A couple of days ago i won this auction. After i had won she sent me an email saying the item was in fact different and what i’ve been sent is this
Now, it is only £2.50 – but is it me? or was this unreasonable? IMHO the one i have been sent is significantly less nice and less useful than the one i bid on. What would you do?
And also, before Xmas i made a judgment call on an e-cheque and sent out a £50 parcel on uncleared funds. For the first and only time i got caught out and the e-cheque failed. After considerable time she finally returned my emails and promised payment, claiming she had been really ill. It has never showed up and she has never answered my calls or returned further emails.
Now, she originally paid using a paypal account connected to a .ac.uk address for a significant welsh university where she works as a research secretary. I know this because i googled her. Given she has avoided speaking to me at home or by email or by mobile phone… how far could i go in attempting to get payment from her by contacting her at work? It pisses me off somewhat that i think i probably can’t, but i don’t actually have any other avenue of reclaiming it either and it annoys me greatly she’s got away with it.
It is significantly less nice, I agree. Annoyingly small amount as it makes you feel stupid for making a fuss, but I would still make one! She must know it’s not as nice as the pictured one!
And wrt the other thing, yes I would chase that too.
This week I’ve had a large paypal payment go astray myself (some ebay tosser messing me around) and at work we’ve had a large cheque bounce, it’s not funny 👿
👿 it most certainly is not! trouble is, i don’t have a proceedure, as it hasn’t happened before 😥
On the fraction tile – the one you got *is* much less nice (and isn’t even the same setup – fewer rows) than the one advertised.
The seller has 100% positive feedback, so I would start with an email saying that the item I’d received wasn’t as advertised, and I wasn’t happy with it, and would like it either replaced with what she’d advertised, or would like a refund. Legally you’ve the same rights on ebay as anywhere else, and she’s got a legal obligation to refund you (including postage costs, because it’s SOGA, not DSR). If she refused, I’d open a complaint with Paypal (assuming that’s who you paid through). I’d leave negative feedback, but I’d do it on the last possible day for leaving feedback on that auction to try to avoid the seller leaving revenge feedback on you.
On the debt owed to you – I’m pretty sure that legally you’re not allowed to chase her at work (or even by phone at home if she’s told you not to). I’d send a letter, by recorded delivery, stating that if payment was not received in full by whatever date, I would make a claim through the Small Claims Court. You could point out that a Small Claims judgement against her will negatively affect her credit (considered same as CCJ, so really does). You’ve got her emails as evidence that she received the items and was happy with them (or she wouldn’t have been going to pay you), and Small Claims isn’t hard – the odds are very good that she’ll pay up either on the threat of it, or as soon as you file the claim. I think you’ve a pretty much watertight case and for £50 it’s worth doing.
Maybe all that makes me a bitch, but at least I’ll never be a doormat 😎
Hmmm, the fraction tile(?) not quite the same, similar, though. I *don’t* do E-bay/that type of thing as like to *see* what I’m getting iykwim. I’d be pissed off about the parcel too, I guess it depends on far you can/are prepared to take it.
Just noticed your reply to Sarah. If you want to do Small Claims, give me a shout – I did it when I was childminding with a parent who had set out to con me (so she could get her tax credits for childcare). Not difficult.
I think most of her feedback is for buying; i’m curious as to what the other peope on the auction will say; there were a lot of us. One has left +tive so far. 😕
i did email yesterday morning, i’ve had nothing back.
Re my person; she gave me a mobile number but i think i’ll do as you say perhaps, i know nothing about small claims. Does it cost me to do it?
There’s a fee for filing, but it’s added to the claim, so she’d have to pay that too. You can even file it on-line. She might well pay up once you threaten it anyway though, so I’d do the recorded delivery letter first. You can also add your costs in chasing the debt (phone-calls, cost of recorded delivery etc).
I got bumped on ebay once for a load of baby vests. About a tenners worth with postage. First she sent me an unsigned cheque which I didn’t notice til the bank sent it back, she sent a replacement which bounced and then a flood of emails assuring she’d pay me as soon as she got paid and she’d send cash etc. I never did get paid but decided that if someone had to bump people on ebay for second hand vests for their kid then their need was probably greater than mine really. Prior to discovering ebay they’d have gone to the charity shop anyway so all it really cost me was postage.
£50 worth of beads is a different story though. I would definitely persue it but as others have said I’d probably do it the ‘proper way’.
WRT the fraction thingy I would feel incensed but probably not get round to doing anything about it 😉
Good oh – i’ll do that then 🙂
Google is a terrible thing isn’t it – i wonder if there is anyone it can’t find 😀 :wicked:
Fraction tiles thing – it doesn’t say in her listing that the item might be a different colour so I’d def e-mail her and point it out.
E-cheque – as Deb said you can file a Small Claim – really easy to do and you do it online and Northampton County Court deal with them all. If she doesn’t pay then she’ll get a CCJ. I’d send her a letter recorded delivery as Deb suggested – give her 7 days to pay and tell her you will issue proceedings if she doesn’t. Issue fee will be £30 I think on that amount of claim. As far as I know there is nothing legally to stop you calling her at work – her number is in the public domain (google/university site).
The fraction tile-set is not the one you paid for, simple as that, you should get a refund.
She doesn’t have 100% positve now. Someone else has been pissed off by the same item. Your one doesn’t actually even look new – is it? I think 50 quid is worth chasing up, but I would keep it very official now, and do what Deb suggests.
I need a life…. if you look at the last thing she bought, it was a job lot of educational school stuff, and these fraction sets are on one of the photos. They are all like yours, so obviously she didn’t even bother taking a photo of what she was selling, just nabbed a pic from a web site.
She is having a laugh. That one is horrible – lets face it. I have the other one here and it is far nicer. Ebayers are supposed to say if the item is not the one pictured and she hasn’t. So I would ask for a refund. As for the other women go for it. File a non payment claim online. It is her fault and if her work finds out that is her look out.
So it is – and someone has negged her today as well.
yep, go with deb’s idea, and make sure you tell her the charge for CCJ etc will be added on top of her bill, plus sundry chasing up costs – itemise a phone bill/ your time type thing should you need to do this.
I would email and claim for ebay if she doesn’t answer. if you paid by paypal, they will refund you [i did it for a £10 item once]
Well… it’s a different colour.
Nice doesn’t really come into it – descriptions should match.
I think I would deliver the same feedback to your seller as he/she got on the
NOT Rainbow Fraction Tiles
It’s actually a different design, as well as a different colour – but even if it was just the colour, it wasn’t as described in the listing.
Definitely a bad idea to phone her at work. See http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Money/problems.htm – near the bottom of the page, “Harassment from creditors” – says creditors must not “keep phoning you at home or work” and must not “contact your employer or place of study”. You could argue that one phone call to work doesn’t come under that, but I wouldn’t take the chance on a small-claims court judge taking a dim view of it; I’d just go straight to pay-up-or-small-claims-is-next.