A few months I was ripped off out of a lot of money ( over £1,000) by a seller who took my money and didn't deliver the goods!

It's a long story but basically the auction was for 60 designer items.

I didn't win the auction but later the seller contacted me to offer me a 2nd chance offer and said the winning bidder didn't want to complete the sale.

I took the seller up on this and send a cheque for the amount.

Then I got an email from another ebayer ( the winning bidder) in the original auction warning to beware of the selller as she'd paid for the goods but hadn't recevied them.

Anyway we both realised that the seller was ripping me off as the winning bidder then did recieve the goods, so i of course tried to cancel the cheque but it was too late, it had already went through and couldn't be reversed.

I emailed the seller explaining what i had been told about her and she insisted she was sending the goods and would be with me via courier in 1- 2 days.
Then after this time was up & I hadn't reiceved anything I sent the seller a strongly worded email telling her that by taking money from me for goods she hadn't delivered was FRAUD.
i think this frightened her as a few days later I did recieve some goods.
I recieved a really tatty parcel which had 7 items in NOT the 60 it should have contained, NONE of the items were the ones on the auction & NONE were authentic as stated.


I emailed saying that they were not authentic, were not the goods on the auction and that they was only 7 items, she has never responded to the first two issues and the third she claims she sent the goods in 3 different boxes and they must of got lost in the post.

Over the last few months I have been communicating with her via email trying to get my money back but she keeps insisting she hasn't ripped me off and did send the goods.
I do not believe a word of this though!

The tat she sent me certaintly is not worth £1,000 so she's definately defrauded me.


I can't do a chargeback as I paid via cheque ( now I know why she wouldn't accept Paypal).
I have also emailed ebay several times asking there fraud dept to investigate the seller but they either don't reply at all or I just get a unhelpful response that doesn't answer my questions/concerns ( I get the impression they aren't interested).


I have been thinking about taking legal action against the seller in the Small claims court to recover the money but am worried about the cost of this, the hassle of legal action, and how likely I am to be successful in getting any money back otherwise it will just be a waste of time, money and effort.

Also as I purchased the goods on ebay nearly 4 months ago now, have I left it to late to make such a claim?

I got in touch with Citizens Advice (they offer an email advice service) but that was a month ago now and all I got was one email saying they were looking into the legal postion for me, but I am still waiting for advice/ help on this matter.


Does anyone have any advice for me?
Does anyone know the likelyhood of me getting any money back through the small claims court or any other way? What evidence will I need to produce?


I really want this money back and do not want the seller to get away with this but as I say this was in February so I just feel I need to start some action NOW to help recover my money.
As at the moment I feel she has just got away scott free with ripping me off, as she has had no action taken against her whatsoever ( I didn't report her to the police for fraud - I was too embarrassed to admit to them I've been ripped off, the seller had soon after cashing my cheque de reigistered from ebay so they cannot ( and will not take any action against her)

I would be greatful for any advice given.

I would also like to add that BEWARE when buying on ebay or indeed anywere online were you part with money before recieving the goods as due to this experience, and a couple of other expereiences with fake goods on ebay, and also TPC Group who didn't deliver the goods I paid for there is HUGE amounts of fraud online.

Rachmac, Waiting four months before taking action is foolish, to be honest. Your only recourse is via the small claims court. It shouldn't cost too much as long as you prepare well for it.
You'll need bank records confirming you've paid + set out your case in clear chronolical order. Ensuring full reference to the email exchanges (you'll need to add these too, for evidence).
What puzzles me is that these 60no designer items must have been sent via courier or parcelforce? Were you provided with order no? Clearly if they've no record of posting them then in the balance of probabilities you'll win the case. Afterall no-one puts a £1000 worth of goods in post without recording it!
As for not buying if you have to pay upfront, do you really expect traders to send goods without first recieving payment???
Good luck, i'm sure you must regret not acting Three months ago!
Ps - Never buy second chance offers. This area really is a minefield!

Send this email, just fill in the details..



Hi sorry to bother you again but I am now concerned you may have defrauded me via ebay transaction # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

I would appreciate a reply to this mail straight away, I must warn you that failure to do so will result in the following actions:

I will commence a fraud case with ebay
I will contact XXXXXXXXX to have your email account revoked
I will contact your bank (who cashed the cheque)
I will file a police report with XXXXXX constabulary
I will commence a small claims case in the magistrates court, and ask that a bailiff be sent to your address to recover the money, or goods to that value, I may also ask for your bank to be involved, which may result in your funds being frozen.

If there has been a genuine problem then I ask you contact me ASAP to avoid the above actions. As you can tell from the above comments I am a soar loser, and will pursue this matter even if it costs me more than I spent on the XXXXXXX. So it would be advisable to either return my money, or send me the goods.

Regards

Mr XXXXXXXX

__________________
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I Say Fight Back any way you can if you have been defrauded, I've Had an email this week telling me the Citizens advice bureau will give you all the advice you need to go to the Small Claims court.
It apparently costs £35 but you can claim for inconvenience too.

This ebay member tells me she won !

I wish you Good Luck

Also Phone BBC Watchdog Address and Phone no on their website

Hi.

Thanks to the 3 people who repsonded to my post about getting ripped off on ebay.

Although I think the person who said I was foolish for waiting 3 months is way off the mark as for many reasons ( lack of money, having to wait for the cheque clearing and giving her time to send the goods, not being sure how to go about making such a claim etc etc) that hasn't really been possible until the last month or so.

Also to that same person NO I was NOT saying that i expect traders to send out goods BEFORE recieving payment what I was saying was if buying online BE CAREFUL about who you send money to for goods -check out the company, ask others if they have any experience of dealing with the company, check out references etc.

Use Escrow so that they only recieve the money when you have reiceved the goods and they are as described.

Are you saying people should risk losing hard earned money buying on ebay or on a website? ( were both could simply disapear with your money) by sending often large amounts of money for goods before recieving them.
This is foolish I've learned my lesson on this now and will always use Escrow in future.

ALWAYS use an Escrow service.
There are so many fly by night merchants who rip you off out there not to.


Also the seller said when i asked her that the goods would be sent with a courier and would be FULLY insured, but the parcel I did recieve ( and she says the other 2) were sent Royal Mail first class recorded which only covers up to £28 for loss or damage.
When I quizzed her about this she even admited she was negligent for not sending them insured.
I was very clear about asking if they would be sent insured due to the value of them and she said they would be.
There is NO WAY I would of bought them if I had knew they were going to be sent just recorded post.

Rachmac, I didn't mean to offend, sorry. Writing on a bulletin board its difficult to convey the nuances. Seems very strange indeed to send such items uninsured via the postal service. Have you decided to go to court?

Yes I'm definately going to court I'm not letting her get away with ripping me off out of such a large sum of money.

One more thing though I asked Citizens Advice about this several weeks ago and am still waiting for them to research this ( one of the reasons I've yet to go to court) is as I reiceved only some of the goods (although they are not the goods on the auction and not authentic) is how much to claim for?
If I'd have recieved nothing at all then I would claim for the full amount but with having recieved some goods it makes it more complicated.

The tat I recieved I did not bid for and do not want so she can have it back as far as i'm concerned, would I be wise to tell the court this and therefore claim the full amount I paid which was £1,013.90 ( the price of the goods and the postage) or just some of it, therefore how much?

Can anyone help with this?

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Last edited by rachmac; 30-06-2005 at 05:03 PM.

Hi Rachmac,
It appears that you should be claiming for the full amount, ie the goods were not what you purchased,
I'm no expert but one one hand you are saying you recieved some of the goods ,and them you say they were not what you ordered. So the reality is you did not get your goods.

Of course honesty is important and it is only right that you say what you got and produce them but the point here is you paid for something and got something else.

As far as a case is concerned you should in my limited knowledge give them all the information as you honestly understand it and let them decide.

You should also be able to claim costs !

Hope This Helps and Good Luck

Hi Paddy

Thanks for your quick response & your advice. I will do as you suggested - claim for the full amount.
This is what I wanted to do initally but then thought I might be wrong in doing this as I'd recieved some goods, but yes i think you're right to say that as they weren't what I'd bought then I haven't recieved my goods.
It's just a shame Citizens Advice couldn't come up with a answer regarding this query in 6 weeks when you've came up with a sensible answer straight away.


Once again many thanks to you and the other people who responded with advice on this matter I'm very grateful for all your advice.

I am going to start preparing my case and geting all the documents together and then take the case to court.
I will post on here again to let you all know what the outcome of the case is.

Hi Rach,
Thats a lot of dosh and a long wait for answers from CAB

There are plenty regulations in place like Distant selling , Trade Description, Sale of goods and Service consumer protection, etc

May I suggest you do a quick search of Trading Standards to help prepare the case.

Lots of easy to understand info out there but I don't commit it to memory just read it when something goes wrong, But an hour or two reading will help you clarify the case and could be time well spent, All the documentation will be great but you will still have a better chance when you know where you seller deviated.

Just a Thought