I've fallen victim to a Vinted scam and lost £100

mumto123

I've been using vinted for over a year. Getting rid of old clothes and toys. Buying the odd bargain too. Most transactions have been fine.
However I sold a job lot of 15 of my son's funko pops for £100. They were worth much more but had been on display and some boxes had slight damaged. Which I included photo's on the listing. And also said I could not guarantee that the boxes are perfect as they have been on display on a bedroom shelf. 
I packaged them well, infact they were wedged in together in a thick sturdy cardboard box, there was an inch gap at the top which I filled with bubblewrap and foam packaging and also a layer at the bottom. The box was sealed with fragile tape. 
The buyer received the box and opened a claim saying some of the funko pops boxes were damaged. And I had not included any packaging in the box which was untrue. The damage on her photo's was the same as I had shown on my listing photo's. Vinted told me to send the buyer my address to return. I did that immediatly. Then vinted said the buyer had 5 days to return, saying don't worry we will not refund the buyer until we have proof of return. 5 days passed. The buyer did not return them and vinted issued them a refund and took the funds from my account. I messaged vinted to which I was then told not to worry. The parcel was deemed damaged in transit and they had refunded the buyer but would also compensate me the £100. Which they said they would be in my vinted balance within a few hours. 48 hours passed and no compensation. So I messaged vinted again. This time I was told they were sorry that the previous messages were misinformation. That I will not receive the £100 for the items and the buyer is under no obligation to return them! I told them I would pay the buyers return costs to return them to me. But vinted said that is their final desicion! I have contacted the buyer to ask if she would return them but she ignores my messages. Although I can see she has read them. I checked her reveiws and it looks like she has done this twice before. 
What has upset me the most is that I sold these on behalf of my disabled son. He wanted the money to buy Christmas presents for his sister.  He's already missed 2 christmas's due to being ill and in hospital. I've told him not to worry that I will give him the money to buy his presents. I will find a way. I'm a single parent who gave up work to care for him when he became ill. As if money is not hard enough at the moment. I just don't know how people can be so dishonest. Vinted is great for selling cheap items. But please be aware when selling more expensive items. I don't want anyone else falling victim to a scam like this! 

pinkshoes

As you sent the items to the buyer, you therefore have the buyer's address.

Send a "Letter Before Action" to the buyer in the post giving them 14 days to pay the outstanding balance of £100 (give details where payment can be made) or to return the goods in their original condition. Make it clear that if no payment is received or the original goods sent back, you will be taking her to court for the £100 plus all costs as you can prove from her own photos that she uploaded that the items were in the same condition.

If you don't hear anything after 14 days then start a court case. It's easily done online.