Paid by bank transfer in front of seller and then he refused to give me the product

Saeedk1995

Hi everyone,

In short I paid for a laptop through bank transfer in front of the seller at his house. The money (£1400) didn’t come through instantly, he said he will give me the laptop once the money came through. We waited some time, but I left and we agreed to meet another day since it was getting late. This was 5/6 days ago and since then he has ignored me on text, WhatsApp and calls and fb messenger.

In detail:

I’ve had a weird situation happen to me, I found a laptop in Fb market around the St. Helens. I met the guy and we agreed to £1400, I had a look at the laptop too, so I transferred it into his bank account, it was late around 11 and since it was a large amount between 2 different banks the money did not send instantly. We both waited for 30 mins in which I got to know hun more he seemed like a nice guy working in a professional job at motianto which is a large logistics company near by.

 Anyways after waiting some time with no luck of the money going into his account however, from my account it showed -£1400, he didn’t want to give the laptop until the money came through. It was getting late and we both had work the next day so I suggested I’ll come tomorrow or the day after to collect it, we shook hands and I left. The next day I called my bank and they informed me the money wouldn’t have sent straight away since it was above £1000, but  by now it would have been received by his bank. Informed him of this and he has been ignoring me since, it’s been 5/6 days since I’ve sent the money and since he’s replied to me. I don’t know what to do, I have proof of our conversation and me sending £1400 with reference Dell XPS from my account to his. 

Can anyone please give me some advice on what the best approach may be? I really don’t know what to do and I’ve basically just been robbed.

Many Thanks,

Thrugelmir

Have you been round to where you met him? 

Saeedk1995

I’m from Blackpool and he lives in St. Helens which is about 1 hour away. When we were talking he informed me he is always working until 9pm every week day. So I’m I planning to make the journey on Friday and knock on his door since it’s bank holiday, but I think he will just ignore me then too, i’m predicting it’s going to be a waste of a trip. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Not much you can do other than a) go and see him and if you get no joy, then b) send him a letter before action asking for the laptop or the return of your money,

mattyprice4004

I would certainly be making the trip before worrying too much - it's a lot harder to ignore someone on your doorstep. 
Sadly I've had to do similar myself, sitting outside their house for 2 hours until the bloke's wife made him come out and speak to me. 

Saeedk1995

What action are you referring to @Aylesbury_Duck ?

Ahh damn, this guy is 24 years old he lives by himself in a 1 bedroom flat, looks like a house that has been converted to 2 flats. @mattyprice4004

Saeedk1995

I’ve got details of where he works and employees that may work with him too through LinkedIn and also friends/family members Fb account names from his likes on his latest picture. Is it reasonable to message them and try get it settled through pressuring him through family work and friends? 

Saeedk1995

As in to message them and asking them to intervene and help sort it out 

JetpackVelociraptor

So he's ignoring your calls? Have you tried sending him a text or email? I would make sure you exhaust all other means of contact before you escalate to contacting his workplace etc. Have you checked that house is genuinely his address?

Saeedk1995

I don’t have his email, but he is ignoring calls, WhatsApp calls, texts, WhatsApp messages which btw shows he has seen it this morning, he is also ignoring my Fb messages. It’s been 5 days of this, only difference is for the past 5 days it showed he didn’t see my message, but today he did see my WhatsApp message I’m guessing he accidentally pressed it. In this day and age people are on their phones a lot so it’s obvious he is ignoring me.

Not sure how to approach contacting his work place.

Yes he is a tenant in that house, online eletroral shows it is registered to his name at that property. @JetpackVelociraptor

Thrugelmir

Saeedk1995 said:

I’m from Blackpool and he lives in St. Helens which is about 1 hour away. When we were talking he informed me he is always working until 9pm every week day.

What about weekends? With £1400 at stake I'd have been on his case.