Buyer threatening to take me to court

karltin

I listed an item on ebay which was purchased via auction. After sending invoice on the day of purchase, a reminder the following day and a further reminder the day after, the item is till unpaid and I receive a rude response from the buyer. Because I am a new seller he stated that I will receive payment when he determines I am trustworthy enough.

The next emails from him were still rude and mostly insults, and still he has not paid. I was advised by customer support to open an unpaid item case on the 4th day after the item has ended. I did exactly what I was told then got the payment as soon as I opened the case.

As a new ebay seller, I do not want to be having any transactions with a buyer who has been very unpleasant during our exchange of emails. Customer support advised me to contact the buyer and for me to suggest to give back a refund, which I have already done.

I sent the buyer a kind request only to be replied with him saying that he can take legal action for breach of contract. He even boasted that he takes all fraud to court and that damages paid to him allows him the luxury to pay for holidays.

He has a very unpleasant character and I simply do not want to have any dealings with him, which is the reason why I want to give him back the refund.

Ideally I really want to give this buyer his money back but worried about the threat.

Am I at risk at being taken to court? Or can I simply give a refund and refuse to send the item?



Thanks in advance.

Hammyman

Thats OK. Send him a message saying that the content of his messages amount to harassment and an offence under Section 5 Public Order Act - behaviour likely to cause alarm or distress and that if he takes you to court, you'll produce the message where he admits he is a serial litigant...that won't do him any favours in the eye of a judge..

Personally I'd just refund him and ignore him. I had one of those morons the other week. 6 weeks after buying and receiving an item, he decided it wasn't what he thought it was and accused me of altering the description after I'd sold it etc etc along with a whole raft of stuff he was going to do, close my Ebay account, ruin my business etc so I told him to get on with it.

techspec

You sent an invoice on the day of purchase, a reminder the following day and a further reminder the day after? Add that to the invoice from Ebay - thats 4 invoices in 3 days. I take it patience is not your strong point.

Just refund the money if you don't want to deal with them. You will probably get a negative, and low seller ratings - but i cannot see a court forcing you to sell.

jess1011

To be fair it sounds as if he is full of it! I agree with other poster about the harrassment claim if he threatens to take legal action. Call his bluff and dont lose sleep over him, you have a right as a buyer and a seller for a smooth pleasant transaction.

soolin

I have to agree with techspec an invoice or a reminder daily is poor practice and tends to put a buyers back up, or make a seller look strange. One invoice, one reminder on say day 3 or 4, then open an NPB a day or so later.

If you refund do it quickly, don't hang onto the money while you think about it *. However be prepared for a negative and hammered stars both of which may well hamper your selling ability in the future.You will also have to pay your FVFs, so hopefully the item wasn't too dear. Ignore the sily threats, and remember to add buyer to your blocked buyer list,

NOTE* you mention having refunded money but you also suggest you haven't done it yet.

Oliver14

Hammyman wrote: »

Thats OK. Send him a message saying that the content of his messages amount to harassment and an offence under Section 5 Public Order Act - behaviour likely to cause alarm or distress and that if he takes you to court, you'll produce the message where he admits he is a serial litigant...that won't do him any favours in the eye of a judge...

Dont do that. That'll just wind him up and prolong the matter. Refund him if you havent already and ignore anything else from him. Hopefully he may break FB rules and you may be able to get it removed but if not as Soolin said as a new seller it may be problematic and it may be easier to open a new account and start selling on that one

techspec wrote: »

You sent an invoice on the day of purchase, a reminder the following day and a further reminder the day after? Add that to the invoice from Ebay - thats 4 invoices in 3 days. I take it patience is not your strong point.

Just refund the money if you don't want to deal with them. You will probably get a negative, and low seller ratings - but i cannot see a court forcing you to sell.

Totally agree with TS and soolin if I got that many invoices i'd make you wait. Buyers have 4 days to pay (well 8 in reality if you go through a dispute) Ebay send enough invoices (though you can turn off the one on day 2 which I do) a reminder on day 3 is enough. If you are not willing to wait 4 days for pyments you either need to sell as Buy it nows with immediate payment or maybe consider ebay isnt the place for you.

As others he wont take you to court he's a numpty. If he did he would be laughed out.

karltin

Thanks for all the replies.

I admit that it was wrong to be sending the reminders. But honestly, the only reason for that was so I can despatch the items first thing on a Monday morning, which would benefit him anyway as he would get his items sooner during the week.

soolin wrote: »

NOTE* you mention having refunded money but you also suggest you haven't done it yet.

I was advised by customer service to contact the buyer and come up with an agreement before I give the refund. But now after his last message and what most of you have said, I have issued the refund.

Crowqueen

I admit that it was wrong to be sending the reminders. But honestly, the only reason for that was so I can despatch the items first thing on a Monday morning, which would benefit him anyway as he would get his items sooner during the week.

Even so, it's not necessary and may have irritated him to the point of irrationality. You never know with some people what pushes buttons.

astrata

If you do receive a neg and as you state you are a new seller (presumably with little feedback) you may want to consider closing your account and re- registering.

this would help to reduce the risk of the buyer (or their friends/family) wrecking future auctions and also give you a 'clean slate'.

Either way don't forget to add the buyer to your blocked list

karltin

To update, I have refunded the buyer his money. And now he wants the chat transcript containing suggestions of ebay to contact him to make an arrangement for a refund. And also he shall be filing for breach of contract for "serious consequential loss he has suffered as a result". Should I be worried about this? Is a court case going to materialize and has he "suffered serious consequential loss"? I assume it would be a different matter if the amount was significant, after all it was only £30.

theonlywayisup

karltin wrote: »

To update, I have refunded the buyer his money. And now he wants the chat transcript containing suggestions of ebay to contact him to make an arrangement for a refund. And also he shall be filing for breach of contract for "serious consequential loss he has suffered as a result". Should I be worried about this? Is a court case going to materialize and has he "suffered serious consequential loss"? I assume it would be a different matter if the amount was significant, after all it was only £30.

Just ignore him. And block him from future bidding, or better still open a new account so he doesn't find you.