Festival Ticket Scam

Gin1998_2

Hi I wonder if someone can help me!

I brought some V festival tickets in May this year from a seller who is no longer registered. Stupidly I paid for these tickets by cheque. The cheque has been cashed but no tickets received.

I have tried to contact her via eBay and through her aol email account but have recieved no reply. I don't have a telephone number, but I do have her address.

I have contacted eBay who say I can't put in a claim for unreceived goods and I can't put in a dispute as the deadline for filing disputes is 60 days. Obviously festivals sell their tickets months in advance of actually sending them out, infact V festival tickets have only been sent out over the last few weeks. I have pointed this out to eBay but to no avail. How can I have claimed within 60 days of not receiving those tickets when they aren't released until just before the festival! I feel that this makes eBay complicit in aiding these scams. There rules protect the seller and their purse strings. Isn't there some way that eBay is liable as its profiting, knowingly by not providing adequate protection, from fraud?

I have requested telephone numbers etc but eBay won't or can't help. I've searched the internet for telephone numbers but to no avail. I'm so frustrated and annoyed at myself for having been taken for a ride. I've used eBay before and never had any problems. eBay have responded to my complaints but not to my request for details.

I'm writing a letter to the seller, sending it recorded delivery, requesting a refund. I am also going to contact my bank and see if they can help at all.

Any suggestions how I can resolve this?

soolin

Your only hope , and frankly it is not a good one, is if you have an address to go to small claims. Youc an start the claim online but it will cost you and the seller, asusming the address was not a drop address, can ask for the case to be heard locally to him/her.

Unfortunately your seller was in breach of ebay terms and conditions anyway, all items must be capable of being delivered within 30 days of auction end. Those time limits are put on to protect buyers in these cases. Also, ebay no longer have any buyer protection for non paypal payments, and advise on their site that for security all items be paid for via paypal (I would also recommend that to protect against paypal also back those payments by a credit card!).

Gin1998_2

Thanks soo,
I will bare that in mind. Feel very dumb, but it is really frustrating that eBay refuse to acknowledge that they need to address how tickets for gigs/festivals are sold.
Oh well...a little bit older and a little bit wiser...hopefully!

soolin

Deleted_User wrote: »

Thanks soo,
I will bare that in mind. Feel very dumb, but it is really frustrating that eBay refuse to acknowledge that they need to address how tickets for gigs/festivals are sold.
Oh well...a little bit older and a little bit wiser...hopefully!

Actually the rules for selling tickets are quite stringent, lots of rules like face value must be declared and if a registered trader then reg number must be available. Unfortunately both on ebay and on other sites scammers will try their luck and hope to make a sale before they get reported and pulled from the site.

I bid on a number of tickets and probably on occasions as many as half the ones I bid on get pulled by ebay before the auction closes as they breach rules in some way or another.

There is a way , and I'm sure someone will post it, how you can do a reverse search for a phone number using the address, that might be the way forward. However, many scammers use a drop address, a local newsagent for instance is popular where I live, who take in mail and just store it until it is collected.

Time2Go_25

You could try directory enquiries on bt.com with the name and address they might be able to give you the phone number, so long as they are not ex-directory

MrsTinks

You could also try contacting your bank - it may be possible to reverse a cheque payment (I think especially if the cheque value is higher then the cheque guarantee card covers or some such - sorry not 100% sure) However the cheque has been cashed - that means it's probably gone into someone's account, unless they used one of the delightful cashing services. So I'd try to see if this can be reported to the police. They would be able to get the records I think...
If you can confirm the sellers address then definitely start a small claims case or notify them that you are about to. If they do not refund you then you WILL report the matter to the police and start procedings to recover your money.

Good luck

frivolous_fay

Hm. As you have had no acknowledgement that it was the person you sent the cheque to that banked it, I wonder if you could argue it has gone astray in the mail?

eira

My daughter has had EXACTLY this experience with Leeds Festival tickets. Bought two but got one. She has e-mailed the seller with no response. Conveniently she can't get her paypal money back or leave negative feedback because it's outside the time limit. Totally agree that E bay seems complicit in this scam. they even put 'item not as described and item not received ' in the same category. The E bay boards seem to be very much of the tenor--tough luck , it's all your fault for being so trusting !!

Daughter rang him on his mobile and he was at the Festival !!!! Presumably using the ticket she'd paid for. She'd reported him to the police who said they'd spoken to him and they were sure he'd give the money back. We do have his address because he gave his postcode in an e-mail and he's listed in the phone directory.So she'll have to go via small claims if the money doesn't come.
He has a 99.1% positive rating and is listed as a 'Power Seller'. The 'beauty' of this scam is that you are outside the time limit for negative feedback and the buyer can't even get contact details. So you can run these scams presumably alongside a positive rating.

My daughter is going to do what you're doing. Would really like to know how you get on. Like you I'm disgusted at the system that allows this to happen and actually seems to protect the sellers in this situation. I think I'm even more disturbed at the responses on the E bay forum to my comments-only one or two have offered any advice, the rest have been of the ilk 'it's all your fault you should have reported it'. Makes you think twice about buying anything ever again.
Good luck

Dave_Brooker

eira wrote: »

My daughter has had EXACTLY this experience with Leeds Festival tickets. Bought two but got one. She has e-mailed the seller with no response. Conveniently she can't get her paypal money back or leave negative feedback because it's outside the time limit. Totally agree that E bay seems complicit in this scam. they even put 'item not as described and item not received ' in the same category. The E bay boards seem to be very much of the tenor--tough luck , it's all your fault for being so trusting !!

Daughter rang him on his mobile and he was at the Festival !!!! Presumably using the ticket she'd paid for. She'd reported him to the police who said they'd spoken to him and they were sure he'd give the money back. We do have his address because he gave his postcode in an e-mail and he's listed in the phone directory.So she'll have to go via small claims if the money doesn't come.
He has a 99.1% positive rating and is listed as a 'Power Seller'. The 'beauty' of this scam is that you are outside the time limit for negative feedback and the buyer can't even get contact details. So you can run these scams presumably alongside a positive rating.

My daughter is going to do what you're doing. Would really like to know how you get on. Like you I'm disgusted at the system that allows this to happen and actually seems to protect the sellers in this situation. I think I'm even more disturbed at the responses on the E bay forum to my comments-only one or two have offered any advice, the rest have been of the ilk 'it's all your fault you should have reported it'. Makes you think twice about buying anything ever again.
Good luck

Ebay does seem to have become a bit of a mecca for scammers, sadly if you use paypal you don't end up with an address, which is something ebay/paypal should change.

Dave_Brooker

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Hm. As you have had no acknowledgement that it was the person you sent the cheque to that banked it, I wonder if you could argue it has gone astray in the mail?

Lying to the bank is a bit risky.

eira

Thanks for this response. Just wanted some tips or compare experience-something this forum excels at. Dave's response is all I wanted from E bay-it is a scammer's charter as it stands.
Even if you have fallen into a trap it makes you feel better to warn the other bears in the wood. The E bay forum (with some notable exceptions ) basically just mocked my daughter's inexperience with cutting remarks about needing a duvet to cry into. Interestingly the contributors also had a go at the supportive responders.
So you get scammed-learn from it-fair enough. But you do have the right to protest vigorously when the system defends the scammer-there really doesn't seem to be any way in which you can get any redress at all without an address on E bay. She has paid nearly £200 for this 'lesson'.

Maybe she'll get her money back when he returns from the festival !!