gave me the tracking number but it just shows as processing through the network on the royal mail website.
i eventually got a refund through ebay, now the seller has said he's taking me to small claims court for it as the royal mail wont refund him as they have said it was left, he doesnt say where it was left and there is no signature.
I had no red cards left and nothing was left with neighbours, what am i supposed to do? he says he's giving me 14 days to send him the money which im obviously not going to do as i never got the item!

Comments

  • System
    System Posts: 178,186 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Ignore him. He is talking BS.

    If it was left without a sig then it is RMs responsibility (to the seller, not you)
  • martindow
    martindow Posts: 10,409 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Unless they are psychic they have no way of knowing whether something is delivered or not and RM's site shows it was not delivered. He is obviously talking rubbish, and worrying as it is, I would not even bother to respond to this.
  • macfly
    macfly Posts: 2,728 Forumite
    If royal mail have told him this, it means they have a signature, but haven't updated the tracking. A trick they do pull. Leaves the seller stranded.
  • terra_ferma
    terra_ferma Posts: 5,484 Forumite
    edited 6 March 2011 at 9:14PM
    selling in the UK is becoming more troublesome than selling abroad, I found ISF far more reliable than recorded (only when tracked in the destination country, no thanks to RM).
    I doubt the seller will be able to take OP to court though, unless they have hard evidence from RM that's been signed at that address?

    Is it my impression are there may be a big scam going on nationwide, with some many people reporting that recorded items have been signed for but not delivered? Awful to think RM employees might have found a way of supplementing their meagre income, an alternative to stealing credit cards as came out a while back...?
  • ashleypride
    ashleypride Posts: 657 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 6 March 2011 at 9:35PM
    Don't worry about court, without Royal Mail showing your signature he has no hope, it would be fruitless for him to take this to court.
  • GregtheHammer
    GregtheHammer Posts: 1,036 Forumite
    All hot air & bravado. There is no proof of delivery so it would be a waste of time going to court.
  • Myyrrddyn
    Myyrrddyn Posts: 607 Forumite
    Give him a neg and report him to ebay. It is sellers like this that let the side down, and give the buyer a bad experience. He is making sellers look bad get him reported to ebay.
    Lifes a !!!!! and then you marry one:D
  • Enterprise_1701C
    Enterprise_1701C Posts: 23,410 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Mortgage-free Glee!
    edited 7 March 2011 at 10:23AM
    Chances are he is trying to panic you and this is all hot air, but it is now quite cheap to make a claim so DO NOT IGNORE any official-looking envelopes. Unfortunately in my experience hard evidence is not needed to make a claim in the courts.

    IF HE MAKES A CLAIM IN COUNTY COURT (SMALL CLAIMS) DO NOT PANIC

    From what I can make out it will cost him £25 or £30 to make a claim. If you live a fair distance away from him the claim will be heard in your local court. Chances are all you will have to do is turn up, if he doesn't bother turning up it will be found in your favour anyway. A lot of people make a claim on the assumption that the other party will not bother to turn up so they do not turn up.

    If he does make a claim then you will receive the information in the post and you will have a chance to answer the claim within X days with evidence (perhaps a printout of the Royal Mail tracking page!!) and the chance to counter-claim (counter claimed for stress due to pursuit of wrongful claim once - they gave up). If you counter-claim make it no more than the amount he is claiming for or you will have to pay a fee.

    Don't ignore any part of the process, do not get into a slanging match, and everything will be fine.

    That said, I sincerely hope this is all hot air cos it's a pain in the A** to have to go through the process because someone is having a tantrum!
    What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    sellers an idiot
This discussion has been closed.
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