Quote:
Originally Posted by DogFacedBoy  As I understood the post it was an International sale in that he mentioned a Customs form.
Shipping an item of any size internationally via a method that will provide tracking info gets to be quite pricey |
Likely the guy is just trying to scam the seller. Happened to me many times. Its international, and they just claim they never received it and screw you. I had someone do that to me over $500 of Bible software.
Paypal or Ebay will just send you to collections for anything between $0 - $5000.
Anything over, can get you into some serious fun crap. Such as them sicking the local police on you (as they did to one elderly woman I read online, who sold two very expensive items for about $13,000 total, and some months later the dude files a chargeback and Paypal sicks the local police on her). Or filing a lawsuit against you (my own lawyer told me once that Ebay had him file suit against someone local in my area).
I felt sorry for that old woman. She even paid the *******s the $13 grand. Then, paypal says, oh, you do not owe that much. Here is most back. Then, later, they sick the police on her again! F'ing imbeciles.
Honestly, I owed them a huge amount of money, but under the $5000. I just literally ignored them. And guess what? That was 2008. Nothing happened to me at all.
However, the correct procedure is to wait until they send you to collections.
When they do so, and you get your first letter, the idea is to reply with a letter asking them to VALIDATE the debt (you are to respond within 30 days of the collections letter).
They have 30 days to respond with PROOF you owe it (actual proof, like proof you signed an agreement, and actual number breakdowns, proof they have the legal right to collect debt in your state, proof they actually own or represent the creditor with the debt, etc).
Most likely, they will not respond with proof. Further, they are to use certified mail, assuming they have a brain in their head (as that would be proof you even received the response).
The idea is if they do not respond with proof within 30 days, according to The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), they can no longer put any bad marks on your credit rating and have to cease collecting the debt from you.
If they did put something on your credit, you just contact the credit bureaus with your proof that they never responded to your inquiry (of course, all the things you mail are to be certified mail).
Then, basically, they are required to remove it from your credit, as it is an unvalidated debt.
Of course, this is not a way to avoid a debt. But, in my case, I had paid them $400,000 over 8 years and as far as I was concerned, ripped me off to the tune of $12,000 from their website not working for 3 months (and me paying $4000 a month).
They put in that crappy "Best Match" feature back then and it literally did not work for 3 months properly. And I lost a lot of money..
Good Site on this Stuff:
Debt Validation - The Best Way For Dealing With Collection Agencies 
What happens if you dont pay ebay money you owe them 
