To ask for your help, I have been so stupid....

[Whirlytwos]

I am so upset right now, I am trying not to get teary.

For background, I have 16 month old twins, and a brain tumour, so am under a certain degree of stress.

Basically we moved house 9 months ago into a total 70s timewarp. I so need a kitchen that my DDs can play in safely while I cook, but we have a limited budget. Kitchen needs building work that hopefully will be underway in May. As a kichen centrepiece I wanted a beautiful high end cooker, but planned to buy 2nd hand due to budget.

They don't come up often so I have been waiting for one on ebay. Saw one a couple of weeks ago, priced at £2500, in perfect condition. No-one bought it, so I called the seller on the number in the ebay listing and agreed a sale at £2,250. They had 100% feedback. Transferred funds to his account, booked shipping, and a cooker arrived here on Friday. Note, private sale, no Paypal..... i know, stupid stupid me.

But it's not the one I bought! It's damaged, and it is a dfferent cooker with a dfferent badge! The seller won't return my emails.

I've spoken with his wife a couple of times, and she's tried a few different excuses about the cooker.
Like, it is the one I ordered....But it is clearly different to the ebay pictures.

Then she said I wasn't clear which cooker I wanted, But I was, the ebay item number was the reference I used for bank payment., and there was only one the same colour on ebay anyway.

Now she says the damage happened in transit! I paid for transit. I did pay for insurance.

Huffily she said if I pay to ship it back (another £85), then she'll refund me.

But I don't trust these people now. Can I make them arrange the shipping? What if they claim not to receive it, or say it's damaged in transit and so refuse to refund? That would make things difficult because the shipping contract would be between me and the shipper.

It also turns out they are in business selling high end used catering equipment. But they are not listed as business sellers on ebay, and I paid a personal account, not a business account. As I understand it, posing as a private seller when you're really a business is a criminal offence.

I spoke with the consumer helpline and they said the seller doesn't have to pay for shipping. But if I arrange shipping it puts me at even more risk.

I've been so naive, I am kicking myself. I have felt sick all weekend, and really don't know what to do next. So here I am fretting and porng over the nternet worrying, when I should be spending happy time with my DDs.

Does anyone have advice or know what I should do?

So sorry for the essay.

I know, I am a bit ashamed I let him get away with it. Didn't feel like frogmarching him to a screen to do the transaction, would have felt too awkward. I do think he'll refund me though, I get a good sense that he will, and he knows I have too much on him for him not to. I have been reading Companies Act 2006, Fraud Act 2006, Business Advertisements Disclosure Order 1977, as well as Consumer Rights Act (obvs) < nerd alert >

If he doesn't refund me then The Wrath of the Wronged Internet Nerd shall Hound him and his silly silly wife. Raaaaarr!

What does the receipt say?

If he doesn't refund me then The Wrath of the Wronged Internet Nerd shall Hound him and his silly silly wife. Raaaaarr!

Okay. But if he claims he gave you cash?

A very good point Gooseberry.

Letting him take the cooker without putting ££ in your hand was a bad move.

His receipt (which i asked him for) says that he's collected the cooker and will refund by Friday. He's signed it. It looks like the signatures on documents filed at companies house for his company < even bigger nerd alert >

Ok, so he's signed to say he has collected and will refund by Friday. Great. I'm still a little puzzled why he didnt offer to do it there and then? How difficult would it have been for him to do a quick transfer via his mobile app which Im sure he probably has, since you didnt want to frogmarch him . He's supposed to be a businessman fgs so he should know, out of all people that collection = refund, unless he's a real crook.

You are very well-versed with all the Acts now...glad other good things have come out of this for you....

Tripple yes, I agree, it is the one thing that i do feel slightly uneasy about. I am hoping it is just because it was inconvenient to do it standing on my driveway.

I generally am a very trusting person. I am hoping this doesn't bite me on the arse. I will know by Friday night either way.

Funny, now the cooker has gone, even though I don't have the refund yet, I still feel better than when it was sitting there staring at me.

I'm glad that you feel better but you won't know by Friday - if it's not done tomorrow, it's a bank holiday Friday and Monday so it won't be there until Tuesday. And then he's had the cooker for nearly a week...

If you are naturally trusting and can't bring yourself to chase, could your husband? Just nicely say that you'd forgotten that's it's a bank holiday and will require the payment by end of play tomorrow. That's totally reasonable. I'd have done it after I got home in these circs, to get it done and tie up the loose ends. Have you checked to see if he has?

I don't want to stress you out but he's a scammer and he now has your money and your cooker.

Oh dear. Friday is a bank holiday so hopefully you won't have to sweat till Tuesday to get your money.

try and sell you kitchen .some of them can be worth a lot. don't sell the lead lined bits though.

Contact Action Fraud. I had a similar problem when purchasing a handbag on eBay after the listing had ended and I too paid by bank transfer not PayPal. You will be asked to fill in a form online with a brief statement about what happened and you'll need to provide the persons bank details. They were fantastic, the handbag cost a fraction of your cooker, Action fraud quickly assessed my report and passed it over to the net police - fraud dept. Its taken a year but I am just finally getting the money repaid each month.

So sorry to hear about your tumour, I hope it isn't nasty. I have a 16 month old too.

💐

At the end of the day, if he doesn't refund you, it's only money. You can follow up any & all channels to get your refund, and I would. I would also inform eBay & HMRC. BUT don't stress about it.

Getting stressed isn't going to help you get your money back or help your health. You made two mistakes (buying privately, then letting him take it away before going you the refund) but what's done is done. It's a good amount of money, but it's not hundreds of thousands & even if it was, there's NO point making yourself ill over it.

This thread is going to make me nervous until Tuesday.

It's such a shame people can be such bloody shysters.

I so hope you have got your refund.

Did you get refunded OP??

Following!!!

Did you get your refund?

Did the refund come through?

Another one who's come back to see if you've got your refund? Hope you're ok.

Not a blatant place mark at all.

Me too. Some people are just scumbags.