I've bought quite a lot of stuff off Ebay over the years, and the only problem I've had was recent. I had the top bid on a Snap-On torque multiplier at a price including p&p of £202, I paid by PayPal with £150 protection, and the vendor - sorry, fraudster - never sent the item. Gave me a lot of bull on the phone - it'll be in the post tomorrow, etc - and then de-registered from Ebay when I opened a dispute. Paypal reimbursed to the £150 protection limit, leaving me £52 out of pocket.
The problem I now have, and which I am getting nowhere with, is that I cannot recover the balance. I don't know the fraudster's real name and address (only his old ebay ID name) and Ebay/Paypal won't tell me because of their data protection policy. They would apparently tell the police, but the police aren't interested in such an insiginificant crime. My only approach seems to be a civil action through the small claims court, but to do this I need to know who the scumbag is, and Ebay won't tell me!
Needless to say I have had extensive contact with Ebay on the subject but they are not budging, and it is beginning to look as though there is nothing I can do.
Apart from this one transaction, I have had no problems and have had some good bargains from Ebay. I am however as careful as possible. Incidentally the villain mentioned above did have a good feedback record that didn't appear to be falsified.
First post, by the way, and fairly new to the group. I would like to say that I really enjoy the wealth of experience and useful information here!
Roger (Treewolf)
