small claims court advice

craftfairy

This is going to be a long one so i apologise in advance but i am so upset i am sitting here in tears.

I sold some dies to an american ebay member scrappy-too i am going to name her as you deserve to avoid her.
I sent her an invoice for combined postage and she paid via paypal.
The way i do my ebaying is to write on the parcel the postage paid and drop them all at the post ofice and they send them out within what i quote for postage and i go in the next day and pay.
When i went in the lady said the parcel was far too heavy for airmal (i did not realise this) and so it was sent surface mail, she then advised me that this could take up to 5 weeks - there was nothing i could do as it had gone the day before. So i emailed the seller apologising and explained the situation.

she went mad and then esculated a paypal claim saying the goods had not turned up - i had advised her the timescale in my apology.

I have spoken to paypal tonight and they say unless i can prove they have reached her then they are giving her the money back (£90) I advised that she had not requested postal insurance and they said unless i can prove it reached her - which i can't, and couldn't because of the delivery time anyway they are giving her the money end of.

I said well what can i do, they said small claims court

any one have any advice... surely this is fraud on her part as she is going to have both the dies and the money?

I could really do with some advice and a shoulder to cry on - the money thaey are giving her is money i put away for our holiday, we only have one a year and it is going to be even more of a struggle now!

Lisa x

roses

I don't think small claims court will work as the buyer is in America

glossy123

So sorry to hear what happened to you. Unfortunately, I think that roses is right about the small claims court.

US buyers can be very tricky in my experience!:rolleyes:

Also you have a problem because as far as I know, items sent surface mail are neither tracked nor signed for so you will not be able to get any proof of delivery.:eek:

Sorry if this sounds depressing.

Try to sit in her shoes for a moment - she may have thought that you were going to have her money and she would have no dies, while you are thinking you have no dies and no money!

My suggestion would be to appeal to the buyer's better nature (if she has one??!!) and explain the position again, telling her that although PayPal have refunded her, the goods will arrive in approx x weeks time and that you are sure being an honest and good ebayer she will then pay you for them. Apologise for the delivery delay and maybe tactfully point out (or maybe not) that to get them by air mail she would have had to pay yy$ rather than what you charged. I am afraid it is your mistake on the postage:o so you have to try to get her to feel sorry for you and be honest about paying when they eventually do arrive.

hth!

vaio

Am I missing something?

You sold on ebay and didn’t follow the postage agreed in your auction or required by ebay/paypal.

When the buyer complains you want to sue them?

rare_stuff

bit late for the advice now - but here goes -
As there is a 2kilo limit for airmail it is not advisable to combine postages on items going airmail unless you are sure the combination will be under this weight. If the combined items are over 2kilos it wil be better to split them.

Try appealing to the buyer and apologise profusely and make it clear the items will be arriving, just a little later than expected. Although paypal will have refunded her ask if she will be honest enough to pay when they do arrive.

digerati

No need for small claims which in any event can't be enforced in another country. (Typical PayPal nonsense that they suggested it.)

Ask your US buyer to refuse the item when it arrives, so I'll eventually be returned to you. You'll only be out the postage (and your time).

Also file a UID (unpaid item dispute) with eBay since the buyer has been refunded by PayPal.

KL62

hi if its any consoliation im going through a rubbish time too with paypal and feel ive been treat unfairly. I sold a pair of straighteners to a girl in the uk about 2 months ago. They were in perfect working condition when i sent them i have never had any problems with them. I got £66 for them and she paid via paypal so i sent the straighteners the next day. She left me positive feedback and then 3 weeks later she emailed to say they were now faulty and would i arrange for a collection and her money back. So you can imagine my atonishment, i told her i would not accept themback or refund them as they were in a perfect working condition when sent and how did i know she hadnt damaged them. The next day i went to use paypal and found my account frozen and to the tune of a negative balance of £66. So i rang them up and was told the buyer had filed a complaint of goods not received so they automatically had took the money off me. I went mad , asked how it can be proven they are faulty or even be proved if the straigteners were broken in her possession. They took a statement from me, a statement from her and told us they would put the £66 in a holding account for 30 days whilst they looked in to the dispute. To cut a long story short this week they sent me an email to say they called the buyer listened to what she had to say and granted her her money back and have advised her to send the straighteners back to me. I am still waiting on these paypal will not speak to me anymore about this. As soon as the automated line recognises your account number you get put on to message saying the case has now been resolved and theres nothing further paypal can do. So now i am left £66 out of pocket and no straghteners. And if they do come back they are uselss to me as they are faulty. Or so im led to beleive, they may come back in a perfect working condition and she may have been pulling a fast one to ge ther money back? I dont know. I went a got advice about putting a claim through a small claims court but ive been advised in order to do that, i need to prove that the straighteners were in a perfect working condition when they were sent.....how the hell can i do that?

vaio

KL62 wrote: »

…….. I sold a pair of straighteners to a girl in the uk about 2 months ago. They were in perfect working condition when I sent them I have never had any problems with them. I got £66 for them and she paid via paypal so I sent the straighteners the next day. She left me positive feedback and then 3 weeks later she emailed to say they were now faulty and would I arrange for a collection and her money back…….Lost Paypal dispute…… So now I am left £66 out of pocket and no straghteners. And if they do come back they are useless to me as they are faulty. Or so I'm led to believe, they may come back in a perfect working condition and she may have been pulling a fast one to get her money back? I don’t know. I went a got advice about putting a claim through a small claims court but I've been advised in order to do that, I need to prove that the straighteners were in a perfect working condition when they were sent.....how the hell can I do that?

I would do small claims on this one. The fact that you got pos feedback and not notified of a fault for 3 weeks would probably convince a judge that they were working when you sent them. In small claims it’s not prove as in 100%, it’s prove as in 51%

KL62

do you know what the costs entailed are though for a small claims court? would it be worth the £66?

vaio

KL62 wrote: »

do you know what the costs entailed are though for a small claims court? would it be worth the £66?

I think it's £40 court fee. You can't get solicitors costs but you can get your own out of pocket expenses and you can do it online.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

If you win you get these costs back as well

ssparry

Its £30 for the £66, and if you win she would have to pay you £66 plus £30. (I am going through small claims at the moment). It is very easy to do and don't be intimidated by it, you could email her and explain that you are going to submit court application to recover costs, that might giver her a kick up the bum!