eBay

rather_be_racin · ‎07-16-2006

bought a item and paid via western union m/o (sellers request) seller is slow and unresponsive and super rude to me. I asked for a full refund. he said no problem and will refund me with his neigbors paypal as he has no account. we do the mutual auction cancelation and its done. so... today he gets mad at me and now says if i make him any madder he will do nothing and keep my money ($400+US) he is in PA i am in BC
what are my options here if he doesnt send it back? i know eBay isnt super helpful in these matters so was thinking of contacting his local police dept or FBI internet fraud.
is there a easier way? not going to lay down if he does rip me off and will fight for the money back.

any sugestions would be appreciated.

coastwindchimes · ‎07-16-2006

Hi rather be racin,

What a rotten problem. I suspect you should not have agreed to the mutual cancellation before getting your money back. Now I am not sure, since you have done that, if you can pull his contact information. Try that first (under advanced search) and get their phone number.

I'd phone this guy before anything else now. Sometimes things can go a lot smoother talking on the phone than through emails. If you can no longer pull the contact information, you have his name and address, so see if you can get the number through directory assistance or on the Net.

$400 is a lot of money, and I think the US is a lot tougher on this sort of crime than Canada. I have had success going through the US Postal Service fraud branch-- they have an online reporting system, and will follow up. I think his local police department should be interested in this as well. The FBI also has an online mail / Internet reporting section, but I have never heard from them for the couple of problems I reported.

But first, I would phone this character~ let him know the steps you will be taking. That should get your money back pronto~ I hope. Good luck. Tim

rather_be_racin · ‎07-16-2006

thanks Tim
i do have his contact info and have talked to him on the phone. i think this is a common thing he does as he has some bad feedbacks (my bad for dealing with him but he was the only one who had the part) I wont let it rest just on the principal of me getting ripped off not really the money (although I can't afford to lose $400)
i will look into all the other avenues to get my money back.

thanks for the help

chris

coastwindchimes · ‎07-17-2006

That's good you have his contact information. At least you know he has a telephone and an address. Did he sound like a total nut on the phone or? If he is at least semi-rational, or even if he isn't, the next step I think is cooly listing out either in another phone call or email the steps you plan to take-- making it very clear that mail fraud is a big deal.

Let him know that if payment is not received within say seven days, you will be reporting him to the Fraud section of the U.S. Post Office, the Internet Fraud section of the FBI, etc. etc. (If you search the US PowerSeller Board, somewhere there is a list of about six places you can report this guy).

The one time I had a problem like this, the US post office followed through on my complaint and sent the guy a pretty frightening letter-- I got payment within a few days of that letter going out, so I really recommend that service.

Again, Good luck! Tim~