Paid for goods via bank transfer and they haven't arrived

ste.richards

*Thread deleted*

halibut2209

Searching for Complete Vehicle Solutions Leicester on facebook led me to a closed group. The admin of that group (I assume is the owner) has literally just returned from a holiday abroad. (28th April - 3rd May)

I'd wait a few days

unholyangel

ste.richards wrote: »

I don't know a lot about law but I get a feeling my recovery will be made harder because I made the payment to a person and not a business. That is unless the bank account I made the payment in to is a business account.

Is there reason for a personal payment hindering the likelyhood of funds recovery?

When you pay by debit card, you are covered by visa/mastercards own chargeback policy. When you buy on a credit card (and the goods are over £100) you are covered by section 75 of the consumer credit act (which makes the card company jointly and severally liable). When you pay via paypal, you have paypals own protection policy.

When you pay by bank transfer, there is no way to reverse the payment and no laws/policy holding the bank jointly liable.

Interestingly, companies house have a few "company vehicle solutions" listed.....3 out of 5 have been dissolved and the "active" one is in the process of being struck off (ie dissolved). The active one also seems to have a typo in the company name (solutionss) - where the one spelled correctly was struck off last year. The typo has the same address as one of the others (ross walk)

agrinnall

The police won't be interested, it's a civil matter. Your course to recover your money is a Letter Before Action followed by Small Claims Court.

soolin

ste.richards wrote: »

@unholyangel How does all this differ to a cash payment? For example, if I went in to a shop, or to a man to buy a car and handed over cash to them. Then what is the scenario if the person/shopkeeper doesn't give you the goods? Are they breaking the law by doing the above? Do cash payment relate to bank transfers in any way?

At least you have a proven physical address for them and can serve small claims papers. If all you have is a facebook page, mobile and bank account number you can't even do that.

lovinituk

ste.richards wrote: »

What is the success of retrieving money via a small claims? What happens if the defendant doesn't turn up to the court? Do the courts instruct the banks to to transfer the funds back to the originating account?

Do it through MCOL online - you almost certainly won't actually need to attend court. Unless the defendant defends, the court will order them to pay up. If they don't pay up, the CCJ is a formality. Where it gets difficult is enforcing the CCJ. You might have to pay for bailiffs who might not be able to recover anything anyway.

The courts definitely won't instruct the bank(s) to reverse the transfer.

wealdroam

ste.richards wrote: »

What is the success of retrieving money via a small claims? What happens if the defendant doesn't turn up to the court? Do the courts instruct the banks to to transfer the funds back to the originating account?

Your questions are all answered in MSE's Small Claims Court guide.

wealdroam

Once again we have a selfish original poster who totally disrespects all those who tried to help him.

For those who want to make sense of the thread, here is the original original post again:

ste.richards wrote: »

Paid for goods via bank transfer and they haven't arrived

Hi,

I should first state that this was a foolish move that I'm aware of. The seller had built up trust by selling a low priced item and as my PayPal account wasn't functioning correctly, I offered to make a bank transfer and the items arrived (car parts).
I then needed a gearbox (£300) swiftly and I had good experience the first time, I again offered to make a bank transfer. 1 week later and I'm getting no reply via text message or phone number. My latest text message was:

"I'm starting to assume at this point, after 1 week of waiting and recent ignoring of calls and text messages, that you're not planning on sending the item that you agreed to. I'd like to think this isnt the case but I am preparing to go to Leicester Police station with your name, phone number, bank account details, company name of 'Complete Vehicle Solutions' and Ross Walk business address.

Again I'd like to think there is just a delay but I'd need some reassurance"

but this hasn't been replied to.

Now my questions is, would his local police be concerned with this? Is there a better option I could take to try and retrieve the money/item?

Regards, Ste

halibut2209

A fair reason, given the situation.

unholyangel

halibut2209 wrote: »

A fair reason, given the situation.

That the guy is still trading under a company name that was dissolved in september last year?

I'd advise OP to report them to companies house for possible fraud so it can be looked into.

halibut2209

No, that they are now in communication with the company in question