Being chased by collections agency on behalf of eBay

[Mamba]

I sold a quite expensive item for €600 EUR on eBay, and the buyer falsely opened a claim and got the money back and was allowed to keep the item.

I'm obviously upset about this, considering the item was described correctly and there was nothing wrong with it. eBay never co-operated with me to get the item back or anything.

Now their collections agency sends me letters and calls me about it, plus additional costs added to the original amount.

Should I pay, and what can the agency / eBay do? The account is legit, they know my address and phone number but nothing else.

[JamesNorth101]

Afraid you are going to need to repay it and then try to chase the buyer for the money yourself.

They will keep chasing you otherwise

[Haidukken]

Yeah, these agencies will chase you till they get their money- It's big business here in the UK and seems like over past 10 or so years, even the law/policy has been geared towards collection agencies, rather than the individual.
If you need to pay somebody, its better to pay them- With todays technology of tracking and "chasing people" they will find you, its not that difficult.

[Mamba]

I understand that the laws in UK might differ from the laws from my country (Belgium) . The collection agency has no legal power and only eBay can take legal action. Even more, the collections agency violated a few laws by representing themselves like a solicitors office to put pressure on me to get the money. I filed a complaint against the collections agency for this but did not receive an answer yet

Has anyone here got experience with such cases?

[JamesNorth101]

If you owe eBay money then you need to repay them

The forum really cannot advise anything else I am afraid

[Callidus]

Yes it's sad news any money owed on accounts does have to be repaid and I think that is where the confusion is. Stealth accounts are not to sell items to then not pay fees or avoid reimbursing eBay. If you have withdrawn to a bank account through PayPal, in the UK that is the only option then you can easily be traced, so do not think otherwise!