Gumtree purchase problem

Archer-gil

Hi,

It's awful that I'd be joining the forum for negative reasons but I've got a problem after purchasing a PS4 on Gumtree via paypal.

The details:
On 19th Jan, I saw a PS4 advertised for £228, I sent the person an email, he replied saying contact him, I gave him my number and we spoke via whatsapp. He confirmed he's selling the PS4 but he's not local so he'll deliver. Eventually I agreed and I paid through paypal (leaving a note on the transaction about what the money is for). He then said he sent the item and I was content with it, he said it'll arrive in two working days but it didn't, I messaged him and he barely replies, if he does reply, it's not even about answering my question. Such as when I asked him which delivery did you use (1st or second class) he goes on and says 'postoffice'.
Yesterday I messaged him again, he said he's going to speak with Royal Mail and give me the tracking number, however he just stopped replying.

Now I understand that it's only been four days, and I maybe should give him some time. But the reason I've been so impatient is because I've bought it for my younger brother who's birthday is coming up in the next 3 days. I said to him that if it doesn't come tomorrow (now today, 24/01) then I'll be getting a refund. He hasn't replied, but is it possible for paypal to give me a refund even though it has been 4 days since the purchase? It also says on paypal to 'confirm receipt', does this mean the money is being held with paypal?

RMS2

Archer-gil wrote: »

Now I understand that it's only been four days,

No, I'd be worrying right now.


You'll get some replies off of people who know more about the Paypal system than I do, as I generally only use it to buy and give/send gift payments to people I know.


Your also going to have to accept some people saying you're a fool for buying something on Gumtree and not paying face to face.


I do buy a few 'distance' items, pay and send Myhermes to collect, but that is usually only about £20 and the fraudsters don't tend to go for that end of the market.


I will say, that some people's idea of good condition and mine are somewhat different.

suicidebob

Did you not see all the warnings plastered over Gumtree about paying for items you've not seen?

"Meet face to face to see the item and exchange money. Make sure you are completely happy with the item before handing over any money. Although we do not recommend paying for an item you haven't seen, if you are planning to do this, please use a secure payment"

Archer-gil

suicidebob wrote: »

Did you not see all the warnings plastered over Gumtree about paying for items you've not seen?

"Meet face to face to see the item and exchange money. Make sure you are completely happy with the item before handing over any money. Although we do not recommend paying for an item you haven't seen, if you are planning to do this, please use a secure payment"

If by 'seen' you mean a picture, then yes I did.

RMS2 wrote: »

No, I'd be worrying right now.


You'll get some replies off of people who know more about the Paypal system than I do, as I generally only use it to buy and give/send gift payments to people I know.


Your also going to have to accept some people saying you're a fool for buying something on Gumtree and not paying face to face.


I do buy a few 'distance' items, pay and send Myhermes to collect, but that is usually only about £20 and the fraudsters don't tend to go for that end of the market.


I will say, that some people's idea of good condition and mine are somewhat different.

Yep I would kind of agree that it was naive to do what I did, but my circumstances clouded my judgement and intuition, initially I had a feeling of this going wrong, but I could only save enough money to get my younger brother what he wanted at the price that was within my budget.

Although I am ready to accept criticism, I hope someone could give me advice on how I should go about opening a dispute, since I've (recently) read how scammers are very tricky with deceptive advertising.

Anyway, thank you for your reply.

Brooker_Dave

Was it a gift payment?

soolin

You have been scammed and unfortunately as has been said already this is a common scam and one that Gumtree warn about .

Don't wait any longer, check your paypal payment and assuming you paid for named goods then open a dispute now, not later, but now. Do a full dispute and escalate as soon as you can for Item not received'. Fingers crossed that is going to work , you are going to have to wait a while for your money and if it doesn't work then come back and ask for more advice- although frankly the paypal claim is all you have here.

Also, even in your post you still mention scammers being deceptive with their advertising- please understand there are no goods, the PS doesn't exist.

Also your statement "If by 'seen' you mean a picture, then yes I did." really worries me- a photo doesn't mean you've seen the item. You must get your head round the scam here to stop yourself falling for anything similar in future.

Archer-gil

soolin wrote: »

You have been scammed and unfortunately as has been said already this is a common scam and one that Gumtree warn about .

Don't wait any longer, check your paypal payment and assuming you paid for named goods then open a dispute now, not later, but now. Do a full dispute and escalate as soon as you can for Item not received'. Fingers crossed that is going to work , you are going to have to wait a while for your money and if it doesn't work then come back and ask for more advice- although frankly the paypal claim is all you have here.

Also, even in your post you still mention scammers being deceptive with their advertising- please understand there are no goods, the PS doesn't exist.

Also your statement "If by 'seen' you mean a picture, then yes I did." really worries me- a photo doesn't mean you've seen the item. You must get your head round the scam here to stop yourself falling for anything similar in future.

Thanks for your help, but I do not understand what you mean by that bold part.

This may sound silly, but which category does a playstation go under? Is it Home/consumer electronics or entertainment related goods?

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Was it a gift payment?

Nope.

suicidebob

Obviously a troll. Nobody is this stupid

soolin

Archer-gil wrote: »

Thanks for your help, but I do not understand what you mean by that bold part.

This may sound silly, but which category does a playstation go under? Is it Home/consumer electronics or entertainment related goods?



Nope.

OK brief outline of scam. In this case a PS but it can be anything from a phone to a mobile home.

Me (the scammer) finds a nice photo on the net or on Gumtree of a PS4, uses that image to set up their own advert. Everyone who responds gets the same message , 99.9% of people will walk away when he asks for money up front realising this is a scam, however a few people will go along with it. He collects all the money in- he might even respond for a day or two to get his money out of paypal. Then he disappears, paypal account is closed and scammer opens a new one selling iphones or whatever this time.

It is unusual for scammer to use paypal though as buyers can reclaim their money as long as they pay for named goods and not for services. The scammer might be new or he might be using a hacked paypal account and can withdraw money immediately and leave the real owner to face the music.

soolin

It isn't just Gumtree BTW, there's currenlty a scammer on one of my local facebook groups selling handbags, took money up front via bank transfer so he could pay for the handbags and in return for people paying up front he promised them free delivery instead of the £9.99 he was quoting.

He's obviously done a runner now and looks like he has a few dozen victims.

Archer-gil

soolin wrote: »

OK brief outline of scam. In this case a PS but it can be anything from a phone to a mobile home.

Me (the scammer) finds a nice photo on the net or on Gumtree of a PS4, uses that image to set up their own advert. Everyone who responds gets the same message , 99.9% of people will walk away when he asks for money up front realising this is a scam, however a few people will go along with it. He collects all the money in- he might even respond for a day or two to get his money out of paypal. Then he disappears, paypal account is closed and scammer opens a new one selling iphones or whatever this time.

It is unusual for scammer to use paypal though as buyers can reclaim their money as long as they pay for named goods and not for services. The scammer might be new or he might be using a hacked paypal account and can withdraw money immediately and leave the real owner to face the music.

That's true, but he even gave me his address (I'm not sure if it's correct or not) and told me to pick it up, but I realised that it's 85 miles away so I couldn't.

And if you could answer the category question, it'll be great help.