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Bought online - Any Rights?

Hello all.

I've been buying online for years, through many channels. Always been careful and not got stung....until now.

I recently bought a car, and then joined an enthusiasts page in facebook. A lot of new/used parts selling goes on at these pages (I bought and sold a load ref: my previous car in this way too).

Someone came along who claimed to be breaking their car and selling all the parts. I engaged in private conversation with him and we agreed on a delivered sale price of two items. No delivery details were discussed.

He claimed not to have Paypal himself but would come back to me with his brother's details. In the end he gave me the details of who he claimed to be a temporary work colleague.

He asked if I'd make the payment "as a gift" (this is the how things are done on these pages as the communities are usually quite integrated). I did so.

He claimed to send the goods via second class post. They never arrived.
He said he would speak to the post office, but he didn't add tracking or insurance to the parcel. He never came back to me and is now ignoring my requests for an update.
He has also removed the advert from Facebook too

As it stands, I have only his Facebook profile, and the email address of the person I paid the goods for. Paypal inform that because it was sent as a gift I cannot request resolution

Can anything be done?
Can small claims be started (with the power of the court, could they get information from Paypal/Facebook)?
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Comments

  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,181 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 29 September 2016 at 12:38PM
    MintyCyrmu wrote: »
    Hello all.

    I've been buying online for years, through many channels. Always been careful and not got stung....until now.

    I recently bought a car, and then joined an enthusiasts page in facebook. A lot of new/used parts selling goes on at these pages (I bought and sold a load ref: my previous car in this way too).

    Someone came along who claimed to be breaking their car and selling all the parts. I engaged in private conversation with him and we agreed on a delivered sale price of two items. No delivery details were discussed.

    He claimed not to have Paypal himself but would come back to me with his brother's details. In the end he gave me the details of who he claimed to be a temporary work colleague.

    He asked if I'd make the payment "as a gift" (this is the how things are done on these pages as the communities are usually quite integrated). I did so.

    He claimed to send the goods via second class post. They never arrived.
    He said he would speak to the post office, but he didn't add tracking or insurance to the parcel. He never came back to me and is now ignoring my requests for an update.
    He has also removed the advert from Facebook too

    As it stands, I have only his Facebook profile, and the email address of the person I paid the goods for. Paypal inform that because it was sent as a gift I cannot request resolution

    Can anything be done?
    Can small claims be started (with the power of the court, could they get information from Paypal/Facebook)?

    How much money are we talking about here?

    You appear to have bought from a private individual, whose name you don't know, whose address you don't know, whose phone number you don't know.
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but sadly I fear you have lost your money.
  • pinkshoes
    pinkshoes Posts: 20,235 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    MintyCyrmu wrote: »
    Hello all.

    I've been buying online for years, through many channels. Always been careful and not got stung....until now.

    I recently bought a car, and then joined an enthusiasts page in facebook. A lot of new/used parts selling goes on at these pages (I bought and sold a load ref: my previous car in this way too).

    Someone came along who claimed to be breaking their car and selling all the parts. I engaged in private conversation with him and we agreed on a delivered sale price of two items. No delivery details were discussed.

    He claimed not to have Paypal himself but would come back to me with his brother's details. In the end he gave me the details of who he claimed to be a temporary work colleague.

    He asked if I'd make the payment "as a gift" (this is the how things are done on these pages as the communities are usually quite integrated). I did so.

    He claimed to send the goods via second class post. They never arrived.
    He said he would speak to the post office, but he didn't add tracking or insurance to the parcel. He never came back to me and is now ignoring my requests for an update.
    He has also removed the advert from Facebook too

    As it stands, I have only his Facebook profile, and the email address of the person I paid the goods for. Paypal inform that because it was sent as a gift I cannot request resolution

    Can anything be done?
    Can small claims be started (with the power of the court, could they get information from Paypal/Facebook)?

    In short, you have lost the money.

    Hope it wasnt a lot!!

    Your only hope is tracking this individual down.

    As you paid for it via a gift on paypal, then they have no power to get the money back.

    You could contact paypal and ask them to freeze the account, but I guess it was probably one temporarily set up for the purpose of fraud.
    Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
    Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')

    No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)
  • It was only £70

    But it was my £70 :(

    I had hoped that in the new age of electronic interaction, the Small Claims system would have something in place.
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,181 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    MintyCyrmu wrote: »
    It was only £70

    But it was my £70 :(

    I had hoped that in the new age of electronic interaction, the Small Claims system would have something in place.

    It isn't the court's job to find out who you should be claiming against.
    All the court will do is send your claim to the defendant, but as you do not have an address, that's a non-starter.

    I bet the name you have isn't even the seller's real name.
  • I dare say you're right.
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,181 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    You should report the issue to Action Fraud.

    If they have other complaints about this individual, they may investigate further.
    If nothing else, your report may help others in future.
  • Bye Bye Money. A lesson learned I feel.
  • MintyCyrmu wrote: »
    I had hoped that in the new age of electronic interaction, the Small Claims system would have something in place.
    Thankfully,in my opinion, we don't yet live in the kind of Police State where that kind of investigation of a private individual would be possible.

    However, even if you did find this person, you gifted the money to him. He'd be easily able to dispute that there was ever any agreement for him to supply you with anything.
  • takman
    takman Posts: 3,876 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    MintyCyrmu wrote: »
    He asked if I'd make the payment "as a gift" (this is the how things are done on these pages as the communities are usually quite integrated). I did so.

    I've seen many adverts on these kind of pages and the reputable sellers usually say "PayPal gift or send the extra to cover the fees". Personally I would always choose to pay the fees if I hadn't dealt with the person before.

    Plus it's also a good test to see how genuine they are when you offer to pay the fees instead of sending it as a gift.
  • Sad for you.
    I also need help and advice if anyone can...please read...
    I recently bought an item advertised on eBay. Seller told me to PayPal payment.... I didn't worry as have used it a lot and know about their guarantee...
    He didn't post item and then said his eBay was hacked...and PayPal...which the cash then went into a second PayPal account... I have his eBay I.D and email... His PayPal email and his mobile phone number... Both people on emails say a different name and they were hacked...how can two ebayers be hacked for same item?! He has blocked my number so I can't call him. Ebay, PayPal and police won't help. I have seen him advertise the same items three times...I placed a bid of £5000....prob only worth £30 item...but I was outbid...so surely a fraud as I didn't get a complaint about my bid. He just took it off sale again.
    Since found out it was friends n family n not covered.
    I worry for all other innocent victims like me not knowing this info. Feel ashamed
This discussion has been closed.
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