Stolen goods from eBay

hsj2011

greeneye wrote: »

Well OP as your prepared to attempt a chargeback via your virtual debit card why not simply "lose" your laptop before the police come round to take it off you. Whence it will sit in an evidence room for 2 years waiting for a possible court case. Then most likely end up in some auction house where one of us will buy it cheaply and sell it on for profit on ebay.

BTW A word to the wise don't be tempted to file an insurance claim for your "lost" laptop, I mean really don't be tempted.

You make it sound like a chargeback would be wrong. Why so? I'm not prepared to stoop to the level of the seller/theif and as Dell already know I'm in possession of the laptop, I would be asking for trouble if I tried to do such a thing.

I would also never defraud an insurance company. Besides, the laptop's not insured.

hsj2011

Still heard nothing from Dell or the Police about this since Friday but I was just reading that the police would need a court order to be able to take the laptop back. Is that correct?

I've tried both numbers I have for the seller (just to find out if they were real) and the landline number is not recognised and the mobile number goes straight through to answerphone.

I've also read that as my debit card is a Visa card, I can still do a chargeback from my bank, so all may not be lost here.

sarahg1969

hsj2011 wrote: »

Still heard nothing from Dell or the Police about this since Friday but I was just reading that the police would need a court order to be able to take the laptop back. Is that correct?

I've tried both numbers I have for the seller (just to find out if they were real) and the landline number is not recognised and the mobile number goes straight through to answerphone.

I've also read that as my debit card is a Visa card, I can still do a chargeback from my bank, so all may not be lost here.

The police wouldn't need a court order if you agreed to hand it over. Otherwise, I don't know. However, if you know it's stolen, you may as well hand it over. Unless you're going to argue your case in court? That's the only way the order would be refused (if one is indeed needed).

Maybe the seller has changed her numbers since parting with her OH?

I really feel for you, OP. Maybe give the police a few more days, then send a letter before action to the seller, as this is probably your only avenue to recover the money now.

Re debit Visa card - always worth a try.

hsj2011

sarahg1969 wrote: »

The police wouldn't need a court order if you agreed to hand it over. Otherwise, I don't know. However, if you know it's stolen, you may as well hand it over. Unless you're going to argue your case in court? That's the only way the order would be refused (if one is indeed needed).

Thanks. The thing is, ok I know it's stolen, but I still don't 100% agree that I should just hand over the laptop without a fight. I mean it's a lot of money to me and I haven't got the money to just go out and buy another one, whereas the company that owned it before have likely had a replacement by now from their insurance company so the insurance company will have this one back and auction is for a fraction of its value.

I don't think I'd have grounds to argue a court order but at least if I insist the police get one, it may buy me some extra time to get the funds together to get a new laptop.

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Maybe the seller has changed her numbers since parting with her OH?

Possible but if it were me and I'd geniunely changed my number, I would have updated the number on my eBay account.

sarahg1969 wrote: »

I really feel for you, OP. Maybe give the police a few more days, then send a letter before action to the seller, as this is probably your only avenue to recover the money now.

Unfortunately, I don't currently have the sellers full address. I have the street/town/post code and I have a vehicle registration number of a car they were selling on eBay so the police could trace them as a previous owner of that car, but whether they would then give me that info to persue the seller in court, I don't know. All I do know is that obvioulsy, I can't take her to court without her full address.

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Re debit Visa card - always worth a try.

Waiting for a response from my pre paid visa card provider at the moment. If they refuse, I will have to contact the bank whos visa card I used to top up the pre paid card but that may be trickier.

asbokid

hsj2011 wrote: »

when I bought the laptop it had quite a small hard drive so I upgraded it to a much bigger one, and sold the smaller one.

It's a shame that you sold the original hard drive. Can you retrieve it from the buyer? It probably had data on it which would compromise the thief, perhaps proving that the laptop was in his possession on a given date, for example.

asbokid

hsj2011 wrote: »

Unfortunately, I don't currently have the sellers full address. I have the street/town/post code and I have a vehicle registration number of a car they were selling on eBay so the police could trace them as a previous owner of that car, but whether they would then give me that info to persue the seller in court, I don't know. All I do know is that obvioulsy, I can't take her to court without her full address.

Is the seller's surname unusual? If so, you could use UK INFO DISK to track them down by electoral roll. What does the postcode reveal? Would it be hard to trace them on that basis? What about the telephone number they provided to ebay? Is it a landline?

The V5 of the car sold by the same seller as your laptop may never have been registered in the seller's name. However, you could always approach the buyer of that car through ebay, and explain the situation and discreetly ask for the seller's name and address. In fact, you could do the same with all of those people who have been in ebay transactions with the seller of your laptop. Those who have left negative feedback for the seller, or have been left negative feedback by the seller, may be particularly inclined to help you!

hermum

Isn't it the job of the police to track down the seller?
Won't sending it back now that you know that it's stolen & under police investigation land you in trouble, getting rid of evidence or something?

hsj2011

Thanks.

I have just received the crime reference number from Dell (had to request it though).

Yes, it's the job of the police to track down the seller, but what's the chance of the police giving me the sellers address to start court proceedings? What's the chance of me getting my money back if the seller ends up with a stretch inside? Very slim I'd say, so I need to get the ball rolling asap.

On a good note, I pushed my prepaid debit card provider and this morning I received a form to fill in to start a chargeback claim.

ghanagirl

http://www.stolencomputers.org/home.html

A bit late but why people never ask for serial numbers, vin numbers etc is beyond me when paying for high end goods.
Get the HD back to cover yourself & refund them, explain its stolen goods & you dont want to give their details to the police which you will have to do if when you return the laptop.

You should have done nothing & let the police get back to you getting in contact with the owner has made it worse for yourself as you have told her you have her goods and if she asks for them back & you refuse that's committing an offence (see below).
Just hand it over to the police & save yourself a lot of bother, if they knock on your door & you refuse to hand it over they will be back the next day with a search warrant & they will just take it. if its the same officers they may say " lets turn the whole house over while we are here and lets take all the other pc's to check if they are stolen while we are here".
My hubby will tell you in the old days where they would turn up & say "lets have a look around or we will get a warrant & smash the place up".
Buts lets be very clear you have no rights to keep the goods as the law is plain & simple on these matters.
the original owner still retains their legal right of ownership over the goods. There is an exception to this rule where insured goods, for example cars, become the property of the insurance company after settling the original owner's claim.

When stolen goods are found, a court can, if necessary, order the return of the goods to their original owner. Alternatively, an order can be made for the original owner to be compensated for the value of the goods.

If someone gets stolen goods, even if they have paid a fair price and are unaware that the goods were stolen, the general rule is that the person with the goods does not usually get a legal right of ownership. The person with the goods must inform the owner and allow them to take them away, if they discover that they were stolen. Someone who buys goods, which they later find out were stolen, could try to claim compensation from the seller.

hsj2011

ghanagirl wrote: »

Get the HD back to cover yourself & refund them, explain its stolen goods & you dont want to give their details to the police which you will have to do if when you return the laptop.

I have no idea who the hard drive was sold to because it was an ad on preloved and the person phoned up then came and collected the hard drive.

ghanagirl wrote: »

You should have done nothing & let the police get back to you getting in contact with the owner has made it worse for yourself as you have told her you have her goods and if she asks for them back & you refuse that's committing an offence (see below).

I haven't contacted the original owner! I contacted the person I purchased the laptop off (i.e. the theif).

ghanagirl wrote: »

Just hand it over to the police & save yourself a lot of bother, if they knock on your door & you refuse to hand it over they will be back the next day with a search warrant & they will just take it. if its the same officers they may say " lets turn the whole house over while we are here and lets take all the other pc's to check if they are stolen while we are here".
My hubby will tell you in the old days where they would turn up & say "lets have a look around or we will get a warrant & smash the place up".
Buts lets be very clear you have no rights to keep the goods as the law is plain & simple on these matters.

Surely I have a right to see proof that the laptop is indeed the one they claim is stolen? I.e. I should be entitled to see a copy of their receipt with the laptops serial number.

ghanagirl wrote: »

The person with the goods must inform the owner and allow them to take them away, if they discover that they were stolen. Someone who buys goods, which they later find out were stolen, could try to claim compensation from the seller.

Sounds like you're contradicting yourself. One minute you say not to contact the original owner and the next, your saying "The person with the goods must inform the owner and allow them to take them away"???