Got badly burned on gumtree - now seller is harassing me

mollusk

Hi all

I know if anyone can help me solve this, it's you guys!

So, last week (Sunday) I bought a laptop from a guy whose ad I saw on Gumtree. I went to his house, looked at the laptop, it seemed fine, so I bought it. He said that the laptop was only six weeks old and that the only thing he'd done to it was upgrade the operating system.

Anyway, when I got home, I couldn't use she computer because it was logged into his account. When I asked how I could access the laptop, he could not remember his password. He said to restore the laptop back to factory settings. I tried to do this, but when it came to doing to, an error came up. There were partitions missing on the harddrive. This meant that I could not restore the computer and that it would be vulnerable to viruses, malware, and other such things. Wen I said that there was a major defect in the computer, he said straightway that I would not be receiving a refund and that I should fix it myself. I tried to fix it but could not. I then took it to two different repairmen who both said that it is unfixable.

I called the seller and explained that I had a faulty laptop and that I'd like a refund, but he flat out said no, he'd banked the money and that was that.

I called gumtree and they advised that I call the police and file a small claim. I did both and then emailed the seller at 9pm tonight to inform him of these actions (as advised by police). Since ether, he has mailbaited my email address and I've received 187 emails.

So now, I've lost £210, paid a small claims fee, called the police, called gumtree, have a broken laptop, and a soon-to-be unusable email address (which is also a professional email address).

Any ideas what to do? This surely must count as harassment? Which is ironic because the seller told me last week that if I contacted him again to try to get my money back, he would call the police and have me done for harassment.

hollydays

Not sure there's a lot more to say- what did the police say the first time?
If you've filed a small claim courts claim you have done all you can.
There is no need to contact him any more.

Swampy3k

You've done the right thing by contacting the police, if he puts in a counter claim it dosen't carry as much weight as the original complainant, I doubt there is any way you can prove he mailbaited your email address, although it is highly likely, let the courts deal with it now and do not contact this guy again, as for your inbox... thats up to you how you deal with it.

forgotmyname

Why is it unfixable? Surely all they need to do is install the operating system again?

Vunerable to viruses because it wont restore?

No more vunerable than any 2nd hand computer that maybe infected already. Simple solution is to install the OS again.

There should be a sticker on the computer with the serial number for windows.

bsms1147

6 weeks old and the seller was locked out of the account?

Sounds a bit stolen to me.

Whiner

As forgotmyname says, a simple reinstall will completely fix this.

roddydogs

If he was locked out, how did you try it...........dont say you didnt.

mollusk

I did try to have the OS restored, but it doesn't have a disk drive so I cannot install any disks (I don't have any disks either).

I asked the two repairmen to reinstall the OS too but neither of them could. The first said it would be impossible without buying a new OS and end second one said the computer needed new hardware anyway, which he couldn't get because it's a foreign computer.

My point is, even if it could be fixed at this point, surely I shouldn't have to travel all over the city trying to find someone who's knowledgable enough to do it?

mollusk

I should also add that since buying the computer, I've noticed that all the screws in the machine have been tampered with, so t looks like it's been taken apart at some point, which would totally explain why he can't just take this 'six week old' machine back to the shop.

buglawton

In view of the sellers behaviour, you are going to have to wonder if your machine was not stolen goods.

pinkshoes

When you made your court claim, did you send the seller a letter before action giving him 14 days for a full refund?