Ebay arsehole!

[TVR Tommy]

Mini Hitler! (yes he's German and a )

I had my jet ski up on Ebay and have had the unfortunate dealings with a right tt. He's from Germany and his english is pretty bks. He asked a few questions before the auction ended. He said he was going to leave to come and pick it up on the night the auction finished. The next day I then get an email saying he wants to use a collection agent to pick up the jet ski. I told him I wasn't happy with doing this. As it starts to look a little fishy at this point. I then get a message saying his parents where coming over to the UK mid September to pick up the jet ski. I told him that was taking the piss and I didn't want to hold on to the jet ski waiting for his parents to come and collect. I finished by saying the sale was finished and didn't want to deal with him anymore. He didn't reply to the email I stated this in. I was pissed off at this point and told him this.I had a think and was a little less pissed off, so decided to email him saying if I still had it when his parents where over he could buy it for what he won it for on ebay. I wait five days for a reply and nothing came, so did a non-payment on Ebay as I wanted my final fee back as it was over £40. I then get a payment of the full amount appear in my pay pal account. I had already told him I wanted cash on collection, as paypal can take the money back out of my bank account up to 180 days after the sale. Which left me open to having no jet ski and no money. His address was unverified on paypal, so I have no protection if this did happen. So I refund the full amount back to him. Send an email saying again that he could fk off and I wasn't dealing with him anymore. Email Ebay to get my final fee deleted which they did. There's me thinking job done I can get on selling it to someone else. Today I get some solicitors letter saying I was in breach of the sales contract. He's trying to charge me for damages as he had lost money by arranging the collection agent (which I told him straight away wasn't going to happen). The solicitors email is in good english and isn't just a generic letter it has details of what has been going on. But its emailed as a scanned image of the letter and has been sent from a AOL account.

Does he have a leg to stand on?

Now I want to send a stty letter back to the solicitor and him telling them to get stuffed. But will this put me in the stter in anyway? This has pissed me off no end with him dicking about wasting my time and now he has the cheek to threaten me.

So what does the fountain of knowledge that is Pistonheads have to say about this?

Edited by TVR Tommy on Friday 13th August 00:26

[Animal]

I saw this thread and thought "fk me, you really can buy anything on eBay."

[Mojooo]

i would say the contract is not valid if you had specifics on when it could be picked up

[plg]

Mojooo said:

i would say the contract is not valid if you had specifics on when it could be picked up

He didn't meet the contract terms and you refunded an unrequested Paypal payment...?

[Mojooo]

you could argue cash on collection was also a contract term

its worth pointing out that i had an auction canceleld for putting that on as ebay made it a PAYPAL only payment auction so i wasnt allow to say that, so technically he coudl argue against that term if it was a PP only auction.

[TVR Tommy]

What I'm going to do is send an email along these lines.

First point will be that he said before the auction ended he stated he was leaving the night the auction finished on ebay. So I had entered into this sale contract under his false pretences. If he had of told me his post auction plans I would have canceled his bids. He then changes his mind so null in-voids the contract as he has changed his side of the contract.

Communication break down from his side, so I had no other means of coming to a compromise. So I took actions to fix the problem my side

I'm not going to be liable for the shipping agents fees as he had not paid me when he (supposedly) arranged this to happen. If he arranged this after the paypal payment he was already aware that I was not going to shipping the jet ski this way. So said his parent would collect before the paypal transaction.

If he's going to be a pedantic st on the terms stated in the auction for example the shipping time frame. I shall let him purchase the jet ski, but I shall be taking off everything that I haven't listed in the auction so he will get a pile of bits if he wants it that much.

I hope that may put an end to this idiots campaign.

If he takes me to court in Germany it doesn't matter as he would have to sue me in a British court?

[Jasandjules]

Uh, YOU are entitled to damages from him on the basis that the sale required cash on collection and a quick collection, which he breached. So if you now sell it for less money than he paid then you can recover your loss from him (not that it would be really feasible etc.. with UK courts but still).

So I'd write back and tell his "solicitors" that and thank them for providing an address for service in the event it becomes necessary.

[streaky]

TVR Tommy said:

He's from Germany and his english is pretty bks.

Wie gut sprechen Sie Deutsches? - Unterschiedlich

[djohnson]

streaky said:

TVR Tommy said:

He's from Germany and his english is pretty bks.

Wie gut sprechen Sie Deutsches? - Unterschiedlich

Ich verstehe nicht. Warum ist er unterschiedlich?

[davemac250]

I do not want to be the prophet of doom here but you should appreciate a couple of things.

If you think the UK is going down the litigious route all to often then you should look at our European neighbours.

Everyone I know here has legal insurance, and they use it.

It doesn't (normally) cover court time costs, but will get you a letter from a lawyer and on the path to a court hearing.

It is a right royal pain in the arse. Companies and individuals do not speak to each other to resolve disputes.

Without fail things are escalated to a 'Letter from my Lawyer' approach.

What does this mean to the OP?

Every chance the lawyer letter is genuine.

Every chance the buyer will continue to be a pain.

Every chance it will get dropped once the insurance realise that the costs will greatly out-weigh the claim.

My advice - keep a record of everything.

Sell the jet-ski and note any loss compared to the ebay listing.

[jazzyjeff]

TVR,

If you made it crystal clear either in your auction or during your communications the time frame for payment, the method of payment, what was included in the auction etc. etc. then he hasn't a leg to stand on and is just an arrogant f***er who thinks he can do what he wants, when he wants. If however you presented your conditions and protestations AFTER he told you he'd made his arrangements then it instead makes you look the slippery one

Problem with the cash on collection issue is that eBay do not deem auctions to be valid if PayPal payment is not listed as an option. He might try and use this against you (although to be honest arguing the auction wasn't valid must surely work in your favour!)

JJ

P.S. at least your buyer has stated a genuine intention to buy your item. I was unfortunate enough to list a ten day auction for a pair of festival tickets I no longer needed, only for some thoughtless drunk t*at to come along and place the high bid only to realise he'd done so by mistake and didn't want to pay. I've since re-listed the tickets but now they're not selling - so unless they sell soon I've not just lost what he'd bid for them, I've also lost what I paid for them

[TVR Tommy]

Ich glaube kein Wort Deutsch danke. Aber Google Translator funktioniert.
As above
I don't speak any German thanks. But Google translator does . Does it really matter if I do or don’t speak German? He was the one coming into the UK sale. So it is on him to speak English.

I hadn't written the exact terms on the eBay auction to do with shipping and time frames. But I did email him to tell him that was the way I wanted the deal to proceed. Paypal is a bit of a pain as you have to put it on your auction and there is no way of taking it off. If it was a UK buyer who was verified I would have been fine with a Paypal payment. I’ve seen auction that give a long list of terms at the bottom. Now I see way it's best to include them.

Edited by TVR Tommy on Friday 13th August 09:28

[davidjpowell]

I would be very tempted to write back, with a very short letter to the effect that your comments are noted.

Let them try and work out what you are really thinking. Don't get into a defence. You either need to keep your powder dry incase they are nuts enough to push it, or there is no point wasting your time.

[Jasandjules]

TVR Tommy said:

But I did email him to tell him that was the way I wanted the deal to proceed.

Before or After the auction had ended?

[TVR Tommy]

He asked if was happy to take funds with paypal. I said I was not happy about taking that much money over paypal and wanted it in pounds sterling. This was before the auction ended. After he changed his mind about leaving on the Sunday which he said he was going to do before the auction ended. Then a day after it had ended he said he was going to use a shipping agent. Alarm bell are ringing at this point. So I sent another email saying it was collection in person and with cash.

[superlightr]

So he lives in Germany, the letter is from a German sclicitors and copied by email to you.

You live in the UK. What sum are they talking about?

I dont think they will issues court papers - its not worth it. Are they going to come over from Germany or appoint uk solicitors on their behalf. Doubt it when they have a weak case.

I would ignor them. Only act if any court docs come in.

[streaky]

djohnson said:

streaky said:

TVR Tommy said:

He's from Germany and his english is pretty bks.

Wie gut sprechen Sie Deutsches? - Unterschiedlich

Ich verstehe nicht. Warum ist er unterschiedlich?

Because that's the strange translation for "Streaky" that Babelfish returned.

"Streak" translates as 'Streifen'.

Other translations for "Streaky" include: 'verschmiert' (for faces and glass, 'streifig' (for windows, mirrors and butter), 'gestreift' (for patterns), 'strähnig' (for hair), and 'durchwachsener' (for bacon). I can't find one that translates (the reason for) my nickname.

I should have followed the process of translating from one language to another, then to a third, then back to the original language, to validate its accuracy.

But the last time I did that, "Out of sight, out of mind" was returned as "Blind and mad"!

Streaky

[Flintstone]

jazzyjeff said:

..... so unless they sell soon I've not just lost what he'd bid for them, I've also lost what I paid for them

Surely you can't 'lose' both? You'll be out of pockets for the value of the tickets (if they don't sell) or any shortfall (if they do). You can't be out of pocket for more than the tickets cost you!

[TVR Tommy]

"a very short letter to the effect that your comments are noted"

So really should I just put and email together saying just your comments are noted?

I want this sorted as soon a possible as I don’t like this sort of thing hanging over my head. If I write an email saying all of the above they may think they’re wasting their time, but this will put me into being defensive.

[jazzyjeff]

Flintstone said:

jazzyjeff said:

..... so unless they sell soon I've not just lost what he'd bid for them, I've also lost what I paid for them

Surely you can't 'lose' both? You'll be out of pockets for the value of the tickets (if they don't sell) or any shortfall (if they do). You can't be out of pocket for more than the tickets cost you!

I was talking about the difference...pedant!

Anyway I've just this morning found out that they've sold, which is a relief.

Since this is for £30 less than the second-highest bidder to p*ss head I've technically lost that too (even though I never had it in the first place... )

JJ