eBay again

[Steve-o]

My wife, back in November, purchased some tickets in excess of £300 for a concert and paid through PayPal. Now as the concert wasn't until April, she sat and waited quite happily for them to arrive.

The seller looked quite reputable (300+ positive feedback), and has sold many tickets and other items on eBay, and now continues to do so, so all looked fine...

However, the problem is the tickets that my wife purchased never actually arrived. And now the scroat won't respond to any emails that have been sent to him. There were a few emails sent to him prior to the concert to say that the tickets have yet to arrive, and then many emails sent even to this day, with no reply. There was the odd exception of him replying to a mail asking to confirm when the tickets were paid, and then, no reponse.

So, what are my options now? Obviously, my wife is upset about losing £300 and not getting to see her concert. We wrote to eBay and they referred her to PayPal, and PayPal say they cannot do nothing as it is over the 45 day threshold they have in place.

I have a home phone number for this person, and have tried it many times with no answer. Then, on the offchance, I called it again, and someone answered. They said the 'Seller' (name with held for the time being) was out and would be back later, and would get him to call me back - to which he didn't, and I wasn't surprised. So, I've called many other times since, and still no answer.

Other than that, I have no idea what to do next? Can the Police do anything? I have a phone number and his full name, as well as his email address.

Sorry for the ramble, but any help appreciated.

Thanks.

[Nolar Dog]

Realistically I think you are stuffed this time. No money/no tickets/no concert/no reufnd.

On the plus side, you should probably have learned to buy them from Official Agents next time.

[silverthorn2151]

I'm afraid that I am so nervous of this sort of thing through e-bay that I confine my purchases to junk that SWMBO makes me throw away 3 months after it's been delivered.

I don't have any suggestions but can imagine just how angry you feel.

[arcticgoldfish]

I think as a buyer, you are better protected through paypal than the seller. There is a paypal procedure for goods not received. Not sure if there is a time limit from purchase for it though.

Just reread your OP - you'd already mentioned to late for paypal!! So i was totally unhelpful. Small claims court?

Edited by arcticgoldfish on Friday 28th May 12:26

[AndrewW-G]

It's a frequent scam on Ebay, tickets are sold with a big enough delay between auction and event, so that when they dont arrive its outside of the time required to lodge a Paypal complaint.

A friend's wife was stung with this for Take That tickets, only recourse is credit card co and the Police

[dave_s13]

arcticgoldfish said:

I think as a buyer, you are better protected through paypal than the seller. There is a paypal procedure for goods not received. Not sure if there is a time limit from purchase for it though.

You didn't read all the original post did you.

You seem to have gone over the 45 days or whatever it is so I suppose you're a tad screwed really. You can try and contact Paypal and see what they say though.


But. You should have actioned the Paypal dispute after a week or so of non delivery and non contact by the seller. Your own fault unfortunately.

[Steve-o]

dave_s13 said:

arcticgoldfish said:

I think as a buyer, you are better protected through paypal than the seller. There is a paypal procedure for goods not received. Not sure if there is a time limit from purchase for it though.

You didn't read all the original post did you.

You seem to have gone over the 45 days or whatever it is so I suppose you're a tad screwed really. You can try and contact Paypal and see what they say though.


But. You should have actioned the Paypal dispute after a week or so of non delivery and non contact by the seller. Your own fault unfortunately.

As I put in my OP, we'd already contacted PayPal. As she paid in November and wasn't due to expect the tickets until March/April, then the 45 day rule would have been in place whether we wrote to them a week after the delivery date or not.

Not looking to proportion fault - just wondering what the options are... as in would the Police be interested in a case like this, or can it be taken to a Small Claims Court? Not had any dealings with either before, so hence why I asked on here first.

[dave_s13]

Steve-o said:

dave_s13 said:

arcticgoldfish said:

I think as a buyer, you are better protected through paypal than the seller. There is a paypal procedure for goods not received. Not sure if there is a time limit from purchase for it though.

You didn't read all the original post did you.

You seem to have gone over the 45 days or whatever it is so I suppose you're a tad screwed really. You can try and contact Paypal and see what they say though.


But. You should have actioned the Paypal dispute after a week or so of non delivery and non contact by the seller. Your own fault unfortunately.

As I put in my OP, we'd already contacted PayPal. As she paid in November and wasn't due to expect the tickets until March/April, then the 45 day rule would have been in place whether we wrote to them a week after the delivery date or not.

That wasn't clear. It was understood by me to mean the seller physically had the tickets at the time of the auction and this wasn't speculative.

Have you actually got back in touch with Paypal again? They will likely tell you to sling your hook.

Small claims court is another option. You can do this online now I think?

[HereBeMonsters]

Um, Police?

[Steve-o]

dave_s13 said:

That wasn't clear. It was understood by me to mean the seller physically had the tickets at the time of the auction and this wasn't speculative.

Have you actually got back in touch with Paypal again? They will likely tell you to sling your hook.

Small claims court is another option. You can do this online now I think?

Steve-o said:

We wrote to eBay and they referred her to PayPal, and PayPal say they cannot do nothing as it is over the 45 day threshold they have in place.

Not wishing to split hairs as I appreciate any help on this, but I made a reference to PayPal (maybe I assumed people would would realise I had contacted PayPal with the mention of them).

Anyhow, I haven't been back in touch with PayPal, as they said there was nothing they could do as it was over the 45 day ruling they have.

[twinturboz]

When you funded the paypal transaction did you do so via debit or credit card? If by credit card then you may have some recourse through them.

Also I guess you could go down the small claims route if your certain you have all the correct details of the person and all the relevant evidence. You'll probably need to know what bank account the money was transferred to once the other party withdrew it from paypal, will paypal supply you with that information?


Think the online website for small claims is www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Edited by twinturboz on Friday 28th May 13:04

[bigdods]

if you have their name go to 192.com and get their address. Small claims court. Job done.

ETA: And dont forget to add on interest on the lost sum, plus your costs for making all those phone calls etc.

Edited by bigdods on Friday 28th May 13:04

[dave_s13]

Steve-o said:

dave_s13 said:

That wasn't clear. It was understood by me to mean the seller physically had the tickets at the time of the auction and this wasn't speculative.

Have you actually got back in touch with Paypal again? They will likely tell you to sling your hook.

Small claims court is another option. You can do this online now I think?

Steve-o said:

We wrote to eBay and they referred her to PayPal, and PayPal say they cannot do nothing as it is over the 45 day threshold they have in place.

Not wishing to split hairs as I appreciate any help on this, but I made a reference to PayPal (maybe I assumed people would would realise I had contacted PayPal with the mention of them).

Anyhow, I haven't been back in touch with PayPal, as they said there was nothing they could do as it was over the 45 day ruling they have.

Steve I'm not sure what we are toing and fro'ing about here???

Try ringing them up and speak to someone in person.

Just to clarify is the auction for tickets this guy is selling speculatively??

[soad]

Unpleasant position/situation to be in. eBay will normally do bugger all - could try contacting the customer services if that's even possible? Defrauded after all...small claims court if you have enough details to go on or the police seems to be the answer.

Otherwise, do some investigating via social networking sites and the like - take it from there. Good luck

[Neil H]

What a shockingly easy scam.

[soad]

Neil H said:

What a shockingly easy scam.

Nowt new though - read some examples of it in the ebay's community forums over the years.

[Steve-o]

dave_s13 said:

Steve-o said:

dave_s13 said:

That wasn't clear. It was understood by me to mean the seller physically had the tickets at the time of the auction and this wasn't speculative.

Have you actually got back in touch with Paypal again? They will likely tell you to sling your hook.

Small claims court is another option. You can do this online now I think?

Steve-o said:

We wrote to eBay and they referred her to PayPal, and PayPal say they cannot do nothing as it is over the 45 day threshold they have in place.

Not wishing to split hairs as I appreciate any help on this, but I made a reference to PayPal (maybe I assumed people would would realise I had contacted PayPal with the mention of them).

Anyhow, I haven't been back in touch with PayPal, as they said there was nothing they could do as it was over the 45 day ruling they have.

Steve I'm not sure what we are toing and fro'ing about here???

Try ringing them up and speak to someone in person.

Just to clarify is the auction for tickets this guy is selling speculatively??

It is hard to say if the seller had these tickets in hand (unlikely as the wife purchased in November for an April concert), but he is a regular seller of tickets so has some way of getting them, and with his feedback, looked like a good person to buy from.

The wife has also spoken to PayPal on the phone a few weeks back, and they said that the 45 day rule stood, as when you sign up to an account, you agree to their T&C's (which is fair enough).

I've now written to the scroat in question, and said that this'll be reported to the Police as he has failed to contact me after numerous requests, and will be following this through with the SMC.

Thanks for all the input so far - but if someone else can offer any more advise, it'd be appreciated!

And yes, you could well imagine that this has left me with rather a bad feeling to the point of my urine is starting to steam...

[henrycrun]

Sadly very common, gets mentioned regularly on consumer programs.
Also the UK Govt won't outlaw secondary ticketing. I believe that the Footie clubs got this sorted a while back.

[matty_doh]

bigdods said:

if you have their name go to 192.com and get their address. Small claims court. Job done.

Is it just me or is that website really quite alarming..

I put in my name and hometown and it gave me my full address and all those living at this address, in seconds.. Scary st.

[Pagey]

Do you have an address?

If not:
Does he have any other tickets listed?

buy tickets, ask to pay by cheque.....................................





Court claim or pop round for a refund