Ebay buyer threatening court action!!!

cardi45

Hi,

Any help with this would be very much appreciated!!

I sold an item on ebay (listed as in a used condition as it had been taken out of the box, although not used) photo clearly showed the item and I inspected it before listing it - everything was fine with it.

The item was sold for £9.50 and the buy collected in person (I hadnt listed this as an option but as he preferred this and would pay cash on colletion I though all would be ok).

He collected the item, with no problems and plenty of time to inspect it before leaving. We even showed him the item working before he left.

The next day I then get an email saying the item has a cracked handle and he wants a £5 refund. I refued this as I hadnt sold an item with a cracked handled and only had his word for this (he didnt provide evidence). He escalated the claim to ebay, claiming the full £9.50 back plus £10 to cover his petrol costs!!

Ebay ruled in my favour yesturday saying as he collected the item and paid in cash he had no claim. However I have just had the below email from the buyer - Can he do this for an item which only cost him £9.50 (and the cost to drive and collect at his own choice)?? Its still only my word against his that the item had a small crack, he has never supplied evidence and I inspected it before listing....

Also, does he have access to my contact details through ebay and is it really worth while him doing this....help!

Ebay will not intervene as I did no pay by PayPal.
In the circumstances, I am going to file a court claim for £19.50. I will also claim for all court and solicitors fees.
Although I have 6 years to issue the claim I am not going to wait that long and will do so without any further notice.


I am giving you one last chance to refund the money I gave you, £9.50. Please reply within 7 days. Afterwards the matter will go to court with all expense and time involved. Do you really want to waste your time defending your ground and risking paying a lot more than what you can pay now?

McKneff

Tell him to 'bring it on'

If he had plenty of time to inspect it, then he is bluffing you. Just call it.

Savvybunny2009

I think he probably was wanting a cheeky £5 off and was trying his luck and when you refused it agitated him to file a claim via ebay. Ebay ruled in your favour so that is the end of it, block him and think no more about it.

I very much doubt he would take you to court, if he loses he would have a few fees to pay himself and as ebay already ruled in your favour and he isn't able to prove it was bought in this condition. It was sold as seen so he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on, there is very little chance of him winning and if he is claiming unreasonable costs such as petrol then it weakens his case.

plumface

He has not got a leg to stand on and obviously has nothing better to do. Luckily he paid COD!
Just ignore him and any email he sends unless, they are through ebay messages.Keep these and if he starts getting abusive or threatening in them, report him to ebay.
He probably could get your phone number from ebay (if you have one in your details),if you have then try and find his phone number from the ebay sale.If he rings then just ignore it.
One thing to do pretty quick is get into your ebay account and put him on your 'blocked bidders' list pronto.

RainbowDrops

Chances of a solicitor taking this on are zilch.
Report the buyer & block him.

theonlywayisup

Op, it's not a pleasant way to deal with people, so probably the best thing is to ignore him.

That way he will see that you are not up for negotiation.

forgotmyname

Reply to them, Thank you for your letter.

Feel free to file a small claim action against you, As ebay have probably told you, Your are
not going to win, You bought the item in person and paid after inspecting the item, Also shown
to be fully working. You were happy with the item and paid.

Subequent damage or regret in buying the item for whatever reason is not your problem.

If they continue harassing you then you will have to file a claim yourself for costs involved in dealing with their nonsense.


I was getting a bit peeved with ebay lately, Seller wouldnt sell an item then i get a wrong item. But that seller has put my faith back.
Apologised for sending the wrong one and seems to want to bend over backwards to help me. If i needed it this week he would courier another one.

A courier would cost nearly half the items value, So no i dont need it in a rush. And can i order another please.

Told me to keep the old one. And its not a 99p item.

Hows that for servoce.

wellused

I haven't bought a car from a private individual for some time now but as I remember it used to be the norm to put on the receipt "sold as seen", I never thought this was necessary but obviously it is a useful device to counter the sort of thing that you describe.

Crowqueen

wellused wrote: »

I haven't bought a car from a private individual for some time now but as I remember it used to be the norm to put on the receipt "sold as seen", I never thought this was necessary but obviously it is a useful device to counter the sort of thing that you describe.

Not really, anyone could write anything on a piece of paper (just like how some people think they can counter a Paypal-on-collection scam), what is important is the other available evidence. Sold as seen means very little. What's important is that something sold at a distance isn't misrepresented or misdescribed, but if the buyer has accepted the item, then there is no real comeback for any faults developing unless the seller is a business.

Otherwise, yeah, the buyer has very little comeback, legally speaking, with this item. Items sold by private sellers at a distance simply have to be "as described", and the buyer had the ability to reject the item when inspecting. There is no legal or eBay protection on these sort of cash transactions. It must be annoying for them but it is not a matter that is likely to end up in court, nor would it really be worth their while taking it to court over a matter of £20.

In fairness to the buyer, it is pretty crappy to buy something that turns out to be damaged, and were it sold by Paypal the buyer would have some guarantees through them in addition to their very meagre consumer rights. If the crack might have been there at the time of sale you could argue it wasn't described properly and they have a right to be annoyed - but not really to this extent.

Perhaps if they insist you might consider taking it back if it was nearly new and had only been out of the box once to view it - but anything you do would be done out of goodwill and on your terms in this situation.

sharnad

just delete his emails im taking you to court would cost him way more when he loses

techspec

cardi45 wrote: »

crack, he has never supplied evidence and I inspected it before listing....

Also, does he have access to my contact details through ebay and is it really worth while him doing this....help!

He already as the details needed to file a claim if he called to collect it - your address.

He can obtain your phone number from ebay - and they will give you his at the same time.

Nobody in their right mind would go to court for such a small amount As he collected in person - he saw it BEFORE he paid - so unlikely he would win either.

So block him on ebay. Keep all the emails he sends and print off a copy of the item page before it disappears. Then just ignore him.