CRIMINAL CONDUCT ON EBAY

[JonathonLivingWithSeagulls]

Recently sold an electrical item on eBay.

Buyer claimed that on first use, it burst into flames, asked for full refund.

Asked for details of incident; these made no sense (Claimed fire started in part of machine with no electrical supply or components).

Asked for photo; again, made no sense (unless heat has suddenly decided to go down, rather than up).

Buyer went to eBay "Customer Support" who, without asking any further questions, decided for her.

Item now returned; works fine, no fire, and very obvious that damage has been done, probably with lighter, to justify claim for refund. Damage means item cannot now be sold.

eBay attitude is "We closed the case so Fuc* Off".

Should I go to Police against "the Buyer" (Criminal Damage? But she owned it, even though she was trying to repudiate ownership... Obtaining Pecuniary Advantage By Deception?) And her local Police, who would have to take it on, are a long, long way from mine...

Or should I go to local Trading Standards who agree that eBay seemed to have failed in their advertised system of care & probably also their statutory duties, but are scared of big names?

Any advice / experiences gratefully received!

I think I would just write it off to be honest, some people are just fuckers!

Another reason not to use e-bay.

Agree with Fanny, I know it's the principle of the thing that's probably got you worked up, but it's honestly not worth it.

How much did it go for?

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?

If I give the refund, then the gas goes unpaid... (next bill up)

pecuniary damage by deception? - but she hasn't - your buyer has just got their money refunded for something that didn't work (or, realistically they no longer wanted).

Think you'll just have to grin and bear

You'd be within your rights to report to your police, they'd take details and pass to the force where the buyer lives for further investigation. This wasn't unusual when I worked for police and I would always be happy to take a report as it's criminal damage or fraud by false rep, depending on the details... However, I do know that some other forces would get snitty about taking these on because ebay stuff is notoriously hard to prove...

Basically all of that wittering adds up to - no, you wouldn't be unreasonable to report to police, but don't get your hopes up about it.

don't pay the refund unless your that stupid!!!! just leave it. what can the buyer do? ermm not a lot.

Hardly caused eBay to be criminal is it?

I would go to Trading Standards if the money you have lost is worth it (if you see what i mean).

Depends how much the item was worth really. I recently sold an electrical item for £23.99 on eBay, guy said it did not work and when he opened it up saw there was damage to it. eBay actually came down on my side because the guy actually opened the casing of the item rather than just sending it back to me so therefore it could not be proved if the damage had been done by him or not. I was quite happy to give a refund just to save myself the hassle because the guy started getting very aggressive and at the end of the day, it was only £23.99. I don't know if it's worth the hassle to be honest.

Inthenightgarden sellers don't get a choice whether to refund or not. If eBay find in favour of buyer then PayPal will freeze the funds and return them to the buyer.

crime on ebay ? well.......!!!!!

Sellers on eBay should never expect support. EBay are more on the side of the buyer which is why I stopped selling on there. There are so many crooks on there because eBay makes it easy for them to rip off genuine sellers.
The only winners are eBay, they make money either way.

which is why I stopped selling on there
Is there somewhere else to sell online?

How awful! Is there any chance you can sell said item for spares or anything like that?

I'm another one that never sells on Ebay now. I sold my kindle on ebay, the guy who bought it lived in the same (small) city as me so I offered to meet him nearby to hand it over to save him the postage. He refused and so I wrapped it up very carefully and posted it.

He then threatened to launch an investigation, saying the screen was cracked. Honestly I really can't see how it could've cracked in transit, it was wrapped in cotton wool, bubble wrap, then the box was filled with polystyrene. When I looked at similar cases online I realised what everyone is saying above - Ebay will always settle in favour of the buyer it seems. We negotiated a massive reduction in price (he originally paid £90, he ended up paying £25)

It was a massive blow to me, I was on the verge of bankruptcy and really needed that money. Just because some twit realised he'd over bid in the first place

how much was the item?

Mum used to use ebay quite a lot for selling and also buying. Not so much now. She bought a long evening skirt off ebay from a woman. It said Evans brand and looked lovely and sparkly. Also said brand new never worn etc. When skirt came it had sparkly bits on it with a lot missing. Also there was no label to say Evans only a label which looked like it may have been bought from a cheap shop or market. Mum contacted seller many times and was ignored. Eventually seller replied. Mum asked about being Evans etc and was told "it looked like a skirt i saw in Evans". Are these people real? Mum was able to get full refund and keep the skirt which was wearable but she has had some weird people asking for refunds for such ridiculous reasons and i think a lot of it is just that they don't like the items when they get them so have to lie about it.