buyer fraud

[centsys]

hello to everyone
been a lurker on the site for sometime but i now need your help. i have been on ebay for some years buy and sell computers and parts. this is the first time i have had a problem though.
sold a sony vaio laptop motherboard (bin). seller says that it had faults ie would only see one stick of ram and would not see his HDD in bios. i told him to send it back for a refund and if it is faulty i would give him a full refund and pay his return shipping.

i dont hear from him for a few days then he opens a dispute in paypal. anyway went along with paypal and said the same to them as i said to him, send it back and i will refund. anyway today it turns up i open it and there is a different board in there. it is not even sony it is a hp dv6000 that looks like it was left out in the rain for the last year with burn marks.
anyway as the tracking number shows delivery they have given him the money back. i rang paypal and they said it is my word against his. they said that the pictures i had of my board in the listing were not proof that this is what i sent!

is this normal? is there anything i can do? or have i lost my money/board?

[jjjia]

sorry to hear that but i think yes you are screwed. this is the loophole of paypal buyer policy the buyer always wins.

[rsot]

This is a big loophole indeed sadly - you could try ringing up PP and asking for help but really without convincing evidence, you are prob done. I hope other folx with experience will have something positive for you. All the best.

[stillselling]

Once the money has been refunded, there's not a whole lot PP can do even if they want to reverse the ruling. So forget them. However, being the ahole that I am...

If this were to happen to me in the US, I would:

1. Contact the Postal Inspector and file a mail fraud claim.
2. Contact the police department in his town and file a police report.
3. Depending on the value lost, I would get my attorney to send him a certified letter stating that I intend utilize my citizen's arrest power and file a misdemeanor/felony complaint with the district attorney's office in the proper jurisdiction. Remind him I have his name and address and if it's a ⊗⊗⊗⊗, you'll just add identity theft to the complaint.

Make sure to do all 3 simultaneously, overwhelm him into submission. Or, you can just call and talk to his daddy.

[rsot]

Those steps are both time-consuming and will likely be brushed aside.

[stillselling]

Originally Posted by rsot

Those steps are both time-consuming and will likely be brushed aside.

You probably haven't tried. Takes less time to file a complaint with the post office or a police report than the hold they put you on. And if he fails to show up for the probable cause hearing, it'll be assumed that there's probably cause to proceed. But that's in the U.S.

[rsot]

obviously haven't tried - Carefully on assumption =) I have dealt with attornies both on civil matters, labour issues, and criminal ha BUT I digress.

But the fees involved for cause hearing and filing report - I am sure can be a little substantial - UNLESS true, you report it as fraud. Can't hurt to file that's for sure but I was just saying that it's not the fastest way.

[stillselling]

You're right about assumptions. ; ) Can't comment on different jurisdictions. But in my state, for criminal matter, to request a probable cause hearing, it's only a single page filing down in the district court with no cost, unless you pay for legal help to do it. You can even "compel" the defendant to show up. I'll just leave it at that.

@OP, just a few points.
1. You mentioned that the scammer was able to POST and see 1 stick of memory.
2. Can you even post the board you have on hand?
3. What does that tell you?

[ShadyOne]

Yeah OP, this what you have to anticipate on eBay/PayPal.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by centsys

hello to everyone
been a lurker on the site for sometime but i now need your help. i have been on ebay for some years buy and sell computers and parts. this is the first time i have had a problem though.
is this normal? is there anything i can do? or have i lost my money/board?

Is the account in your real info?

Value of the board?


There are other angles to consider, possibily..

[centsys]

thanks to all for your posts. i will just have to move on as i canot prove beond resonable dout that i ever owned the motherboard (pictures are not proof, paypal employee said so on phone) so will just have to move on though it pisses me off that i have lost £80.

[nak]

Open a police report and give it to paypal. Or u need to start video taping urself opening pacage that might help also.

[ShadyOne]

Do you have an original receipt with the motherboard serial printed on it?

Not sure what sort of value that would even have though tbh...still could be a good start.

[missinglink]

uk is not like usa, police do not get involved with this,at end of the day, it could be seller that is lying too for revenge, so it is not an option