No Item, No Money - Where do I stand?

jazam95

Hi and thanks for accepting me on to the forum!
This may be a bit of an unusual one, I think I know my rights but want to check:

I purchased a luxury watch from a reputable high street jeweller, a one-off indulgent purchase.

Upon delivery my son (without me knowing) decided to play a prank on me and switch it for an old watch of his that looks similar, that was damaged. I attempted to contact the jewellers as I believed I had been sent a damaged item however their customer service number did not work; This led to me opening a dispute on PayPal.
Within less than 24 hours I received an email (outside of PayPal) from a former colleague who now works for the jewellers and he assured me we would get this resolved, I told my son of my joy about this at which point he confessed to hiding my actual watch and replacing it with his old damaged one - To say I was furious is an understatement!!

I immediately informed the jewellers and closed the PayPal case. The person from the jewellers asked to come to my house (given he lived local and we had a former relationship) to collect the watch so they could issue me with a refund. I accepted his offer to come round and he started to explain how the business has been victim of multiple scams and this is something that concern them, I assured him this was not the case and handed him back the watch in full retail packaging. He did not open the box or inspect anything nor did he provide a proof of collection. It did not cross my mind at the time as I felt I was being intimidated and did not want to be accused of attempting something so serious. He told me that the 'matter was now put to bed and I would get my money back'..

After a week I still didn't have my money back and he asked to come round to my home again to speak to my son to 'confirm the story'. I again accepted as I was now without my money or the item I ordered, despite being told via multiple WhatsApp messages that I would get it back.

He came to my home again to meet my son and I, asking if we knew of some names and/or limited companies that have previously scammed them. They were based at the other end of the country  and we were both feeling quite intimidating again. Once again we were then told 'the matter was put to bed as far as I'm concerned and you will have your money back asap'.

I was then WhatsApp'd a day later asking for images of the watch using in the prank, i

jazam95

FINGER SLIPPED DIDN'T MEAN TO POST. SORRY!

I advised I threw it away in my fit of anger and why would anyone take a picture of a broken watch? Especially when I was told over a week ago the misunderstanding was resolved. He then asked for a 'holiday photo showing your son wearing it'. 

At this point I became frustrated as it has been 2 weeks (14 days) since he came to my house and took the watch without providing proof. I am now without my money and without the expensive watch.

Is this a breach of consumer rights and/or trading standards? They appear to be operating as cowboys, telling me different tactics constantly.

I have been bullied, extorted (for the watch that I wouldn't have given back if I had been in sound mind) and intimidated - as has my son. This behaviour is disgusting and I don't know what else to do given I have closed the PayPal case? I did also pay on Credit Card for additional protection but given he didn't give proof of collection I feel a dispute via the card company wouldn't help? I do have numerous WhatsApp messages where he confirms everything is sorted and that he has both the watch and my money.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

user1977

Eh? Why did you hand over the watch?

jazam95

user1977 said:

Eh? Why did you hand over the watch?

I was just not thinking. I think mixture of anger at my son, trust in a former colleague and just not anticipating any issues or wanting any further problems after I had essentially posted a false PayPal claim (despite believing it to be the case at the time).

user1977

So you were intending to hand it back and get a refund, as a "change of mind" return?

jazam95

If I had the choice now I would have kept the watch and last night I told him 'Either give me the watch or my money back as this doesn't feel legal what's happening'.

I handed it over as I was caught off guard and felt like that's what I should do (as I say not thinking straight) - Very much a stupid move

Aylesbury_Duck

jazam95 said:

Hi and thanks for accepting me on to the forum!
This may be a bit of an unusual one, I think I know my rights but want to check:

I purchased a luxury watch from a reputable high street jeweller, a one-off indulgent purchase.

Upon delivery my son (without me knowing) decided to play a prank on me and switch it for an old watch of his that looks similar, that was damaged. I attempted to contact the jewellers as I believed I had been sent a damaged item however their customer service number did not work; This led to me opening a dispute on PayPal.
Within less than 24 hours I received an email (outside of PayPal) from a former colleague who now works for the jewellers and he assured me we would get this resolved, I told my son of my joy about this at which point he confessed to hiding my actual watch and replacing it with his old damaged one - To say I was furious is an understatement!!

I immediately informed the jewellers and closed the PayPal case. The person from the jewellers asked to come to my house (given he lived local and we had a former relationship) to collect the watch so they could issue me with a refund. I accepted his offer to come round and he started to explain how the business has been victim of multiple scams and this is something that concern them, I assured him this was not the case and handed him back the watch in full retail packaging. He did not open the box or inspect anything nor did he provide a proof of collection. It did not cross my mind at the time as I felt I was being intimidated and did not want to be accused of attempting something so serious. He told me that the 'matter was now put to bed and I would get my money back'..

After a week I still didn't have my money back and he asked to come round to my home again to speak to my son to 'confirm the story'. I again accepted as I was now without my money or the item I ordered, despite being told via multiple WhatsApp messages that I would get it back.

He came to my home again to meet my son and I, asking if we knew of some names and/or limited companies that have previously scammed them. They were based at the other end of the country  and we were both feeling quite intimidating again. Once again we were then told 'the matter was put to bed as far as I'm concerned and you will have your money back asap'.

I was then WhatsApp'd a day later asking for images of the watch using in the prank, i

jazam95 said:

FINGER SLIPPED DIDN'T MEAN TO POST. SORRY!

I advised I threw it away in my fit of anger and why would anyone take a picture of a broken watch? Especially when I was told over a week ago the misunderstanding was resolved. He then asked for a 'holiday photo showing your son wearing it'. 

At this point I became frustrated as it has been 2 weeks (14 days) since he came to my house and took the watch without providing proof. I am now without my money and without the expensive watch.

Is this a breach of consumer rights and/or trading standards? They appear to be operating as cowboys, telling me different tactics constantly.

I have been bullied, extorted (for the watch that I wouldn't have given back if I had been in sound mind) and intimidated - as has my son. This behaviour is disgusting and I don't know what else to do given I have closed the PayPal case? I did also pay on Credit Card for additional protection but given he didn't give proof of collection I feel a dispute via the card company wouldn't help? I do have numerous WhatsApp messages where he confirms everything is sorted and that he has both the watch and my money.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I'm sorry, but this whole story sounds completely implausible.  The alleged prank sounds like a ruse to get a Paypal refund.  You made a one-off indulgent purchase of a watch that just happened to be extremely similar to a damaged one your son owned?  That was switched into the box - a classic tactic someone might use to defraud a retailer - and you tried to get a refund.

How did this former colleague who now, entirely coincidentally, happens to work at the exact retailer from which you purchased the watch, know about the situation, given that you couldn't contact the jeweller's?

You then managed to get in touch with the jewellers, and this friend and former colleague was now in your house and intimidating you?  And now, in his official capacity as a staff member of the retailer, only communicated via Whatsapp?  Why haven't you been in touch with the jeweller to speak to a manager about the actions of their staff member?

You just happened to have thrown away the one piece of evidence that might be helpful - the broken watch?

Where's the bullying, intimidation and extortion?  If you believe you have been the victim of bullying, intimidation and extortion, call the police.  If your story is anything like as odd as you've typed it here, they'll be very interested.  Perhaps not in they way you'd like them to be, though.

jazam95

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I'm sorry, but this whole story sounds completely implausible.  The alleged prank sounds like a ruse to get a Paypal refund.  You made a one-off indulgent purchase of a watch that just happened to be extremely similar to a damaged one your son owned?  That was switched into the box - a classic tactic someone might use to defraud a retailer - and you tried to get a refund.

How did this former colleague who now, entirely coincidentally, happens to work at the exact retailer from which you purchased the watch, know about the situation, given that you couldn't contact the jeweller's?

You then managed to get in touch with the jewellers, and this friend and former colleague was now in your house and intimidating you?  And now, in his official capacity as a staff member of the retailer, only communicated via Whatsapp?  Why haven't you been in touch with the jeweller to speak to a manager about the actions of their staff member?

You just happened to have thrown away the one piece of evidence that might be helpful - the broken watch?

Where's the bullying, intimidation and extortion?  If you believe you have been the victim of bullying, intimidation and extortion, call the police.  If your story is anything like as odd as you've typed it here, they'll be very interested.  Perhaps not in they way you'd like them to be, though.

Hi, 

Thanks for your response.

The watch was a Rolex (didn't want to name a brand like that in the current climate) and as you may well know but they are ten to the dozen as fakes/replicas or as the person from the jewellers called it 'a snide'. My son purchased his from a market in Thailand apparently, he did some travelling over there after finishing University.

I would refute the 'classic tactic to defraud' as this is extremely insulting and defamatory, I work for the NHS and would never even cross my mind to attempt such an awful thing!

It was quite the surprise that a former colleague (we worked together when I worked in social care and he was with the police) so I was actually relieved when he emailed to assist as at the time I was still under the impression that I had spent a lot of money and received a broken watch. In his email he gave me his number and said we should stay in contact via WhatsApp. I didn't think anything wrong with this as I knew him and didn't think about it needing to be in an 'official capacity'.
He knew about the issue as he received the PayPal case email on their end.

I have not been in touch directly with the jewellers beyond the email from his official email asking me to WhatsApp him. 

I felt bullied as he made accusations similar to yourself, which were even more offensive given our background and former working relationship. The intimidation came from threatening to 'cart you in with these scammers with my report to the police' and extorted now that I do not have my watch or my money and am being asked for ridiculous things like 'photos of your son on holiday'.

I threw the watch away because I was very angry at my son, did not have any reason to keep it once I was told the matter was 'put to bed' nor did I think my son deserved it back after trying such a stupid thing. 

turnitround

So your son played a prank on you but wasn't there to see your reaction to the prank? He didn't ask you about it or mention the prank until you had tried to contact the jewellers and made a Paypal claim?

Seems very odd to go to the trouble of playing a prank but not watching the impact.

pinkshoes

This is beyond bizarre. 

If this genuinely happened, then WRITE to the shop stating that the watch was collected from your house by <name of person> therefore they have 7 days to refund in full before you take the matter to court.

Have you been into the store? If not, this would be your first port of call. Go in and insist on either a refund or the watch back. If they refuse, then I would be tempted to ask them to call the police as this sounds really dodgy.

turnitround

So just to clarify. This former colleague, is he a policeman or does he work for the jewellers?