Ebay problem - Advice Needed (Shoe Related)

[barney15c]

Want some advice with regards to an Ebay problem, this would be more applicable to UK forum members as laws vary from country to country Basically I’ve got a non paying bidder for a pair of Evans Womens boots I sold on Ebay. The Alarm bells should have started ringing when I saw he had a (0) rating, but he was local (no more than 4 miles away) so I thought he wouldn’t try it on with me – Wrooong!!! The boots went for £26 with £6 postage, they were too heavy to send 1st class so they went by parcel post. Also as I was going away for 2 weeks I thought I would send them on before payment was received as a goodwill gesture and he could mail me money so I received it on my return. Well when I got back – no cheque, so I mailed him a reminder, after a few days he gets back and says he’s been in hospital with appendicitis and that money will be sent in the next few days. I don’t have to tell you it hasn’t arrived, we are now looking at over 4 weeks. :x I’ve now filed a non paying bidder complaint and see if he has a crumb of decency and pay what is mine. And written him a terse mail stating that I will take out a Small Claims Court Action against him to recover my money. I know I’ve broken two cardinal rules here, but i have to move forward: 1.Be wary when dealing with new buyers 2. Don’t send anything out before receiving the money 1st What I want your opinions on are: Would I be able to file an Action for a relatively small amount, a problem here is that I sent boots by parcel post and don’t have proof of postage, but by stating in an email to me that he would be sending money on – is this strong enough to be proof that he received them? As he is local, go to his address and have it out with him and try and recover my money that way. I would do either of the above if the Non Paying Bidder Action proves fruitless. A lesson learnt here, cant believe I gave the guy so much slack, i've almost hung myself :rofl: Thanks in Advance!

[Rockpup]

You could stop by, but make sure you have a friend with you. Doesnt even need to be a big guy, even if a female friend of yours is there, but standing back a bit (to make sure things stay friendly) it will help to get your point across. If he still doesnt plan to pay ask him for the footwear to be returned on the spot. If he has excuses why they are not there just let him know you dont mind stopping by untill it's resolved. You're not discussing that much money, so no point in letting things get out of hand. Having a female friend with you will pretty much kill any thoughts he'd have of saying you were trying to strong arm him into paying up. *shrug* Could always just give his address to every mail order catalog company you can find. Thats always fun Jim

[hoverfly]

Give him negtive feed back, apply to what you have learned, and move on. I been screwed once and that's all it took to go by the rules all the time.

[sendra45]

yep, make sure he has really bad feedback. but dot ever send stuff before payment. whoever it is will struggle to get another account, I tried to set the wife up with another account and it was a nightmare due to cookies, addresses and bank account details. also report this to ebay, they might hav a 'secret' way of watching these folk. Nigel

[Bubba136]

I agree with JimC. I would drop by his home accompanied by a friend and just ask him. Perhaps he doesn't have the entire amount to spare at the moment. You could give him a chance to pay in installment, give him your shoes back, tell his wife he bought a pair of high heels and then, if all else fails, then take him to court. (and, if I really wanted to embarrass him, I would write a letter to the editor, mention his name and the fact that he didn't pay for a pair of high heels he purchased on eBay. )

[barney15c]

tell his wife he bought a pair of high heels and then, if all else fails, then take him to court. (and, if I really wanted to embarrass him, I would write a letter to the editor, mention his name and the fact that he didn't pay for a pair of high heels he purchased on eBay. )

OOOH id be so tempted

No better not, he's got my address a quick look at my feedback and he will see i buy a lot of shoes on ebay (and sell them) and do the dirty on me! If this gets sorted out to my satisfaction I might direct him to our site, the boots were obviously for him as he asked for discrete packaging, dont sell him anything though if he come onboard :rofl:

I like your style tho' Bubba thats my type of humour

Some good suggestions so far - keep them rolling folks, particulary regarding the Small Claims Court (Would it be too small (£32) to launch a claim?) Anybody got a legal brain? Thanks again!

[HeelD]

I'd pop round to see him with a mate if he's local. If he hasn't paid up, it's effectively theft. This is why Paypal is the way to go personally with ebay. Sorry about your predicament barney. Hope you get this sorted.

[Bubba136]

I know one thing for sure, if I had to take him to small claims court, I would ask the judge to award the difference between the 32 BP he ows you and the maximum amount the court can award, as legal fees. That should get his attention!!!!

[Dr. Shoe]

I know one thing for sure, if I had to take him to small claims court, I would ask the judge to award the difference between the 32 BP he ows you and the maximum amount the court can award, as legal fees. That should get his attention!!!!

All you'd get would be the cost of the shoes+postage, the court fees and any out of pocket expenses (you'd need receipts). This is a civil action and not a lawsuit so no punitive damages I'm afraid.

As far as Ebay feedback is concerned, always wait until the time limit is just hours off so by the time he reads it it's too late for him to post "revenge feedback".

[Bubba136]

Doesn't eBay have some kind of "insurance" program to cover sellers/buyers that don't get paid or their merchandise? Even if they do, since the guy lives so close by, I wouldn't let up on him. I'm sure he will eventually pay you for them.

[barney15c]

I dont know if that only applies to Payapl payments only, in anycase i was stupid enought to send his goods to him first and did not send them by registered post. One thing is certain... I have no intention in letting him get away with it.

[Dawn HH]

Barney15c:-) Sorry to hear of your predicament. I hope that you can get this sorted satisfactorly. Cheers--- Dawn HH.

[Puffer]

Only just caught up with board postings; sorry to hear of your problem Barney15c. My quick comments are:

1. Its easy to take a small claims action (especially if done on line - go to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco/index.jsp) but be aware that issue fee is £80 and probably not worth risking for a smallish debt that you may not actually recover (even if you do get judgment). You can add this fee, your out-of-pocket costs and interest until judgment to your claim. You may find that a letter to buyer (hand-delivered or sent recorded delivery), threatening such action if full payment not received within 14 days and couched in suitably stern terms which show you know the procedure, will do the trick.

2. Be very wary about confrontations, public accusations or making reports to other sellers (outside ebay) as an action for harassment is a possibility and so is one for defamation unless it is absolutely clear that the debtor has no effective defence. (I doubt the buyer will be aware of his possible rights in detail but you really don't want any type of repercussion or counter-attack, given sensitivities here.)

3. Early action via ebay is probably the best bet but my own experience recently (book bought for stepson and never received - seller eventually responded confirming despatch, suggesting lost in post and promising refund, but of course no more heard) got me nowhere as all ebay does is to pass on messages and request response, closing its file if nothing happens. But you have nothing to lose by trying!

Good luck!

Puffer

[BlondeBimbo]

I have issued some small claims myself in the past via the county court. The procedure is quite simple, but to do have to follow each step exactly – so proper-legal advice is required. The key points are: There has to be a contract - an agreement – goods for funds etc. – documentation helps – hard print out of ebay pages should be OK I guess – you have to show he and you agreed to exchange money for goods. You have to have taken reasonable measures to deal with the issue outside of court – effectively there must be a paper trail – supplied goods, requested money, and MUST say something along the lines of “Dear Mr N Payer You agreed to purchase Ebay item xxxxxx (Super high shoes…) on 1st October for the sum of £26 + £6 P+P. these goods were supplied to you on the 2nd October, however to date you have failed to pay the sum of £32.00 as requested. I wrote to you on the 3rd to pay this money and once again on the …….. ...............................& more info'... If you do not pay the money to me in full by the 20th November 2005, I will issue a county court claim against you for the outstanding debt above and the associated court and legal costs. Yours sincerely Mr V Cross & Upset” Obviously the dates have to be real, and be reasonable – times that are reasonable to deal with – the next day stuff above would be no good. If that doesn’t get the money, you apply to court by filling in a small application form, for less than £300 it’s about £30 – which of course you may claim as part of the claim. (I think you may do this on-line now) The court sends that to him, and he is given a reasonable time to answer (30 days or so) – he may pay in which case you withdraw your claim, he may issue a counterclaim, defence, or do nothing, in the latter case you just ask the court to find in your favour; if he defends then you have to go to county court and place the evidence before them, you basically have the bun fight in court :argue: and the magistrates find in or against your favour. If it is found against him then has a CCJ against him, and you have the court backing to obtain the funds – in the past I used the court bailiffs to recover the funds – it’s not too expensive – although each court assigns it’s own rates, there isn’t a national rate as far as I know, basically they write to him requesting your money, if they don’t get it they can “levy distress” – go round and collect goods to auction off to recover your money (including their costs!).:splat: It is a simple procedure – I know it doesn’t sound like it, but you would be spending £30 to recover £32. My partner does a lot on ebay, and just follows the non-paying bidder programme & gives bad feedback. (you only get your listing fees back from ebay with the non-paying bidder programme and satisfaction from the feedback!) (I think the feedback idea on ebay is cr*p – I don’t think feedback should be visible until both parties have left it – that would prevent feedback retribution) :argue: Over all it is probably worth putting the letter together and sending it to him, but beyond that – I would chalk it up to experience. Hope the above helps. BB

[zoidberg]

You don't actually need legal advice to carry out a summons through the County Court, though talking to people in the know can help you, but it is not required. The point about the County Court process is that it's meant to be a cheap way to recover money and therefore professional legal advice - such as using solicitors it not necessary. When you contact the County Court to obtain the summons form for you to complete, ask them for the information leaflets. They've easy to follow, very helpful and they've won a Campaign For Plain English award for being easy to understand. Those leaflets will explain everything, just follow what they say. In a large number of cases, you will not recover the money you are owned, ( I think the statistics are something like 30% of all county court claimants actually recover the money they are owed). If the defendant wishes to fight the claim and drag it out, they can. There is actually a very easy way to stop the legal process dead in its tracks - but I'm not going to disclose what that is - the courts have no real power. Sure, you can send in the baliffs to recover the goods the defendant owns for them to be sold to repay you, but the whole process only works if the defendant is willing to co-operate, if they want to be stubborn then they can get round it. Most people in my experience will ignore any letters you send them in relation to threatening Court action, until, finally, the summons form ends up on their doorstep, at that point, most people act and pay up. Before taking legal action consider: The likely hood of your obtaining your money from the defendant..does he have the ability to pay? Is he in a full time job and do you know who his employer is? ( you can obtain an attachment of earnings order if you know these details to have the money sent to you directly out of his pay packet) Does the defendant own any possessions which can be recovered by baliffs and sold? Is the defendant nomadic, can he up and run and change addresses easily to avoid court action? This caught me out in one case I pursued. It's your responsiblity to trace the defendant, unfortunately. If he changes address you're stuffed and the process will come to a halt (sure, he fails to reply and he gets a CCJ awarded against him).