Ebay & Newman debt collection agency, harassment

frustrated55

I have a few questions I hope you can help me with.

I have a debt of £50 with ebay which has caused my account to be suspended. I sold an item which a buyer claimed they hadn't received, I didn't use tracking, so ebay gave them back their money and are now demanding it from me.

After daily emails from ebay for the past 2 months I am now getting daily phonecalls from Newman debt collection agency. I have also had a few demanding threatening letters from them.

My biggest concern is they call my house several times during the day, and my 70 year old grandmother answers the phone while I am at work and finds it all very frightening. I registered with ebay using my mobile number and we are x directory so I don't know how the debt collection agency even has our home number. Please, how can I stop them from calling my home? This is my most urgent query.

What should I do next? Do I have to pay this? Can ebay really enforce it? I've been skimming the forums for similar problems and have seen templates for 'prove it' letters and CCA letters etc but I don't know what any of this means.

Thank you for reading & I really hope someone can help.

onlyroz

Why don't you just pay?

momstheword

I've dealt with Ebay quite a lot and have never heard of them paying a buyer who claims to have not received an item. I would just pay the money, it doesn't seem worth the hassle and it would usually be up to you to retain proof of postage and put a claim in with Royal Mail.

I've only had that problem twice with a buyer claiming they didn't receive the item and as I sell used DVD's and clothes for approx. £2-£3 I would just refund them to save hassle. Unfortunately you have learned the hard way that ebay is a buyers world, sellers really don't have a leg to stand on if they do not have a proof of postage. I would just pay them.

Out of interest where did you post the item to? My father sells antiques from time to time on ebay and he refuses to post to Italy as he has sent 5 items there so far and three have been lost.

FireWyrm

momstheword wrote: »

I've dealt with Ebay quite a lot and have never heard of them paying a buyer who claims to have not received an item.

Really? I suggest you read their Ts&Cs because it's common practice. Regardless of what your listing says about a returns policy, if the buyer does not receive the goods and lodges a complaint, Paypal/Ebay will refund them the money and pursue you for it. The only way a seller can protect themselves is to only send to a confirmed address, to use Royal Mail tracking (signed for, or special delivery) and have proof that the item was delivered. Anything less will result in a full refund to the buyer.

I would just pay the money, it doesn't seem worth the hassle and it would usually be up to you to retain proof of postage and put a claim in with Royal Mail.

momstheword wrote: »

I've only had that problem twice with a buyer claiming they didn't receive the item and as I sell used DVD's and clothes for approx. £2-£3 I would just refund them to save hassle. Unfortunately you have learned the hard way that ebay is a buyers world, sellers really don't have a leg to stand on if they do not have a proof of postage. I would just pay them.

Exactly.

frustrated55

I don't have a spare £50 lying around to throw away, I'm sure it's nice to be in a position where money is worth peanuts but it's not like that for all of us.

Until I'm in such a position to pay it, I still have these people hassling me and scaring my elderly grandmother with their nasty phonecalls. I hope someone will come along soon and answer my questions.

The buyer was from Norwich, it's my first (and last!) ebay sale, I didn't dare go worldwide.

kirstle99

I had this happen to me about 3 years ago. Sold a perfume I got that I didn't want (was new in the box) but only sent it 1st class with fragile stickers on it. I'd got proof of postage but that was it as I had never had any problems before selling on Ebay.

Cue a buyer who I am sure led me a merry dance, saying they hadn't received the item yet were unwilling to phone their local sorting office and check it was there because 'the postman always leaves a red card'

They lodged a not received item case with Ebay & Paypal refunded them pretty fast, I had to just accept it and learn from my experience.

I do agree about Ebay being very much a buyer's market there is not much protection for sellers out there. Royal mail should introduce an Ebay postage option that would protect sellers IMO.


I think you'll just have to suck it up & pay them to be honest, sorry. It was your choice to use an untracked service so that is the risk that comes with it. It's horrible, but I would negotiate payment with Ebay and learn from it.

On the note of them calling you, can you not ask them to send everything in writing from now on, or maybe call your telephone provider and block their number perhaps?

FireWyrm

frustrated55 wrote: »

I'm sure it's nice to be in a position where money is worth peanuts but it's not like that for all of us.

Money isnt worth peanuts and we are being sympathetic. I'm sorry you dont like the answer, but it doesnt make our answers any less true.

frustrated55 wrote: »

Until I'm in such a position to pay it, I still have these people hassling me and scaring my elderly grandmother with their nasty phonecalls.

Unplug her phone, or change the number. They arn't going to stop and the only way to make this happen is to pay up.

frustrated55 wrote: »

I hope someone will come along soon and answer my questions.

Your question has been answered. Snide comments like this do not get you much co-operation on these boards.

DizzyDizzy

This situation happens all the time, ebay & paypal are a law unto themselves and because they base themselves outside the uk they claim to not have to abide by uk financial rules etc! We ourselves have lost a larger amount to someone who did this to us and there is absolutly (sp) nothing you can do. Sorry.

FireWyrm

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

This situation happens all the time, ebay & paypal are a law unto themselves and because they base themselves outside the uk they claim to not have to abide by uk financial rules etc! We ourselves have lost a larger amount to someone who did this to us and there is absolutly (sp) nothing you can do. Sorry.

Sorry, not true. Paypal are regulated by EU banking regulations and as such ARE classed as a bank. If you have a real dispute with them and you mention the financial ombundsman, you get all sorts of co-operation. In this case however, the OP doesnt have the right of it and is unfortunately in a situation where s/he must pay. Paypal and Ebay are one entity and when you agree to sell, you enter into a legally binding contract. Part of that contract is to supply the goods and if you find yourself in the situation of not being able to adequately prove those goods were dispatched, Ebay/Paypal will refund the buyer. It's that simple. The way to protect against this sort of thing is to use Special Delivery and only ship to 'confirmed addresses' within the UK. You're pretty much bomb proof after that. Unfortunately, this makes it quite expensive on relatively small transactions, but you pays your money and you takes your chances. Most transactions work out just fine....odd ones do not and then you stand to lose if you have not adhered to the rules. Paypal/Ebay even publish those rules for the seller in order to assist them, but if you choose to ignore that advice, then they will find in favour of the buyer in these cases.

Boris_Allen

Pickup only option

chanz4

Or use parcel2go as its tracked and half the time cheaper than post office