No Item, No Money - Where do I stand?

Ms_Chocaholic

Aylesbury_Duck said:

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.

Also how is your son opening the parcel, how old is your son.  Was the parcel delivered by Special Delivery?

Aylesbury_Duck

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

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.

Also how is your son opening the parcel, how old is your son.  Was the parcel delivered by Special Delivery?

He's at least 21, because he supposedly bought the fake watch in Thailand after university.

As for Special Delivery, this valuable Rolex was bought using PayPal, so it probably arrived in a second-hand Jiffy bag with a hand written label.

mrs_blackadder

Absolutely bizarre. You think you've seen it all...

pulliptears

Aylesbury_Duck said:

tightauldgit said:

What a weird tale! I don't understand why you gave them the watch back for a refund when you presumably wanted to keep it and I don't really understand why you gave it to someone who turned up at your door rather than return it properly if you wanted to return it. 

There only seems to be a few plausible outcomes here:

1. The guy was actually honestly but inappropriately working on behalf of the shop - in which case complain to the shop and insist on your refund immediately. If they refuse, contact the police.

2. The guy was not acting on behalf of the shop but has conned you. In which case, contact the police. 

3. There is something about the story that we aren't getting the full picture of, in which case we can't help you.

At this stage all the backstory about the son's prank and Paypal and fraud etc is irrelevant. The shop sold you a watch and you paid for it, then you handed it to someone purporting to be from the shop and never saw it again. Sounds like you've been conned tbh.  

I'll go for this one, given OP's refusal to consider calling the police.

It could look like a clumsy attempt to defraud a retailer, that's gone wrong.  How might I go about getting hold of a free Rolex, plus the cash value of a Rolex, if I was so inclined?

1. Obtain a fake Rolex that's an imitation of a model I can buy from a genuine retailer where a friend works.  Damage it.
2. Buy the genuine article, using Paypal(!)
3. When the real Rolex arrives, swap it with the fake one and open a dispute with Paypal, claiming the watch is damaged.
4. Have my accomplice from the jewellers on hand to help, making sure s/he can accept the known fake as the real watch and justify the refund.

The trouble is, if I got cold feet and tried to back out, my accomplice from the shop might not be too happy, and might come to collect the watch so they can get the money they were expecting.

It could of course be that OP is the innocent victim of an attempted fraud by their son and the accomplice, trying to carry out a swap for their personal gain and using OP's genuine purchase of the watch as the vehicle.  When OP contacted Paypal they panicked, which explains the strange "off the record" appearance of the shop employee and his shady dealings all conducted away from the shop and on whatsapp.

Or something like that.

.........