Facebook Market Place - small claims court
Discussion
Good day all
My son got scammed on marketplace. He needed a new phone after his original was nicked and pointed out an ad for a brand new iphone something or other. It was £350. I took him to collect it. It appeared to be new, no visible marks, and was demonstrated by the owner. All seemed good. My son at this time did not have a sim card as we were awaiting a replacement. This arrived the very next morning. He slotted it in and that's where things started to unravel. The touch screen was unresponsive to the point that he could not enter any security information. He persevered and dried a factory reset, to no avail. My daughter intervened and took it to the Apple store. Their diagnosis was that it had a non original replacement Apple lcd screen. Armed with this info, I contacted the seller to request my money back on the basis that the phone wasn't fully functioning and was not in fact brand new. I got the usual 'it was fine when you took it' bulls
t..... no refunds, your loss etc etc. I was eventually blocked but during the exchange of messages it soon became apparent that the phone was in fact 3rd hand, not even second hand. Despite the advert claiming it to be brand new. I have screen shots of the advert and subsequent messages of admission, my intention being to seek redress through the small claims court. I know market place is a bear trap, but really feel we were misled here and my son is only 14 and used his hard earned readies to purchase an ornament as it turns out. I sent the seller a recorded delivery letter urging that she do the right thing and agree to a refund within a 14 day time period. That period expired a few days ago so I'll now proceed to small claims court. I've been totally fair and transparent with the seller. I've not trolled her on facebook - she's still active, and selling more mobile phones and other products - as I've seen others do in order to occupy the moral high ground in preparedness for small claims action. My wife just want to fill her in...and she's really scary! Has anyone gone through similar and have any advice to follow please?
My son got scammed on marketplace. He needed a new phone after his original was nicked and pointed out an ad for a brand new iphone something or other. It was £350. I took him to collect it. It appeared to be new, no visible marks, and was demonstrated by the owner. All seemed good. My son at this time did not have a sim card as we were awaiting a replacement. This arrived the very next morning. He slotted it in and that's where things started to unravel. The touch screen was unresponsive to the point that he could not enter any security information. He persevered and dried a factory reset, to no avail. My daughter intervened and took it to the Apple store. Their diagnosis was that it had a non original replacement Apple lcd screen. Armed with this info, I contacted the seller to request my money back on the basis that the phone wasn't fully functioning and was not in fact brand new. I got the usual 'it was fine when you took it' bulls
t..... no refunds, your loss etc etc. I was eventually blocked but during the exchange of messages it soon became apparent that the phone was in fact 3rd hand, not even second hand. Despite the advert claiming it to be brand new. I have screen shots of the advert and subsequent messages of admission, my intention being to seek redress through the small claims court. I know market place is a bear trap, but really feel we were misled here and my son is only 14 and used his hard earned readies to purchase an ornament as it turns out. I sent the seller a recorded delivery letter urging that she do the right thing and agree to a refund within a 14 day time period. That period expired a few days ago so I'll now proceed to small claims court. I've been totally fair and transparent with the seller. I've not trolled her on facebook - she's still active, and selling more mobile phones and other products - as I've seen others do in order to occupy the moral high ground in preparedness for small claims action. My wife just want to fill her in...and she's really scary! Has anyone gone through similar and have any advice to follow please? Sound like you're doing pretty much the right things.
Bear in mind the seller can get the court hearing moved to their local court and that even if you do get a judgement in your favour there is no guarantee that she will pay you.
Sadly buying anything tech off the various online selling sites is massively risky due to the unscrupulous and dishonest.
But good luck with your action.
ETA If she is running this as a business - you suggest there is a volume of sales which would be more than just selling your own stuff - from home I wonder if she is declaring her income to the Inland Revenue?
Bear in mind the seller can get the court hearing moved to their local court and that even if you do get a judgement in your favour there is no guarantee that she will pay you.
Sadly buying anything tech off the various online selling sites is massively risky due to the unscrupulous and dishonest.
But good luck with your action.
ETA If she is running this as a business - you suggest there is a volume of sales which would be more than just selling your own stuff - from home I wonder if she is declaring her income to the Inland Revenue?
Edited by paintman on Tuesday 28th September 13:17
It's £50 to have a go. Getting the papers may be enough to kick the seller up the aris. If it were me I'd have a pop.
Make sure you read up on pre action protocols so you don't get tripped up by a technicality.
You will need to know exactly who you are taking action against though.
I would have thought social media pressure may be more effective?
Make sure you read up on pre action protocols so you don't get tripped up by a technicality.
You will need to know exactly who you are taking action against though.
I would have thought social media pressure may be more effective?
A brand new iPhone wouldn't be £350. A brand new iPhone doesn't have to be heavily discounted (unless it's nicked) because it will sell easily.
A brand new iPhone would have the seals on it.
If something seems too good to be true, etc.. could understand your son getting tripped up by that, but you went with him to collect it and didn't think either of those two things were questionable?
The times I've bought a phone from FB marketplace (once, so far) I've asked to have it demo'd to me while I'm there. You can go through the initial setup process to the point where you can confirm that the touchscreen works and it's not activation locked, etc, without actually finishing the setup. Even then the phone I bought that was sold as unlocked actually wasn't, but fortunately it was simple enough to get unlocked.
That said - I'd take screenshots of the advert, etc and then fill your boots with small claims. It's pretty much the only chance you have of getting any money back from the sounds of it.
A brand new iPhone would have the seals on it.
If something seems too good to be true, etc.. could understand your son getting tripped up by that, but you went with him to collect it and didn't think either of those two things were questionable?
The times I've bought a phone from FB marketplace (once, so far) I've asked to have it demo'd to me while I'm there. You can go through the initial setup process to the point where you can confirm that the touchscreen works and it's not activation locked, etc, without actually finishing the setup. Even then the phone I bought that was sold as unlocked actually wasn't, but fortunately it was simple enough to get unlocked.
That said - I'd take screenshots of the advert, etc and then fill your boots with small claims. It's pretty much the only chance you have of getting any money back from the sounds of it.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
It's £50 to have a go. Getting the papers may be enough to kick the seller up the aris. If it were me I'd have a pop.
Make sure you read up on pre action protocols so you don't get tripped up by a technicality.
You will need to know exactly who you are taking action against though.
I would have thought social media pressure may be more effective?
This. Make sure you read up on pre action protocols so you don't get tripped up by a technicality.
You will need to know exactly who you are taking action against though.
I would have thought social media pressure may be more effective?
I've done it twice now and it was really easy and worked both times.
One was a bloke who owed me £800 for some work and just gave me excuses for months. Knowing I wasn't ever doing any work for him again, I just stuck his details in to Money Claim Online and paid the £70 fee. The same day as he received the notification that a claim was open against him, the money magically appeared in my bank and I closed the case.
Second was a very well known internet based supplier of 'quality new German car parts' who sold me a propshaft for a Porsche Cayenne, which turned out to be simply Chinese junk. They argued the toss and refused to accept a return or refund, and were just generally utterly disgusting to deal with. Stuck the details into money claim online and just simply watched as the time ran out for them to respond. Big company, so the claim email was probably at the bottom of someones inbox somewhere. Phoned their head office and told them they I had a successful 'court claim' against them so they better find my order on their system and refund me. They did.
Lord Marylebone said:
This.
I've done it twice now and it was really easy and worked both times.
One was a bloke who owed me £800 for some work and just gave me excuses for months. Knowing I wasn't ever doing any work for him again, I just stuck his details in to Money Claim Online and paid the £70 fee. The same day as he received the notification that a claim was open against him, the money magically appeared in my bank and I closed the case.
Second was a very well known internet based supplier of 'quality new German car parts' who sold me a propshaft for a Porsche Cayenne, which turned out to be simply Chinese junk. They argued the toss and refused to accept a return or refund, and were just generally utterly disgusting to deal with. Stuck the details into money claim online and just simply watched as the time ran out for them to respond. Big company, so the claim email was probably at the bottom of someones inbox somewhere. Phoned their head office and told them they I had a successful 'court claim' against them so they better find my order on their system and refund me. They did.
I trust you got the fees back in both cases?I've done it twice now and it was really easy and worked both times.
One was a bloke who owed me £800 for some work and just gave me excuses for months. Knowing I wasn't ever doing any work for him again, I just stuck his details in to Money Claim Online and paid the £70 fee. The same day as he received the notification that a claim was open against him, the money magically appeared in my bank and I closed the case.
Second was a very well known internet based supplier of 'quality new German car parts' who sold me a propshaft for a Porsche Cayenne, which turned out to be simply Chinese junk. They argued the toss and refused to accept a return or refund, and were just generally utterly disgusting to deal with. Stuck the details into money claim online and just simply watched as the time ran out for them to respond. Big company, so the claim email was probably at the bottom of someones inbox somewhere. Phoned their head office and told them they I had a successful 'court claim' against them so they better find my order on their system and refund me. They did.
fourstardan said:
I think facebook need to start doing more to protect consumers.
14 year old with 350 quid to spend on a phone though proves that the worlds gone mad.
Why? It's a marketplace for buyers and sellers to interact. If you want lots of protection buy from a shop, if you want a bargain you take the risk. 14 year old with 350 quid to spend on a phone though proves that the worlds gone mad.
neutral 3 said:
We got had over on FB by some low life, in February with a pair of Discovery head lights, to the tune of £220 quid, that were broken. I threatened him with court action, but he just laughed.
I know he is a Fireman, plus his village, but not his address, which has held me up.
surname and village on 192.com will give you full address.I know he is a Fireman, plus his village, but not his address, which has held me up.
Cyberprog said:
I trust you got the fees back in both cases?
You know what, I honestly cannot remember. It was about 3 years ago for the last one. I just remember that with one I marked it as 'payment received' as the guy paid up right away, and the second one I had to 'Request a judgement' as they didn't respond, and the judgement was in my favour.But can't remember what happened with fees. I think I was just pleased to get the money I was owed!
normalbloke said:
No hope whatsoever. Marketplace and Gumtree are hugely populated by bottom feeders,mouthbreathers and scammers. Buying a phone has to be the single most high risk item to purchase on there.
I've bought plenty of phones from FBMP without any issues.Having said that a brand new iPhone for £350 would similarly have my alarm bells ringing. I also treat everything I buy on it as sold as seen, if I don't check every aspect of it when I buy it I wouldn't expect to come back to the seller if I found something wrong with it when I got home.
Sounds like the OP didn't check it well enough at the point of sale (not even trying with a sim card?) and has got burnt. In that scenario, if I was the seller, any letter received on the matter would go straight in the bin. If you don't know what you're buying and want a guarantee, buy it from a John Lewis.
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