Revenge

[barcelonic]

So basically there are two types of people on ebay that don't pay for items you sell. There are ones who have a genuine reason or at least have made a mistake or even changed their minds and don't appreciate the rules. Then there are the ones who are bidding on multiple items to get the item cheaper, or bidding on other auctions to put the price up to get more bidders on their own sales.

The guy who messed me around did so knowing fully well that one of the items he was bidding on he would buy and the other he would simply ignore and not reply to an messages and just live with the far-too-lenient punishment of an unpaid item strike.

So now I have his address and his phone number and I want to get back at him. Now obviously Im not going to do anything illegal like sell his info to identity thieves. But I feel I need to do something and so I guess I am looking for ideas.

Anyone want to help me out here? And if you're only going to post to say how childish you think my behaviour is, please don't. At the end of the day I am at a HUGE financial loss (£40) because of this guy and if it went to small claims court I believe I would have a case, but it was on eBay and those guys make their own rules so there's nothing I can do.

It may not sound like it but I have a very sound set of morals and would never in a million years do something like what he has done to me. So I just want to inconvenience him as much as I can from half way across the country.

Any suggestions?

[the_saint]

Originally Posted by barcelonic

So basically there are two types of people on ebay that don't pay for items you sell. There are ones who have a genuine reason or at least have made a mistake or even changed their minds and don't appreciate the rules. Then there are the ones who are bidding on multiple items to get the item cheaper, or bidding on other auctions to put the price up to get more bidders on their own sales.

The guy who messed me around did so knowing fully well that one of the items he was bidding on he would buy and the other he would simply ignore and not reply to an messages and just live with the far-too-lenient punishment of an unpaid item strike.

So now I have his address and his phone number and I want to get back at him. Now obviously Im not going to do anything illegal like sell his info to identity thieves. But I feel I need to do something and so I guess I am looking for ideas.

Anyone want to help me out here? And if you're only going to post to say how childish you think my behaviour is, please don't. At the end of the day I am at a HUGE financial loss (£40) because of this guy and if it went to small claims court I believe I would have a case, but it was on eBay and those guys make their own rules so there's nothing I can do.

It may not sound like it but I have a very sound set of morals and would never in a million years do something like what he has done to me. So I just want to inconvenience him as much as I can from half way across the country.

Any suggestions?

You can still sue him in the small claims court if you can be arsed. He would probably lose as you have a binding contract (but be aware that I say probably as (a) he may be very young and use that as an excuse and/or (b) I don't know how long legally he has to pay for the item, in which case no ause of action would arise)

Also be aware that the case should automatically get transferred to his local court. They forget to do it a lot, but you can't rely on them forgetting and if he knows his stuff he will know to ask.

You will also have to lay out some money up front too, though if you win you will get it back - assuming you can enforce the judgment.

Yeah the small claims court is rubbish, I know!

[barcelonic]

Well the fact that it he was given 7 days to respond then a further 8 days to respond to ebay in the resolution centre and he didn't, along with the fact i have been in contact with the seller he did buy from and he was in contact with her which proves he was on ebay and just ignored me, added to the fact that I have proof he was bidding on the same item on different listings - would suggest a pretty strong case against him.

Now Im in the process of getting some of the money ebay charged me back, because i am equally annoyed with them for charging me the brand new FVF which i would have avoided had i not been messed around by this scammer. Basically when it sold for £220 initially i was charged £6.50 FVF. Then when I relisted it sold for £200 but in that week the FVF had changed to 10% which meant I was then charged £20, which is three times more that had it sold the first time (more than 3x in percentage). So I've asked ebay for a refund of £13.50 as it actually goes against their own policy (FVF credit with unpaid item strikes) to charge me the newer fee.

So if eBay refund me I will probably not bother with small claims because I'd only be down £20 which would make it uneconomical.

Out of interest though, if eBay refuse to refund me what can I do? Because surely you see the logic in me having full entitlement to that refund?

[Jon]

I doubt you have any "legal" entitlement to a refund from ebay for the fee's, one of their terms and conditions will be "we can change our fees whenever we like without notice" or something to that effect. That said they may well do the refund as a goodwill gesture.

[FurbtasticM]

Edit - Best not encourage such things!

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by Jon

I doubt you have any "legal" entitlement to a refund from ebay for the fee's, one of their terms and conditions will be "we can change our fees whenever we like without notice" or something to that effect. That said they may well do the refund as a goodwill gesture.

Appreciated, but they can't legally entice someone in by advertising for example free final value credit, thereby encouraging the user to list for that reason, and then hike the price just before they come to pay.

For example, a restaurant must sell the meal for the prices advertised on their menu. They can't charge you three times more when you come to pay the bill!

[Jon]

I always thought FVF was stated before the auction started, and if ebay were changing things any current actions would have the old FVF structure, while any new ones would have the new structure.

[the_saint]

Originally Posted by barcelonic

Well the fact that it he was given 7 days to respond then a further 8 days to respond to ebay in the resolution centre and he didn't,

But if there is nothing in any terms and conditions regarding time then he will have a reasonable time. And when reasonableness comes in to play, reason goes out the window!!

Out of interest though, if eBay refuse to refund me what can I do? Because surely you see the logic in me having full entitlement to that refund?

On the face of it they have done what they said they would. I would be surprised if they did not have a clause saying that if the buyer fails to pay you will still be liable for our fees.

Originally Posted by FurbtasticM

Is it illegal to order Dominos for delivery to someone else's address? Or late night taxis?

Yes, which makes it more fun!

Originally Posted by barcelonic

Appreciated, but they can't legally entice someone in by advertising for example free final value credit, thereby encouraging the user to list for that reason, and then hike the price just before they come to pay.

For example, a restaurant must sell the meal for the prices advertised on their menu. They can't charge you three times more when you come to pay the bill!

I think i might be missing something, they can't change the price once the contract has been concluded - have they done this? They may have a clause saying they can but that would probably be an unfair term in a consumer contract. Though on a practical level what can you do about it? FSO?

[Jon]

I think i might be missing something, they can't change the price once the contract has been concluded - have they done this? They may have a clause saying they can but that would probably be an unfair term in a consumer contract. Though on a practical level what can you do about it? FSO?

What happened was
-item listed
-item sold, thus creating a FVF
-buyer didnt pay
-seller raises dispute
-ebay change fee structure
-ebay refund original FVF
-item listed again
-seller now has to pay higher FVF

to put it simply!

[the_saint]

Originally Posted by Jon

What happened was
-item listed
-item sold, thus creating a FVF
-buyer didnt pay
-seller raises dispute
-ebay change fee structure
-ebay refund original FVF
-item listed again
-seller now has to pay higher FVF

to put it simply!

Oh right. Yeah legally eBay have done nothing wrong. You would have a claim for breach of contract agains the original buyer but it probably would be a small amount so no point pursuing it. Just go for the late night taxis (don't bother with Domino's, Pizza Hut is much nicer!)

[Harvez]

do as i have before today if hes within driving distance pay a visit if not find someone who is close enough for a visit.
cars are expensive to respray when nitromorse <<< speeled right? lol are poured over the car not all panels just incase they write it off but enough so he has a nice excess fee on the insurance

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by the_saint

I think i might be missing something, they can't change the price once the contract has been concluded - have they done this? They may have a clause saying they can but that would probably be an unfair term in a consumer contract. Though on a practical level what can you do about it? FSO?

Yes because at the time the resolution centre case was closed and I was given FVF credit and had my £6.50 refunded, at that stage I still had the option of cancelling my listing and selling the phone elsewhere. And at that point the FVF fee was still the same.

So I decide to relist it and get free insertion fee credit for the relist, thinking the FVF would be the same. But during that week, the FVF fee goes up and when it does my relisting is already confirmed. So there's nothing I can do to avoid the increase. This is my point.

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by Jon

What happened was
-item listed
-item sold, thus creating a FVF
-buyer didnt pay
-seller raises dispute
-ebay change fee structure
-ebay refund original FVF
-item listed again
-seller now has to pay higher FVF

to put it simply!

Thats not correct. This is how it went:

-item listed
-item sold, thus creating a FVF
-buyer didnt pay
-seller raises dispute
-ebay refund original FVF
-item listed again
-ebay change fee structure
-seller now has to pay higher FVF

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by harvez

do as i have before today if hes within driving distance pay a visit if not find someone who is close enough for a visit.
cars are expensive to respray when nitromorse <<< speeled right? lol are poured over the car not all panels just incase they write it off but enough so he has a nice excess fee on the insurance

I only wish that was an option but he lives in West Yorkshire and I live in Swansea.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by barcelonic

Thats not correct. This is how it went:

-item listed
-item sold, thus creating a FVF
-buyer didnt pay
-seller raises dispute
-ebay refund original FVF
-item listed again
-ebay change fee structure
-seller now has to pay higher FVF

It was announced on the 26'th Feb (February 2009) and came into effect on the 12'th March

[Harvez]

Originally Posted by barcelonic

I only wish that was an option but he lives in West Yorkshire and I live in Swansea.

im in west yorkshire

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by harvez

im in west yorkshire

lol, well i wouldnt ask u to do anything for me but if u ever need somewhere to misdirect your anger give me shout

oh and regarding my last post i wudnt actually break the law btw, just to make that point clear