Ripped off on Gumtree - Is there anything I can do?

soolin

One other thing, the photos on the original,listing - do they show clear photos of the chairs unmarked and the area of the table that is now claimed to be damaged? If the photos show no damage would this not support the view that courier is responsible?

Also did courier contact you at the point he collected chairs to say they were water damaged, or did he tell you that later after he had them in his safe keeping for a while?

taney

soolin wrote: »

One other thing, the photos on the original,listing - do they show clear photos of the chairs unmarked and the area of the table that is now claimed to be damaged? If the photos show no damage would this not support the view that courier is responsible?

Also did courier contact you at the point he collected chairs to say they were water damaged, or did he tell you that later after he had them in his safe keeping for a while?

No,the phtos didnt show any areas of damage,and because 4 of the 6chairs are marked so they were unmarked in the picture that was advertised.

Also the courier never told me about any damages even untill I pointed out to him on collection and he said yeah they were there when he collected

taney

soolin wrote: »

Firstly, why was courier not able to collect the first time, that is either the fault,of the buyer or of the courier, it's nothing at all to do with seller.

Then if seller wanted rid of it but was going on holiday what was planned then by buyer and courier ? Was seller contacted with a firm date for collection, we have no idea here whether courier did say anything to seller about being back 'tomorrow' pr something and to,leave the table out.

I agree with you as well:
The seller did mention that it was heavy table and would need more than 1 person to lift it which I clearly mentioned to courier that he would need assistance as its marble but he still went by himself.
Secondly,I was never aware about the holiday and I was not informed by seller that when is he going and returning.Its the courier who told me that he is going and table needs to be collected after he returns.its my mistake that I didnt approach the seller straight away agreeing for a date and time

hermum

Taney, I do think that the courier is more to blame here than the seller.
I would know that one person cannot shift a marble table, he's obviously either a numpty or someone who happened to have a van & thinks that this is good way to earn quick cash.
Is there anything on the site you booked him through re damages?

taney

hermum wrote: »

Taney, I do think that the courier is more to blame here than the seller.
I would know that one person cannot shift a marble table, he's obviously either a numpty or someone who happened to have a van & thinks that this is good way to earn quick cash.
Is there anything on the site you booked him through re damages?

yes,i'm also thinking on these lines too but problem is seller is not giving me any evidence in form of pictures so i dont how can i claim without any proof.the website doesnt take any responsibilty but his own company is registered and provide insurance upto 100,000

taney

Hi to All who have given me a lot of useful advise in this matter,
As per advise I tried several times to liase with seller but despite saying that he"ll send me pictures he never did,so I ended up sending him the small claim warning letter.He hasn't responded to that.So I wanted to know that do I have to wait for 28days to open a case?

Also as I have doubts about the courier as well because he has also failed to provide a solid proof that the damage had been done beforehand,so can I send similar letter to him to get the insurance at the same time or do I have to wait until I get court decision?

I"ll really appreciate the advise from all of you who have been a real help so far!

soolin

taney wrote: »

Hi to All who have given me a lot of useful advise in this matter,
As per advise I tried several times to liase with seller but despite saying that he"ll send me pictures he never did,so I ended up sending him the small claim warning letter.He hasn't responded to that.So I wanted to know that do I have to wait for 28days to open a case?

Also as I have doubts about the courier as well because he has also failed to provide a solid proof that the damage had been done beforehand,so can I send similar letter to him to get the insurance at the same time or do I have to wait until I get court decision?

I"ll really appreciate the advise from all of you who have been a real help so far!

I think trying to go after both the seller and courier shows that you cannot say with certainty where the fault lies. Therefore I wonder exactly what you are going to present to a court. The 'it may have been the fault of this seller but I honestly can't say that for sure under oath' is hardly going to win a case. Likewise, if you try a claim against courier, where exactly is your proof?

I know that others have been much more encouraging than I have so maybe take their advice and ignore me, but at the moment you have faulty goods and no idea at all, that you can swear to under oath who caused the damage.

taney

soolin wrote: »

I think trying to go after both the seller and courier shows that you cannot say with certainty where the fault lies. Therefore I wonder exactly what you are going to present to a court. The 'it may have been the fault of this seller but I honestly can't say that for sure under oath' is hardly going to win a case. Likewise, if you try a claim against courier, where exactly is your proof?

I know that others have been much more encouraging than I have so maybe take their advice and ignore me, but at the moment you have faulty goods and no idea at all, that you can swear to under oath who caused the damage.

I appreciate your reply and understand what you say but my dilemma is in the fact that I truly don't know who is at fault as neither parties have given me any proof about their innocence.Both of them have made mistakes but personally based on facts I think seller would be considered more responsible as he left the goods outside without anybody's knowledge and he wasnt present at time of collection so he cant justify that goods were fine.The only thing in favor of courier is their collection paperwork which states goods were damaged but it hasnt been countersigned by seller so i dont know if it stands anywhere??Now when I'm directing my case blaming seller,should i wait and in case i lose then approach courier....i'm totally confused!!

soolin

taney wrote: »

I appreciate your reply and understand what you say but my dilemma is in the fact that I truly don't know who is at fault as neither parties have given me any proof about their innocence.Both of them have made mistakes but personally based on facts I think seller would be considered more responsible as he left the goods outside without anybody's knowledge and he wasnt present at time of collection so he cant justify that goods were fine.The only thing in favor of courier is their collection paperwork which states goods were damaged but it hasnt been countersigned by seller so i dont know if it stands anywhere??Now when I'm directing my case blaming seller,should i wait and in case i lose then approach courier....i'm totally confused!!

I am not a lawyer and will not pretend to be but I wonder if you do now actually need some proper legal advice before you spend money persuing this.

my worry would be that if you go after the seller first, and lose and then go after the courier that the couriers defence is that you knowit was the sellers fault and you are now blaming him unfairly as you could not win your case against the seller.

Also I wonder if there is any legal argument ( and again do not take random opinions on here) that the courier was acting as your agent and accepted the goods ? This whole thing would of course be different if seller had been the one to Arrange the courier.

porto_bello

taney wrote: »

I appreciate your reply and understand what you say but my dilemma is in the fact that I truly don't know who is at fault as neither parties have given me any proof about their innocence.

With respect, if you can't be sure even which party to sue, it seems very unlikely that you'll be able to successfully win a court case against either. Sorry, I don't think suing or threatening to sue the courier or seller is the way forward.

It strikes me that communication and co-operation was lacking between all three parties here: seller, courier and buyer. If it came to court, I suspect each would point their fingers at the other two and having been seen by the court as a hopeless tangle, the case would fail - pretty quickly.

I understand that you feel aggrieved and want someone else found responsible, but I think you would be flushing more money down the toilet - and there's a distinct possibility that the other party(ies) may launch a counter case for loss of earnings or whatever, perhaps with a greater chance of success.