feedback extortion.

[sixlostmonkeys]

I reported a buyer for feedback extortion.

I've received this back from ebay CS

"I gathered from your email that the buyer has threatened to leave negative feedback on your account if you will not send them money.

We've looked into the situation again and can see that this isn't a case of feedback extortion"

[JumpingJackSprat]

What an absolute joke. i hope you can come to some sort of decision, its a tricky situation for you. Be careful you dont end up with a ccj i think you may have to appeal the judgement x

[PostBellumBugsy]

Blardy hell - what a farce. How awful for you. Huge hugs. Stay strong - you know you'll get lots of support on here. I'm sure there must be some lawyers around here somewhere who'd give you some advice.

[ExcuseTypos]

Agree with montague. You could be in serious trouble for recording in the court. I would get rid of it it if I were you.

[edam]

Make handwritten notes of your recording and then destroy it.

I do think you need a lawyer. The judgement is manifestly unfair as the judge was confused about who was bringing the case and burbled on about what his mate told him IMO (although am not a lawyer so who knows, maybe the courts consider this kind of crap reasonable).

[alemci]

this is absolutely awful. without sounding flippant could you sell your story to a paper when it has all blown over.

Do ebay not help at all in these situations. Surely they should give you some decent legal support. Could your MP be of any help?

The whole thing seems like a fictional situation doesn't it?

[Trazzletoes]

Tbh it doesn't matter what the eBay rules say if the law says you ARE responsible for the return postage... But I'd be amazed if eBay were so totally wrong.

If the Judge hasn't taken in to account information which was provided to him in your bundle then his decision must be faulty and I would be amazed if you couldn't appeal on that basis.

But I do really think you should complain to the court about them losing your papers 3 times. Please tell me you sent them at least by Recorded Delivery!

I think it would be helpful to get a lawyer to take a look and help you to draft appeal grounds at the very least. I'm sure enough of us have already volunteered to chip in to cover the costs of an hour with a solicitor.

[LackaDAISYcal]

Gosh, I've just read the whole thread like this ->

And shame I didn't see it sooner, as I'm in Leeds and could have leant you some moral support yesterday. Can you get some legal advice on how best to handle things from this point forward?

[PurplePidjin]

Many home contents insurance policies have legal cover included...

[LoveBeingUpAt4InTheMorning]

I'm so shocked and feel go you

[Ponders]

I am stunned at the outcome, six

\link{http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/what-we-offer/which-legal-service/\Which legal service} would probably be a great help, but it looks as if you have to sign up for a whole year...

you could ring anyway & see if they have an offer on at the moment?

or some of us could chip in? (I'd be happy to)

[Ragusa]

I have just read most of this thread. Crikey - I feel so sorry for you. What a travesty. So much for justice.

Please appeal - whatever it takes. You don't want this being recorded against you, although I am not sure if this has any practical impact on your access to credit etc? You poor thing.

I don't know what to say - am just sitting here open-mouthed.

[lljkk]

:( :( :(

[claudedebussy]

bloody fucking hell. that is an absolute travesty. that this can happen in this day and age is shocking. have we just gone back 300 years????

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

The judge sounds frankly incompetent. I wonder what Ebay's legal dept would have to say about the bollocks he spouted? Dh suggests asking them.

[fergoose]

ebay won't get involved, they will just say they are a venue so not liable.

[Ragusa]

I bet ebay's legal department would run a mile! what's in it for them to get involved in a court case? Not much, I would guess.

You could try a Citizen's Advice for advice on how to appeal the decision.

[sixlostmonkeys]

Once again, thank you everyone for your continued support.

I went to the court yesterday and asked about my papers. They admitted that my papers were not added to the judges bundle. I have a complaint form and I shall be sending a letter to the court manager regarding this. I don't know if I need to appeal or request another hearing. I'll see what the court manager says.

The absence of these papers affected this case so much! At the start, the judge said that neither party had offered copies of ebay's rules. I waited until I could speak and started to tell him I had submitted such a copy, but the judge cut me off. In fact, throughout the entire hearing I never got to complete a sentence. I was always cut off. When i did manage to hand the judge my copy he just said that he didn't believe these rules to be true because his friends had told him something different.

There are lots of other points similar to this, but the one that sends a real chill through me, and actually made me sick when the 'reality penny' dropped was towards the end of the hearing.
Up until this point, despite not being allowed to talk and despite the judge being 'confused' about ebay and the Royal mail etc, it did actually seem that the judge was leaning in my favour based on what he referred to as 'what was reasonable and probable'.
Here's what happened - Smith gave the judge his copy of one of my printouts. This is a printout from 192.com which I had included to confirm that the address they had given me via email was fruitloops address. I had attached this printout to the email. I had included these papers in order to clarify the issue of them being granted the use of a C/o address at the cost of £45. (The judge had earlier given them a roasting over this issue)
Now, if you can picture; I'm somewhat caught in the headlights at this stage and still thinking 'but the judge has this paper. He has his own copy attached to the email'
So, the judge is looking at this 192 printout, Smith is shouting out about how I have paid for a search to be done on fruitloop, how I have phoned every person with the same surname in Lancashire asking to speak to fruitloop, how I went 200 miles away to post that paper to her and she is sitting there tearful, talking about her three friends who were murdered in their homes.
"What do you have to say about this?" The judge asked me. I explained that 192 is freely available to everyone and that I had included the printout attached to the email in order to confirm...... But once again I was cut off.

It was at this point the judge changed. He then gave his decision.

I just keep replaying this scene scene in my head and I'm not handling it very well at all.

I sold something on ebay. How the heck did it come to this?!

[ZenGardener]

I feel so awful for you.

Even if you did pay the 13.50 and the 35 pounds costs surely they would still be massively out of pocket?

It sounds like they just have too much time on their hands and want to use that time to scam people and bully people.

That is disgraceful that the judge didn't even get your papers. I hope they uphold your complaint. Have you tried contacting your MP? Does your MP run surgeries? Just explain how useless the court was.

[Umlauf]

I am so shocked for you, but also genuinely worried for fruitloop. She is clearly not of sound mind and it sounds like she is really bullied by this horrible man.

I am shocked that the judge acted the way he did, and that the hearing was even allowed to go on, given as how the evidence was completely one sided!!!

Good luck with the complaint six.

[K8Middleton]

Oh gosh that is shocking! I cannot believe it went ahead without the papers!

Six I understand you should have a right of appeal. Please use it and make the complaint.

Can you get any advice from CAB or similar?

[Nicknamefail]

Directed to this thread today and reading has made my blood boil.



Six please don't let this drop, you have been 'had' by the court system. You obviously have a brain and have meticulously prepared- what chance does anyone have in court!

Grrrrrr on your behalf.

[Afrodizzywonders]

They are weird.

So, you just did a free 192.com search which threw up fruit loops details, which you added to your file (which the judge didn't have because the court lost it again), and correct me if I'm wrong, this was to clarify the real address not the PO box thing they used. Mr fruitloop shows it to the Judge and falsely claims you paid for this and had been ringing every Tom Dick and Harry with the same surname in the area (shows they are a tad paranoid!). Mrs Fruitloop is meanwhile talking of 3 friends murdered in their homes? In what context??!. What were they implying, why did she do that?

It's sounds unsettling that's for sure.

How long before this could be appealed, you need a swift resolution and these oddballs out of your life.

[FlipertyJibbert]

Wow, I was not expecting this result. How upsetting for you. I really hope that you are ok and not taking it personally. If it wasn't you it would have been someone else.
I cannot believe the judge (actually, come to think of it I can )
I used to take people to court as part of my job (local government enforcement). I can't imagine such a disorganised and unruly court.

OP you posted the following in a post dated Wed 17-Apr-13 10:59:03

... One things that I fear may work against me is that judges may not understand the way ebay works. I found it difficult to explain procedures when I spoke to the police. If they are not familiar with ebay it kind of confuses the entire issue ..

. I guess you were spot on unfortunately.

(Ps I just noticed a poster called flippertyjibbert earlier in this thread. It is not me but as I only just started using this name I will change to something more original, sorry to the original and correctly spelt Flippertyjibbert )

[edam]

Six, that is shocking. WTF was the judge thinking? (Or not thinking...) I do think you need to see a lawyer. You can often get the first 20-30 minutes for free.

[FrequentFlyerRandomDent]

Gosh. I wish I was a barrister. I would come and represent you. This is nuts.

Please do call 101 if Smith harasses you. Threats at courts are bad enough.